The f8 Group: Photography and Occasional Commentary: Bad Wigs, Rock and Roll, and Everything Elvis

It's that time of the year again when synthetic wigs are dusted off, waistlines are reassessed, rhinestones polished and a legend is, once again, resurrected.

Hallejulah!, Elvis had arrived in Parkes once again..

Young Elvises
en masse at the Parkes street parade

We spent two days in Parkes, NSW, at the recent Elvis festival, held annually on Elvis's birthday. It was great fun for two days - but we were glad we hadn't booked for the full four days. Watching and photographing in 35+ degree heat, with little or no shade is quite exhausting!
Even though I'm not a diehard Elvis fan (there were plenty of those hanging about Parkes) I still had a good time - the 50s cars were immaculate, the various Elvis incarnations were often very funny, quirky, eccentric, mad - and some were just outright bonkers. Everything from the street parade to the tribute concert was done with an appreciation and an honesty that was refreshing. Not a lot of flash technology, just good music and plenty of synthetic hair dos. What more could you want?
On top of all the Elvis memoriabilia (even the Chinese takeaway had an Elvis poster in its window), Parkes is a charming country town, the countryside, all the way up from Orange is beautiful, even the staff manning the cafe at the famous Satellite Dish were dressed to kill as extras to this year's Elvis theme, Kissin Cousins.

For the street portraits I used an EF85mm portrait lens (at f2.8) and fill flash to try to isolate subject from the background and lessen the contrast. The parade shots were mostly shot with an EF70-200mm lens with an EF1.4X Extender, again to try and blur out the busy background.