Middelalderfestivalen (Oslo Medieval Festival)

Today I definitely made up for the time I lost from yesterday's bad weather. I did my 20km run, went home, took a shower, got dressed, and immediately went out to take photos.

I immediately went to Gamlebyen (Oslo's old town) to visit the Oslo Medieval Festival. The times have changed: this thing's not free anymore. I got little bit annoyed by having wait in line for half and hour and shell out NOK 160 just to get in and see some people dressed in funny clothes. So I had to make the trip really worth my while, and money.

So what do you do when you are only 5'7" and you come to a festival packed with blondes 6 feel tall and above? You take out your 500mm lens, find an elevation, and have at it! I was thinking the nifty fifty could cover for me, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

And what can I say? I absolutely loved taking pictures today! Shooting from a distance brought out a very candid nature to the photographs. No one knew I was taking pictures, so no one was posing. The photos look really natural, and they are.

The last time I was taking photos as a photojournalist was at last year's Pride celebrations in Stockholm. And it was fun to be shooting this way again. I really felt like I was in my "environment". And being in my comfort zone, using the EOS 1D Mark IV felt like second nature. It's really fast and intelligent. Almost every shot was a keeper. And all the pictures I took today were JPEGs! And even then then the Canon 1D Mark IV performed excellently, and I spent very little time in post production. No wonder photojournalists swear by this camera! When you have a very short deadline, you can shoot in JPEG, knowing that you will still get excellent results.

And while the Sigma 150-500mm is a very good lens for birding, it's an even better lens for shooting candids. It was almost, dare I say it, too easy! Too easy that it almost felt wrong. The 1D Mark IV and the Sigma has got to be the best event photography came and lens combination I have ever used.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photographs, because I really enjoyed taking them. And in case you forgot, clicking on the slide show will take you to the larger versions of these photographs.