Parade!
So, I’m like 95% sure I’m going to go to the Giants’ Parade tomorrow- I want to take pictures for my photo class (which, I think I have to actually miss in order to take the pictures- oh well!).
Does anyone know where a good spot would be to stake out? And how many hours ahead of time? It starts down in battery park- if I find a spot around 10 somewhere up a ways, is that good?
And hey- is anyone else thinking of going and want to meet up? Or are you all being fuddy-duddies and going to work? 
Tags: football, giants parade, superbowl
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Avah | February 4, 2008
By Adrian Hardhand, February 4, 2008 @ 11:53 pm
Hello Avah,
You need to think what it is you want to shoot. The team? Audience reactions? Or whatever. The team may well be difficult to shoot without a press pass, unless you have a seriously long & fast lens, 300 or 400 2.8. So decide what you want to shoot, but be alert for allother interesting things. Carry plenty of film. Put a new battery in the camers before heading out, and carry another in your camera bag. If you have a couple of camera bodies, take both of them, one with the widest lens you have. Clean everything tonight, and make sure the lenses are dustfree. If you have an incident meter, check light levels carefully and frequently. That said, the main things you can bring to event photography are unflagging alertness and energy. Remember while shooting that every moment is unique, so don’t think “is this good?” simply capture the moment. Take lots of film. 20 cassettes wouldn’t be excessive. Since you’re primarily shooting b/w, Tri X should be appropriate.
Yrs in pervery, Adrian
By Avah, February 5, 2008 @ 12:02 am
Thanks for the good advice. Though it looks like I’m fairly ill-prepared. My longest lens is only 105mm (f2.8) so I’m not counting on great shots of the team unless I can elbow my way to the front of the barricades.
And all I have is Fuji, but it’s been good to me. I’ve already been figuring on using higher grain (I have 1600) to get a more documentry quality- and I’m not expecting sunny conditions tomorrow, so I think it’ll be fine.
I have a digital camera as well in my possession that I borrowed from the school, so I was thinking of bringing that too, though it’s max zoom is 70mm. Oh well.
I only need 3 shots for class, so I hope to get some good print worthy shots.
But oh man, a ticker tape parade! It’s so exciting!
By Adrian Hardhand, February 5, 2008 @ 3:29 pm
Hello Avah
It’s midmorning here in Hawaii, which means it’s midafternoon in NY. I’ve been looking at the parade images at the NY Times website. A huuuge event!
So by now you understand what it’s like to try to capture a really exciting event photographically. We can’t just let go & explode with joy. We have to remain focussed on the task we’ve set ourselves, or we’ll miss 99% of the best images. For me, that means being clear about whether I want to create remarkable images, or whether I simply want to have a good time. The mindsets are distinct. As well as photography, I’m also a classically trained musician, and the same thing applies there. If I simply space out and enjoy the music, the performance suffers. So I have to stay focussed. The audience will, I hope, enjoy the music, but I have to stay focussed on creating this beauty, this pleasure, for them.
Yrs in pervery, Adrian