The Night Market
Hamtrack Labor Day Festival, Day 2
Went back for a round of nighttime shots at the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival. I was looking forward to a return trip and had an idea for the kind of images I wanted to take, but that kind of went out the window when I got there. The problem with being an anxious person is that sometimes my brain overrides my desires and I just feel a bit paralyzed. I brought my R5 and intended to get tighter street shots, and more reaction shots from the crowd, but it just felt like an obnoxiously large camera for the event and like I was being rude. I 100% know this is just me being crazy, but it is what it is.
Not long after arriving I realized I left my phone in the car, and so I had to make the longish walk back alone to retrieve it. On the way back to the fair, I got these three little vignettes and then basically left the canon on my shoulder and shot with the x100vi for the rest of the night.
I wandered up and down the main drag a few times, and then we grabbed an expensive but delicious jerk chicken dinner from one of the vendors. I really liked the interplay between this ride and the teeny tiny little service station next to it, so I spent some time here, but I feel ambivalent about the shot. I wanted to try a second go of it, but the ride ended and I had to wait for all the people to get off and a new group to get on, which took forever, and then as they were finally spinning it up, the lights on the gas station turned off. Rude.
I've been playing around a bit with intentional camera movement (ICM) shots this week. Not really sure how I feel about them, but all the bright lights made it impossible to resist trying it out. This was my favorite of the bunch.
I think my favorite shots of the night were these much quieter images of women shopping the vendor stalls. Walking behind the tents, I was out of the way and not as noticeable, which allowed me to get some candids, and the clothes and tents themselves added some layers/framing that helped isolate subjects and provide context. I doubt anyone would look at these images and their first reaction would be "Detroit" and I love that. This is a city that people love to define, and it's much too nuanced to neatly fit into any kind of constraint.
I'm always looking for opportunities to make interesting shots with dogs or any animal really, and this guy lingered here long enough for me to get this image. Quite jealous of people with dogs that are chill enough to hang in a busy public space. My dog would never.
Unfortunately I was not able to go back for the last day, which has one of the biggest draws - the yacht races - an event where patrons from various neighborhood bars race pushcarts while the spectators throw water balloons at them. Next year, I hope.
