Indiana State Fair midway (and the rest of the fair)

It's good to have a real brick-and-mortar camera store nearby. In 2018, Roberts Camera offered a night photography workshop on the midway of the Indiana State Fair. It was neat to get out and try a few new tricks with a group of like-minded people. Here are the results.

There was a 40% chance of rain in the forecast and things weren't looking too promising at the scheduled meeting time. Fortunately, the sky started to clear up and gave is a beautiful red sky at sunset.


Sunset on the Midway


Thanks to modern LED lighting, I had a hard time getting exposures long enough to give the desired effect. (I packed some ND filters, but sadly left them in the car parked at the opposite end of the fairgrounds.) The Freak Out ride has four sets of seats at the end of an arm that swings and spins. In the background you can see the Screamer, which is an older ride that just spins around.


Freaking Out


The instructor had us try some zoom action during the exposures. This is another spinny ride called 1001 Nachts.


1001 Nachts


This is my favorite of the evening. The moving lights combined with the zoom resulted in an interesting effect.


Alien Abduction


It was definitely a learning experience. At WDW, I'm used to 20-30 second exposures at f/8. On the brightly lit midway, I was had the lens closed all the way down to f/22 and could only manage 2-4 second exposures without blowing out highlights. Next time I'll remember the ND filters.

 

It's almost State Fair time again, so I'm posting some more photos from the 2018 Indiana State Fair.

This was my favorite ride as a kid. I could still ride it, but I've been spoiled by Disney World.


Spinny Fun

 

Just the thing for plowing your garden: A half-scale model of a steam traction engine.


Think Small

 

I assume that most, if not all, state fairs have some sort of a parade. In Indiana, there is an antique farm equipment parade in the late afternoon. It's mostly tractors, but this fuel delivery truck qualifies since it probably visited many farms in the area.

It's a 1928 Ford model AA truck. I love to read the specs on old engines - according to the signe, the engine in this one has four cylinders totaling 200 cubic inches, producing all of 40 horsepower.


Making Its Mark

 

If you eat all of the interesting and unique fair food, this hyperspeed Ferris wheel might make you hurl it into the next county.


Snacks and Spins

 

Oh, no, we're caught in a tractor beam!


A Long Time Ago

 

Things are really green at the Indiana State Fair. Above you can see a classic green John Deere tractor.
Below is a classic Case traction engine (also green) doing what it was designed to do: Power another piece of equipment.


Green Power


And here's the piece of equipment it's powering: A portable sawmill, turning trees into building material.


Sawing Logs

And it you want to talk about environmentalism: The trees on the sawmill are a renewable resource and the traction engine is powered by coal, which is a plant-based fuel.

 

Another shot of Freak Out, combining a long exposure with a focal length change.


Midway Spirograph

 

PIckup trucks looked a little different in 1914. This International Harvester Auto Wagon has comfortable seats in the front and a flat bed in the back for hauling farm supplies. It also has a very high ground clearance to get around on those muddy farm fields, and can be used to run errands or go to church. On second thought, that sounds a lot like the monster trucks that are common today.


All Dressed Up and Going Somewhere

 

Another trick photo, changing the zoom while the shutter was open.


Zoom Bloom

 

Indianapolis is the Racing Capitol of the World, so it's no surprise that the oval at the Indiana State Fairgrounds has a long history of racing action.


Historic Dirt


Here's an example from that history: Mike Martin giving you a lesson in "turn left to go right" during practice for the 2010 Hoosier Hundred.


Magic Man

 

I couldn't think of any good "juggling the law" jokes for this photo of an Indiana State Police juggler. Any suggestions?


Special Talent

 

These streamlined stainless-steel display cases have fascinated me for as long as I have been going to the Indiana State Fair. They are located in the Home and Family Arts Building (formerly called the Women's Building and currently called the Arts Building) and are used to display handmade items from some of the many competition categories. As you can see, they are built to look like railroad passenger cars of the 1940s. I tried to research their history but have not found any information yet. I have a feeling that they were either used in a department store or were part of a special display at Indianapolis Union Station.


Rail-less Railcar

Here's a shot from the balcony that I took in 2010. In the background you can see a half-width car on the right wall and the rounded tail section of another display to the right of the doorway, just behind the car in the foreground.


Streamlined displays

 

I'm posting this photo in May. During May in Indianapolis, the primary focus is on the Indianapolis 500, where the race winner traditionally takes a drink of milk. The slogan Winners Drink Milk is used to promote the products of Indiana's dairy farmers. The mascot for the ad campaign is this black and white checkered cow, seen in the Indiana State Fair's afternoon antique tractor parade.


Milk Float

 

The sun is setting, the midway lights are glowing and the Yo is yo'ing.


YoYo Yo

 

There is apparently a group of people who convert their lawn tractors into replicas of full-size farm tractors. Here's the result of one person with too much time on their hands.


Granny's Hot Wheels

 

@gary All of the above photos are from 2018 (except the 2010 sprint car shot). The tractor is based on a 1568 Farmall according to the tag on the side that's too small to read. I haven't decided if I'm going to the fair this year or not. There are a lot of great bands playing this year, but the combination of a free-with-admission concert and a great band means big crowds around the stage. The dates are July 28 - August 20 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays), if you're interested.

 

Back in the days before combines had been invented, wheat was cut in the fields and transported to a central location where someone had brought in a threshing machine. The machine was frequenly powered by a steam traction engine such as this relatively new model. This photo was taken during one of the historic farming demonstrations presented in Pioneer Village.


Harvest Time