Renaissance Festival - 2025 - No. 2

WARNING: This post features a LOT of photos.

Second visit to the Renaissance Festival. My wife took in some of the performances while I walked around looking for people to photograph. There were a surprising number of women wearing cat or fox ears with tails...

Then over near the "Jolly Roger" stage, I found these two. The third friend came up after I'd already gotten the contact info for one of these two.

Shela just walked into the West entrance of the Festival grounds when I noticed her while my wife was using the restroom. On and she's also a musician, so check out her Instagram to find her music and where she's performing next. And also check out the Instagram for her group.

She sat on a stool outside the shop that sells the ears and tails. Like I said, there were a lot of women around wearing something like this. And... she said "Thanks for asking first". Unfortunately we were in a bit of a dead zone, so I had to write down my website and Instagram so she could find me later. And that got me talking with her and her coworkers about... well... basic decency.

And I said that I've never not asked for permission before photographing someone. Because... basic decency. Like I said with Cristina, I've never been comfortable not asking permission before photographing someone. And that multiple women at the Renaissance Festival said that to me... that shows how considerate a lot of people are NOT being.

So here's a little bit of a PSA: you want better photos with subjects who are enthusiastic about being photographed? ASK. FOR. PERMISSION!

For no other reason than the simple fact that, as you can readily see scrolling through here, a lot of the women were wearing tops showing a lot of cleavage. Not only this woman with the fox ears and tail, but also the three friends toward the top of this post - with one in particular really showing that. So taking photos of such women without asking first makes you a creep if you're a guy, or an inconsiderate bitch if you're a woman.

Again, ask for permission first. Give them a chance to prepare to be photographed. They may even completely surprise you!

Which is a perfect segue to the next woman I photographed who went right into self direction. First using the fan when I was in front of her, then changing to the black parasol when I moved behind her shoulder. I've said plenty of times before that I fucking love it when that happens, love it when someone shows me they're enthusiastic about being photographed.

Do you think you can get shots like that just pointing your cell phone or camera at her and trying to photograph her without first asking? Not happening.

And I definitely wasn't getting shots like this even if I was giving direction. This was all her. With the kiss at the end being a nice closing touch that is also, I'll assume, her way of thanking me for asking for her permission first.

So let's round out this trip to the Renaissance Festival with a few more women, including one in cat ears smoking a cigar...

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going back for the last Sunday, but I'm leaning very much toward doing that. I would be going by myself if I did as my wife typically has a Sunday D&D game. It'd be a deviation from my typical Sundays, but I also know I'll walk away with a lot more photos compared to a typical City Market flea market outing.

The flea market has three more Sundays, so missing one isn't a bad thing to catch the last Sunday of the Renaissance Festival.