Steven Bourelle Digital Arts

The Fantastikals can be found at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Bristol, WI. As I talked about in the last post, they are a group of magical folks that hang out in the Shakespeare’s Meadow area of the faire.

We came upon the Fire Sprite on our second trip by the meadow. She was very busy entertaining many children that had gathered around her. That made getting good photos of her kind of difficult. I had to move around quite a bit in order to get a good angle to shoot. After a bit, all of the kids cleared away except for this little girl. I was able to get these two shots before more kids moved in.

I love the shot on the right. To me this shot shows the magic that’s felt as the Fanstastikals interact with the children. Though you can’t see the child’s face, I can just imagine how precious it looks as she glances at this mystical being and hands her a gift of a leaf that she found on the ground.

In the last post I mentioned the feeling of peace that I felt after watching these interactions. That feeling has stayed with me these three days since and as I’ve worked on these images, it continues to grow.

View More of My Photos From the Faire

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This last weekend we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. It was not only my first time at the Bristol Faire, it was my first time at any renaissance faire. The photography opportunities were endless. There were so many folks walking around in the the most beautiful costumes that you really had to keep your head on a swivel so you didn’t miss anything.

My favorite part of the faire was the Shakespeare’s Meadow area. That’s where the wonderful Fantastikals hang out. The Fantastikals are an assorted group of fairies, sprites and other magical beings that interact non-verbally with the audience. They are especially attracted to children and watching them interact with a child is truly magical. After spending time with the Fantastikals, you find that your inner child begins to emerge and a wonderful feeling of peace flows through you. Photographing them was wonderful.

Featured in these images is The Brownie. I was able to get some great photos of her as she played with some kids to her right, and then her attention would drift to the rocks in front of her and then back to the kids. She had some of the most amazing facial expressions. You never knew what she’d do next. I’ll say it again, truly magical!

I’ll be featuring more of the Fantastikals in the coming days.

View More of My Photos From The Faire

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Sticking with the nautical theme, here’s an image I shot at the 2009 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival in Port Washington, WI. The tall ship in the foreground is the Denis Sullivan out of Milwaukee. I can’t tell what ship that is in the background. It may be the Friends Good Will that I featured in an earlier post.

I’ve been going through the photos that I shot at the festival last year, trying to create unique images of the beautiful ships that were there. One of the biggest problems I faced last year was the light, it was horrible. There was a thick haze on the day we were there and it created very harsh lighting conditions. The original version of this image is a perfect example of that. The sky was washed out and everything had a grayish cast to it. It just didn’t look very good.

As I began to work on this version of the image though, I realized I could use that bad light to my advantage. By washing out the image even more, I was able to create a very simple scene of two ship heading out into the foggy unknown. To me this image sets my imagination on fire. Where are they going? What are they doing? Will they return?

I love that I was able to take an image that I was initially disappointed in, and turn it into an image that I’m very proud of. By working with what I was given on that day, and using a little imagination, I now have a very cool image.

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The tall ship Friends Good Will sails out of South Haven Michigan. It’s a replica of the 19th century sloop that was originally built in Detroit MI in 1811 and served both the United States and the British in the War of 1812. During the war, it was captured by the British and then recaptured by the Americans. It then ran aground in Buffalo and was burnt to the waterline to keep it from being captured by the British again.

The Friends Good Will is owned by the Michigan Maritime Museum and is used as a floating classroom to help educate people about Lake Michigan’s maritime history.

This photo was taken at the 2010 Port Washington Pirate Festival in Port Washington WI. Also in the photo is Port Washington’s famous art deco lighthouse.

This was the second time I photographed this ship. The first time was at the  2009 Port Washington Maritime Heritage Festival. The light was horrible that day and I wasn’t at all happy with my photos. This second time the light was much nicer and I got some fine photos of this beautiful ship. This image is an artistic representation of one of those photos.

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