Behind the Lens: The Epic West Texas Renaissance Festival
The plan was simple: pack the gear bag, head out to the inaugural West Texas Renaissance Faire, and capture some crisp, high-quality still photos of the costumes and pageantry. As a creator, you usually go into an event with a locked-in game plan. Stepped onto the faire grounds taking fantastic photos as we made our way through but then the sheer energy of the realm completely shifted our direction. The sights, the motion, and the sheer scale of the event were too dynamic to leave frozen in a still frame. The vibrant colors of the tents, the dust kicking up from armored combat, and the rhythmic swaying of the dancers practically demanded movement. Right then and there, the decision was made—we had to shoot video.
Turning a spontaneous pivot into a cinematic reality requires the right toolkit, and our trusty setup rose to the occasion beautifully.
We captured the entire chronicle using the Sony A7iv. To get that rich, cinematic look straight out of the camera without spending endless hours in post-production color grading, we relied heavily on Sony’s S-Cinetone profile. S-Cinetone is an absolute lifesaver for fast-paced events like a Renaissance festival. It delivers beautiful, natural skin tones and a soft, film-like highlight roll-off right in the monitor, giving us that instant "movie" aesthetic while preserving the deep, earthy textures of the leather armor and the brilliant jewel tones of the festival garments.
Pairing the Sony A7iv with the versatile Tamron 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD zoom lens proved to be the ultimate run-and-gun setup for this environment. A crowded festival means you rarely have the luxury of switching prime lenses without risking dust getting on your sensor, or worse, missing a fleeting moment entirely. The 35-150mm focal range allowed us to seamlessly pivot from wide, atmospheric environmental shots of the merchant stalls at 35mm, straight into tight, intimate close-ups of the performers’ expressions at 150mm—all without moving an inch. The fast f/2-2.8 aperture kept our backgrounds beautifully blurred, making the characters pop against the busy crowds of the West Texas Renaissance Festival.
Of course, shooting under the intense West Texas sun presents its own set of challenges. Harsh, blinding light can easily overexpose your image and force you to use a high shutter speed, which ruins that smooth, cinematic motion blur. To combat this, we threw a variable ND (Neutral Density) filter onto the front of the Tamron lens. The variable ND was essential; it acted like adjustable sunglasses for our camera, allowing us to dial down the bright sunlight while keeping our aperture wide open at f/2. This kept the backgrounds beautifully blurred and our exposure perfectly balanced, even in high noon conditions.
When it came to audio, we decided to keep things lean and clean. Because the West Texas wind surprisingly gave us a break and kept quiet, and because the atmosphere itself was already booming with the roaring cheers of the crowd, the clash of steel, and the thunderous beat of performance drums, we pulled audio straight out of the camera. The built-in scratch audio captured the raw, immersive wall of sound exactly as it felt to stand in the middle of the faire ground.
The first-ever West Texas Renaissance Festival was amazing! From watching noble souls debate martial techniques with The Sword School to capturing the enchanting couple watched over by a mysterious figure in violet, every corner held a new story. We watched fierce Celtic warriors stand ready, a holy knight walk hand-in-hand with his beloved, and even crossed paths with esteemed local author Brandon Thomason clad in spectacular full finery. When the armored tourney began, the steel clashed, the crowd went wild, and we caught every second of the action before cooling off with a much-needed modern invention: snow cones.
The final result is a vibrant, rhythmic visual journey through the heart of the West Texas Renaissance Festival. If you haven’t seen it yet, the full video is live and ready for viewing.
🏰 Hear ye, hear ye! ⚔️
Step back in time with us to the inaugural West Texas Renaissance Faire! From armored tourneys and Celtic warriors to mesmerizing dancers, sirens of the sea, and fine leather merchants, the realm was alive with merriment.
👇 Watch the full chronicle here! 👇
// Software used: Adobe Premiere Pro // Equipment used: Sony a7IV, Small Rig cage, Tamron 35-150mm F2-2.8 with ND Lens Filter
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Written By Ben Raigoza, at Lightning Bilt.
Creative Director / Director of Photography
Ben Raigoza is a passionate storyteller with experience in branding, web design, photography, and video.