Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus

July 10, 2008 – Performing for a private event, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, AKA “The Greatest Show On Earth,” came to the Chaifetz Arena in three-ring style with the performance of “Bellobration.” The performance starred head-clown Bello Nock, who was named by Time Magazine as “America’s Best Clown,” and featured a host of other attractions including acrobats, trained animals, death defying stunts, and, of course, general clown-foolery.

Photographer’s Notes:

While most of my duties as the house photographer for the Chaifetz arena involve music acts, Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus provided an exciting assignment. The nearly two-hour event provided no shortage of engaging subjects, with all manner of acrobats, clowns, and other acts filled up the hour and a half-long show, from the floor of the arena to the ceiling.

I photographed the event from the very edge of the floor, well outside the ring. For some of the acts that required supports, the rigging of which was positioned betwen me and the action, this position did have some limitations. However, the majority of the event was covered easily with the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 on the D3.

In addition to the 70-200mm, I used the Nikon 300m f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8 and 14-24mm f/2.8. While the 300mm obviously had superior range, the flexibility of composition with the 70-200mm won out.

Thanks to spotlights used for most of the more key acts, light levels were no problem for this event. I shot between ISO 1600 and 3200, with shutter speeds between 1/400 and 1/1000. Lighting was bright enough to keep a relatively tight aperture range of f/3.5 to f/4.

While the event as a whole was more multi-dimensional than most concerts – in the performance space and range of entertainment – most of the basics of event coverage carried over. Timing, observation of the subject, and a little luck all came into play.

About the author: Todd Owyoung is an internationally published music photographer specializing in concert photography and band portraits. He also grills a mean steak.

Contact Todd for image licensing and assignments wherever the rock show lives. You can also get in touch with Todd via Twitter.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 8:28 pm and is filed under other and tagged with Bailey Circus, Barnum, clowns, photography, Ringling Brothers, three ring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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Rene Skrodzki says:

February 2, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Aww common now that just aint fair hehe. I never get a chance to shoot the circus.

I love it, feels like I went.

Todd says:

February 3, 2009 at 12:55 am

Hey Rene,

This was my first time photographing a circus! I don’t think I’d been to a circus since I was about 5. Nice to hear from you again, thanks for the comment!

Keith says:

February 3, 2009 at 1:09 am

Dude, you do it all! Great set of shots…so many good moments!

Todd says:

February 3, 2009 at 1:57 am

Hey Keith, thanks! You know, this wasn’t really too much different from any other sort of event coverage. In fact, since there was a built-up or finale for many of the performances, that made getting the key moments a bit easier in some regards. However, by the same token, there was only one shot at some of the tricks!

Thanks for the comment.

Devin says:

February 3, 2009 at 5:44 am

Incredible set, Todd. It’s neat seeing the circus from such an intimate perspective since when you go you’re always so detached from the action.

I love the shot with the smoke.

Todd says:

February 3, 2009 at 8:59 am

Hey Devin,

Thanks very much. I was pretty much “ringside” for this whole show, which generally put me in a pretty good spot for the action. The 300mm f/2.8 definitely helped close the gap on some of the farther subjects, too, as did the 70-200mm.

For that shot with the smoke, that gymnast was catapulted into the air and landed in that seat.

Bryan says:

February 3, 2009 at 10:48 am

Hope you watched out for elephant crap haha

Todd says:

February 3, 2009 at 11:00 am

There was nothing to watch out for, I was well away from all that.

Michael says:

February 3, 2009 at 1:02 pm

Wonderful colors. Do you set you D3 Picture Control on Vivid?

Todd says:

February 3, 2009 at 1:04 pm

Hey Michael,

I keep all my Picture Control settings on standard/normal. I tried auto sharpening, but have found that it’s no different than the standard setting of 3 in most instances, so I have changed it back to be all-stock now.