My wife and I have been attending the Ohio Renaissance Festival for several years. This year, we went as usual and I planned my photographic goals with this article in mind. When you are going to a renaissance festival, you can expect certain types of events and entertainment. The first thing to do is check the internet and see if there is a calendar of events for the day you want to attend. You will need to plan for any events you'd like to photograph. In my case, I knew the cast of characters and the scenes from previous years. I knew about the pirate "stunt" show. I knew about the "living chess game" and the musical acts I could expect to see. I knew about the viking skirmishers and, of course, the ever popular joust. I knew about the "Swordsmen", my personal favorite. I wanted to catch the highlights of the Swordsmen's show, starring Guido Crescendo and Dirk Perfect. These guys are fight choreographers and professional instructors of the art, and it is, indeed, an art. Before the show Guido told me I'd better have fast film in my camera. I didn't tell him I was shooting digitally. He also saw my Sigma lens and said, "Big Gun." Yep, I needed that lens to be behind the crowd and capture the action from afar. The key to success is being able to reach the point of stopping the action while retaining the look of speed. When you reach the point where everything is frozen perfectly in time, you are just a tiny bit too fast. Slow down just a touch and you are good to go. this adds drama to your photographs. Here are a couple shots of Guido and Dirk:    click the images to see a close-up The Pirate Stunt Show is another fun performance. Yes, there are a few stunts, not many, really. It is more frolic and fun with some good natured melodramatic swash-buckling foolery and family humor. You'll see a bit of silliness from a crew of scurvy dogs that don't take themselves too seriously. There are salty seamen in period clothing and busty pirate ladies to add a little eye-candy. The costumes worn by the staff at this faire are not too revealing and hail from 17th and 18th century England.    Don't forget to take a few shots of the stage sets and vendor's buildings. Many of the sites and sounds at Ren Fests all over the world get missed by photographers who are not keeping their eyes open. There are excellent opportunities all over this park. Here are two from the pirate show set alone:

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The most popular performance of any Renaissance festival is typically the jousting match. People in full-plate armor ride headlong toward each other with a wooden lance. The goal, of course, is to score a blow against the opponent and accumulate the most points by the end of the designated number of passes.

In the grand tradition of merry olde England, the riders come forth and seek a lady to champion. This they do with a single rose. Giving a rose to their chosen lady, they face-off with another champion in the joust. Noble knights assisted by their squires seek the glory of victory and cheers from the crowd.

On this day, Sir Timothy did battle with Sir Brian, the former representing Canada, the latter representing America. Both knights fought for the honor of a lady chosen from the crowd. In this case, Sir Timothy won, but, both men were champions. Here are some pictures:

Catching the joust is not as easy as it looks. You will always have a huge crowd and they are a distraction. You will want to blur them a bit if you want to lead the viewer's eye right to the action. The shots above were easy since you could use a long lens and isolate your subject. In the jousting field, though, the arena is surrounded by people. I chose a radial blur and worked with it to isolate the center field and bring your attention to the jousters. The left picture (below) tells the story of the joust. You can see the crowd, but, the radial blur really improves the shot and shows the look of action.

On the lower right is a shot of one merchant at this show. I did not get the man's name, but, his shop is "The Pirate's Treasure" and is one of the nicest shops at the faire. He caters to would-be swashbucklers and sea-dogs from every corner of the realm. This old salt really looks the part and is happy to pose for your camera.

When you shoot from the crowd, you will need a long lens to get right on stage with the performers. You need a fast lens to capture the action of swordsmen or the joust. Remember that point where drama is lost. Don't shoot too fast or everything looks frozen in time.

I used the Sigma 135-400mm APO DG lens on a Pentax digital SLR to take all of these shots. Canon has a killer 80-400mm lens and Nikon has several nice lenses in similar range. Sigma also has a great 50-500mm APO lens for every popular lens mount, so, check those out at your neighborhood camera retailer. That focal length range is fantastic and would come in handy. You won't have to change lenses throughout the day's events.

When Tamron finally releases their new 70-300mm Di lens, that would make a nice choice for most of the shots you will take in similar festivals in your area. They do make a 200-400mm lens that performs well, but, it is only available in Nikon and Canon mounts. I like a 400mm or 500mm lens since an APS-C sensor will make this length behave as if it were a 600mm or 750mm lens at a fraction of what one would cost. A 300mm lens will behave like a 450mm on a camera body with a 1.5 lens factor.

Renaissance festivals are a lot of fun and if you look around between shows, you can get a lot of interesting shots of artisans and the buildings in the faire park. The Ohio Renaissance Festival is one of the finest around and offers great family fun. It is a safe place to carry your gear and you will never get hassled by performers, merchants, or patrons. Most of all, you'll enjoy the good humor and sword-play.