LIGHT: Paul's offerings

I stopped off in Ajman on the way back from a Barracuda run. Having spotted the funfair, I went into the mall for a snack to kill time until it was dark enough for some photos of fairground machinery. Remembering to bring the camera was a good move; what was less good was forgetting a tripod. Therefore a lot of my photos were wobbly, and the offerings below, although strictly hand-held, were abetted by my leaning against solid objects. All of the long exposures involved multiple attempts at various exposures. Aperture priority throughout, cranked down to allow long exposures. Most success seems to have come with a stop or two of under-exposure.

Octopus Merry-Go-Round
Nikon D70S
Nikon 28-200
31mm 1/3sec F22
Hand-held

I confess to some use of the 'clone' tool in this one to get rid of a hideous light fitting. I rather like the hint of the Etisalat golf ball silhouetted against Sharjah's light pollution and picked out by red beacons. The curious coloured smears are the ride itself: a large grinning caterpillar snaking past.

Rollercoaster
Nikon D70S
Nikon 28-200
125mm 3sec F22
Hand-held

I remembered my tripod for this next one. Unfortunately a trip through Festival Centre mall was sufficient to chill the camera, and I spent half an hour in the humid Dubai evening waiting for condensation to clear from the camera's innards.

I rather like the blurred reflections, although it is of course impossible to get a ripple effect in the water and still catch the movement of the rides.

Funfair and Reflections
Nikon D70S
Nikon 28-200
48mm 3sec F27
Tripod

A bit of lateral thinking here. Light as in 'not heavy' rather than 'not dark'. Although the way the birds stuff themselves they're generally not very light! The three finches show successive stages of take-off.

Light as a Feather
Nikon D70S
Tamron 200-400
230mm 1/250sec F5.6
Hand-held