The Day the Circus Came to Town

 

The circus came to town this week, which was quite a surprise given how far off the beaten path Magdalena is. I was a bit hesitant to get the kids' hopes up about a small-time circus, but since we kind of had no choice once they'd heard about it, we all went on Thursday evening and actually had a great time. This was the kids' first circus, and it started with the lion and tigers who seemed a bit subdued but nonetheless wowed people just by being so large in physical size and presence. Other acts included juggling, dog tricks, unicycling, and acrobatics, and they were all really well done and enjoyable. I didn't take my DSLR because it just sucks in low light, and I also feel self-conscious using it in public; Dad's (formerly Mom's) Canon PowerShot didn't seem to do any better, and I had no idea what I was doing (it's pretty sad that I can do everything manually and usually well with my camera and am all thumbs with a point-and-shoot).

(Maggie isn't smiling because she just
got brain freeze from her snow cone)

I did manage to get a few shots that, because of the low light, were very noisy (the equivalent of grainy in film photography) but salvageable thanks to Topaz DeNoise and Topaz Detail. You may notice the inside images seem a bit too smooth, and that's because removing the noise also, of course, sacrifices some detail. Someday, I'll have a fast lens... someday. In the meantime, I'm definitely getting my money's worth from my post-processing software, and I remind myself every time I want to shoot in low light that even a top-notch camera can take crappy photos if used only as a technical instrument. I also remind myself of how photos become an important part of memories, especially over time. My kids will look back happily at these photos of their first circus and will remember the cool high-wire acts and silly clown -- this one definitely wasn't scary -- and ferocious lion and tigers, and the treats their grampa bought them. That is a big part of why I take photos, and it's at least as important as the enjoyment and creative expression that photography brings to my life.