Yesterday, I posted the first set of photos from Shirlington's Oktoberfest. I came away with 47 total images that I wanted to share so I thought I'd break it up - 47 is a bit much for one post. As promised, our story picks up with the two beer festival attendees (yes, me and my husband) leaving the taps behind and heading out into the wide world of beer. But first, babies.
I love these images for two totally different reasons. On the left, the mom looks so peaceful and loving but there's a creepy doll to reflect back on the live child she's holding. I think it's kinda eerie. On the right - seriously, this guy is doing it right. I'm glad people don't put all their plans on shut-down to have some kids. Why not bring your baby to the beer festival?
All my kids images ended up being vertical so I apologize for the strong repetition of diptychs here.
There was an "authentic" German band, complete with dancing troupe. Do you still call it a troupe if they're doing this kind of dancing?
There were some interesting people walking around our little "urban village." Check the dude on the left.
Secret undercover agent. Guy on the right's on top of it.
And now for some random "street" shots. Street is easy peasy at festivals. It's packed and if there are people dressed up, everyone's already expecting to have a camera in their face. Plus, it's so simple to pretend you're shooting something else. I
love photographing festivals.
Now these two images were taken literally within 10 seconds of each other. The lady on the right cracks me up! How can anyone look this miserable at a street festival?
Of course there were dogs. This is Northern Virginia after all, and we love our dogs. It's impossible to hold an outdoor event, even one where the primary activity is eating and/or drinking, without having every dog in the neighborhood show up. I rather enjoy it.
Okay so I want you to take a little bit longer with the images below than you might ordinarily. I spent some time figuring out the best orientation for the one on the right. It's a lady stepping over a puddle. You can see her in the reflection, as well as the people that were standing behind her. I think it's pretty neat. I also really like the lady smoking a cigar on the left.
But after many beers and lots of heavy, bad-for-you food, it was late and it was time to go home. Until next year!
Okay this was really cool. The people in this booth used a cement mixer to get 10 pounds of corn starch into each gallon of water! The resulting liquid has an enormous resistance to lateral pressure - in other words, you can walk on it. The kids were having a blast doing this.
Yeah, you read that right. "Maggot Monet" consisted of the booth staff putting drops of paint on the paper and then letting maggots roll around in them and create streaks across the page. None of the kids thought it was gross and I suppose one maggot, totally isolated from garbage or rotting stuff is kind of an okay thing.
It was pretty awesome. We'll definitely be back next year.
