The sun goes down and the lights come on. It is then when you see the absolute delight in the eyes of children — and photographers who happen to have brought a tripod with them. The latter is required because longer exposures are needed compared to those during daylight hours. Few people can hold the camera still enough to avoid blurring — I know I certainly cannot.

Here is the Wave Rider, motionless as people are getting off and on the ride. Shot at 1/8 of a second — even with a vibration reduction lens, there would be a slight blur if the camera were held by hand — but the tripod is rock steady.

However, getting a sharp nighttime image is only part of the fun — you can also enjoy the results of leaving the lens open for an extended time — here 2.5 seconds.

The Ferris Wheel also offered some interesting possibilities. Here shot at 1/8 second, you might notice the lights along the spokes. Live, they displayed patterns designed to catch your eye — or more likely the eyes of your children.

A video camera would capture those patterns much as your eyes perceive them. However, a still camera with the shutter open for 1/4 second captures something completely different.

Just for fun, I began to experiment with longer exposures allowing the patterns to play even more with the open shutter — here 0.4 seconds.

At 1.0 second, the Ferris Wheel begins to look like it is going to take off.

Same 1.0 second shutter speed but what an beautiful pattern. You would never see that live.

At 5.0 seconds, the Ferris Wheel appears ready for launch.

Also a 5.0 second shutter together with a different angle and a different light pattern increases that image of rotational speed.

At 6.0 seconds, it looks the the riders are not likely to hold down their corn dogs — but remember, it is just an illusion.

Well, this ends our visit to the Maui County Fair 2011. I hope you enjoyed it. If you plan an autumn trip to Maui someday, keep it in mind as a really fun "local" thing to do. You might think that you are the only tourists to visit — but what a great way to feel like a Mauian. I love it and I suspect you would too.