{"id":128807,"date":"2025-09-03T04:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/128807\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T04:00:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T04:00:13","slug":"photographers-portraits-of-people-with-prizes-captures-the-fun-of-fairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/128807\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographer’s Portraits of People With Prizes Captures the Fun of Fairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Three<\/p>\n

State fairs are a trademark part of the American Summer experience. Many have fond memories of going to their local fair, partaking in fried foods, and trying their luck at challenging fair games to win big, fun prizes. Photographer Carlos Gonzalez<\/a> went to the Minnesota State Fair to get portraits of fairgoers with their precious prizes<\/a>, capturing the magic and wonder of fairs.<\/p>\n

Gonzalez\u2019s portraits feature intense, impactful flash, which helps freeze a moment in time and give the photos a more traditional street photography feel. The photographer tells PetaPixel he used a Canon EOS R1 camera with the company\u2019s fast RF 24-105mm f\/2.8L IS USM Z<\/a> lens. For the lighting, Gonzalez opted for the Flashpoint eVOLV 200 Pro<\/a>, the Adorama-branded version of the Godox AD200 Pro<\/a> pocket flash. <\/p>\n

\"AJuan Antonio, 4, of Cumberland, Wis. photographed with a bubble gun at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that I wanted to strobe these portraits to make them stand out from just available light photos in the middle of a summer day,\u201d Gonzalez explains. \u201cMy go to would usually be a soft box with a 600 or 1200Ws battery-powered strobe to overpower the daylight.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ThreeNevaeh Blackburn, 15, Tramaine Braziel, 14, and Imani Wright, 15, all of Minneapolis photographed with stuffed animal prizes at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

However, the photographer thought this larger lighting setup would be too difficult to carry around at the fair, since he knew he\u2019d be working the assignment alone. So he settled on the smaller strobe with 200Ws of power. <\/p>\n

\u201cI used the grid and barn doors for individual portraits to get a focused beam of light,\u201d the photographer says. \u201cFor groups of people, I would just remove grid to get a wider spread of light. I also only used one camera and lens to keep my gear to a minimum.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AMaddie Hostetler, 20, of Andover photographed with a stuffed animal prize at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

While it would always be nice to have all the lenses and lights a photographer could want, that\u2019s rarely a viable choice for pros on assignment.<\/p>\n

The grid helped Gonzalez capture shots with direct, focused light, which enabled him to make the busy fair backgrounds a little less distracting alongside his RF 24-105mm f\/2.8\u2019s fast, wide aperture. <\/p>\n

\"TwoMario East, 43, of Mandeville, Jamaica, and Paula Thomas, 35, of Falcon Heights, photographed with a stuffed animal prize at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

Since the Minnesota State Fair is such a big, crowded event, Gonzalez had lots of potential portrait subjects to choose from, walking around eating fair foods and carrying their hard-fought prizes. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just went out looking for people with stuffed animals,\u201d the photographer says. \u201cThe larger stuffed animals always grab my attention.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AEvangeline Carbajal, 5, of Minneapolis photographed with a stuffed animal prize at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

\u201cThe State Fair brings together people from all walks of life and ages so finding a variety of folks to photographs was not difficult. When I saw someone that I wanted to photograph I just walked up to them, introduced myself, told them what I was doing and asked if I could make a portrait of them with their prize,\u201d Gonzalez remarks. <\/p>\n

The photographer says it was an enjoyable assignment, and he had complete creative freedom to determine how he wanted to capture his photos that embodied the theme of \u201cPrizes.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"AMila Ostlund, 2, of Minneapolis photographed with a stuffed animal prize at The Minnesota State Fair in Falcon Heights, Minn., on Monday, August 25, 2025. | CARLOS GONZALEZ <\/p>\n

The Minnesota State Fair is a massive deal in the state, so The Minnesota Star Tribune always covers it in a big way<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have covered the fair for many years so I knew it would not be hard to find people with prizes to photograph,\u201d Gonzalez says. \u201cThis would rank very high in terms of fun factor because it\u2019s lighthearted and who doesn\u2019t want to see a person win.\u201d <\/p>\n

Image credits: Carlos Gonzalez<\/a>, The Minnesota Star Tribune<\/a> <\/p>\n