I’ve mentioned that I’m trying to catch up on editing and blogging personal photos from earlier in the year. I’ve gone out of order in sharing some of our adventures, but I’m slowly getting caught up. Here are some photos from the annual Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo held in Austin during spring break. We ended up with three separate cars… I don’t remember the circumstances but Anna and I met Curtis and Dominic there, and Jenny and Chris were already there. I remember it being a bit chilly, then it warmed up nicely. Anna fell on the way in, but she recovered just fine. It ended up being a pretty good day!
I decided to process them with a vintage touch because of the old-fashioned carnival feel to the event. I would love some feedback on the processing… does it work or not so much? I was shooting with my newly acquired at the time 85mm and I had a bit of hard time focusing as quickly as I was used to. A wider angle is better for these types of events I think. I think my photography has evolved even since March… I see things I would do differently now.
Love the longhorn… so Texas.
And the “Star” in the Star of Texas.
Signage… lots of barbeque!
Food, food, and more food!
The side show.
Dominic takes a shot at a midway game. Look at his face, hilarious!
I knew he wasn’t going to need his jacket! This was the one and only real ride he would try… the little airplanes. He was so cute!
Anna wins a midway game! Yay, go Anna!
Got a shot of Curtis… think he was surprised? He looks so much like his dad here.
The rodeo had pig races. Yes, you read that right… pig races. Of course we had to buy the pig nose!
Oink, oink!!!
Here they come!!! The little pigs. 🙂
Here come the big pigs rounding the first corner!
Then they just stop! Ha! Just stopped and looked at the audience for a while.
After the races, it was time for a train ride. Dominic had no problem hopping on board all by himself. It was a little weird seeing him disappear around the corner.
Anna was having a rough spell so Daddy was talking with her off in a quiet spot. I just noticed that I have this same shot from our trip to Branson at the Silver Dollar amusement park. She gets overwhelmed so easily. Curtis is so good with her.
Dominic rode a pony, but I couldn’t get a good shot from the front. This is cute though.
After the pony ride, Dominic tried these walking on water balls. It was so cool! You step inside of this giant plastic ball, they zip it up and fill it with air, then you get to walk all around this giant pool of water. He had a great time on this!!!
Then we went over to the arena to see the animals. First was the sheep.
Trying to chew his way out? *snort*
I loved the big bull out in the open area.
Look at those longhorns!!!
The baby cattle inside were too precious. Check out this little black cow, so cute!
Awww, this one is adorable!
The 4H club guys were prepping this one for show.
Anna really loved looking at the animals.
I sort of caught Anna as she whooshed by. I love the expression on her face!
Back to the midway games before finishing up… I love this shot of Curtis walking with the kids.
This one melted me. Daddy helping Dominic with the water shooting game. I think this one ended being my P52 photo that week.
I wonder what Daddy was saying? Love the family on the side checking out our motley crew.
Anna tried her hand at darts. And she didn’t hit one single balloon. But the carnie let her have a prize anyway. That was nice.
As we were winding down, I got a few shots of the sights. Classic merry-go-round.
Looking up, I saw the Tower of Power.
And the last shot, looking back at the sky… the windmill. Such a pretty day, such a beautiful sky!
So I thought I was done taking pictures for the day. I’d put my lens cap back on and was walking with Curtis, Dominic, and Anna and we were negotiating who would ride in which car on the way home. Curtis was grumbling because he had to park waaay out and the kids said they wanted to ride with me. I offered to drive Curtis to his car. So imagine my surprise and subsequent belly laughing when I see his white car parked three cars away from my red van! LOL!
We will definitely go next year and hopefully see some bull riding or some music too. Fun fun fun!!!
