The Location
The State Fair of Texas has been a state icon for native born Texans, housing Livestock for showing/selling, vendors coming to sell their products, unique and excessively overpriced food, and the classic carnival games and rides. Many states have County fairs and a few have State Fairs, but none of them come close to the size and scale of the State Fair of Texas. Like they say, everything is bigger in Texas.
The State Fair has been a key part of my life, I had been visiting the Fair since I was a kid, and now as a parent myself, I wanted to provide my kids the opportunity to experience the fun I did as well. I brought my wife for her first visit back in 2018, and without question, she was hooked. This year my oldest son's first year that he could participate and enjoy the fair, and for my youngest son, this was his first State Fair trip.
This trip was also an opportunity to get a few shots with my film camera, experimenting with two brand new films I had never used before, more on that later.
State Fair of Texas, Dallas, Texas
Brief History
I won't bore you with all of those details, but if you want to do a deeper dive into the Fair's history, you can read it on the Fair's website here: State Fair History The State Fair was originally established back in 1886 as the The Dallas State Fair & Exposition, and built on the land known as Fair Park at the turn of the 20th century.
After some reorganizing and replanning, the State Fair began to grow and become a national landmark. President's Taft and Wilson both attended the Fair, and the construction of several iconic buildings that are still there today, and are essential to the aesthetic of the Fair.
The main icon of the Fair, Big Tex, was then constructed in the 1950s, and has become the identifying feature and mascot of the State Fair.
New Film Stocks to Try
Recently, I acquired new film stocks to try, and I thought this trip was the best opportunity to use them. The one I was most excited for was the new Ilford Imaging film Ilfocolor 400. The other roll I had for this shoot was Wolfen 400nc, a roll I had seen many times, but never saw a reason to get until it happened to go on sale.
Ilfocolor 400
I personally love this film stock, but the struggle I had with it was finding the color balance of the images when I was scanning. I will blame myself quite a bit on this, due to my lack of practice with this film, but the images themselves are not terrible. I definitely what this film looks like, and I have more rolls that I will be shooting in the not too distant future.
Wolfen NC400
This stock I'm not sure how to feel about. It may be where I started shooting it, because the lighting was a mix of colors and intensities, which really mucked the shots up. I'm still learning how to home scan, so if there are any tips and tricks to help with these, let me know. The shots themselves aren't bad, and some of them came out really nicely. I think this is going to be another case of film photographer's lack of practice. Let me know what you think of these.
Texas Star Ferris Wheel
This was shot using Ilfocolor 400. I love the composition of this shot, with the leading lines cutting through the shot, the ferris wheel in the background, and the vintage tones of the image really give the strong nostalgia vibes.
Through the Tunnel
This shot was captured on the Ilfocolor 400 film stock. This shot was by far my favorite shot of the day. The repetition of the windows and the sunlight shining through gives a nice composition and balance to the image.
Swans on the Lagoon
This was shot using Wolfen NC400. I wasn't overwhelmed with this film stock, but there were a few shots I took that I was still very happy with. This one I loved the layering of the water, the swans and pier in the background, and the tree branches in the foreground. The color was nice and clean with this shot as well.
Little Big Tex
This shot was captured on Wolfen NC400. This was one of my favorites mainly because of the subject in the shot, my son. He decided to crawl up there and pose with the statue, and it was exposed and composed very well, if I say so myself. Wolfen I have to say is very extreme, when you nail the shot, it really can stand out, but if you miss, you will hate the shots. That is how I feel about it.
In Conclusion
This was a fun experience for me, getting to try new films, and getting to share something significant to my childhood with my kids. Fortunately, it seems that we will be getting more opportunities to go back and do these trips again, based off of my kids reactions. Thank you for making your way to the end of this story. I do want to write more posts, so please be patient with me, more hopefully will come soon.
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