First Carnival of the Year

On a night of graduations, eighth grade formals, and wedding preparations for everyone else we know, we went to a carnival.  In 50 degree weather.  It was the coldest night I can remember attending this carnival.


The Mother Seton School's carnival is the opening of carnival season for us.  I think there might be some earlier, but they aren't too close and we don't go to those anyway.  Before putting these pictures up here I checked out posts from 2009, 2010, and 2011.

What immediately struck me is how little the kids were in 2009.  So much has changed.  Kathryn, for example, is too tall for the dragon roller coaster now.  I suspect Tobias will be too tall next year.

This is the first time in a while I brought a dSLR in "light" mode.  "Light" mode -- for me -- is a single camera on a strap, one lens on the camera, and nothing else.  No bag, no extra cards, no extra batteries, no other lenses etc. I realized how heavy these are.  In comparison the bag I carry nearly everyday has my x100s, an extra battery, some filters, a tripod QR plate, my phone, my card holder, a kindle, a small notebook, a pen, and my glasses case.  It weighs the same amount as the dSLR and lens.  I can add a bottle of water to that bag, and it weighs just slightly more.  SLRs are heavy, and their advantages over APC-sized sensor mirrorless cameras ( like Fujis ) are diminishing. They are nearly non-existent for most (but alas, not all) of what I tend to do.  This almost makes me want to sell most of my Nikon gear, and replace it with a Fuji system.  Almost.