2012 Mummer's Parade

Ray Sachs

Legend
Location
Not too far from Philly
Name
you should be able to figure it out...
This is a repost of something already up on M43.com, so if you've already seen it, there's nothing new here.....

Time once again for our annual installment of Mummer's Parade shots. Gotta be the strangest civic event north of New Orleans, at least in the Americas...

I shot exclusively with my Olympus, LOTS with the 14-150 zoom (I don't use a zoom much, but couldn't imagine a better lens for an event like this!), a little bit with the 9-18, a fair amount with the 12mm, and then a bit with the Samyung fisheye. A couple of quick gear observations - the improved AF on the new m43 cameras is a HUGE advantage for this type of shooting. I shot this event with the same lens last year, but with an EP2 body. Shooting with an EPL3 is like night and day in terms of nailing focus and the percentage of keepers. Big, BIG improvement. Second, if you're gonna immerse yourself in weirdness, a fisheye REALLY accentuates that. I sort of stuck the fisheye on as an afterthought as I was walking back to catch a train. I should have shot a LOT more with it. I think some of the fisheye shots do a better job of catching the essence of this crazy mess than any of the "normal" lenses. Distortion is your friend when shooting distorted stuff!

Full set on Flickr at:

2011 Mummers Parade - a set on Flickr

And here are some samples.

First, the parade itself...

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A few close ups:

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One with the Fisheye:

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Those maintaining what will have to pass for order:

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(my very favorite Philly cop!):
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And the people participating only slightly less directly!

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And a couple more fisheye shots, just because:

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-Ray
 
Ray these are fantastic! I caught a few earlier on Flickr, but then had to get offline before I could do much. Me thinks your fisheye was an excellent choice!

In addition the color post processing really accentuates the "insanity" or the parade atmosphere... Though I also like your monochromes/black and whites, as well. I will take more time to look at them over on Flickr, for sure.:D
 
Great shots, Ray. I love Philadelphia. I grew up in Toms River, New Jersey. A lot of New York-centric people moved into the area in the 1960s and 1970s. But my allegience was always with Philly. It was a lot easier to drive across New Jersey via Route 70 to get to Veteran's Stadium or the Spectrum than it was to get to New York. And so I rooted for all the Philly teams - the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers and Sixers. I remember being at the Vet the year it opened... sitting in the 50-cent cheap seats for a Braves-Phillies game and seeing Hank Aaron hit a home run. They say New York is a great sports town - and it is - but I've never seen the kind of passion that Philly fans have. The Mummers Parade is an extension of that passion in The Cradle of Liberty.
 
Despite all the obvious colour, I somehow find this best captured in monchrome. Great stuff Ray, right in the midst of it as usual!

P.S. 2012 just does not work as a pair of sunglasses. At first glance I thought that he had whipped them out from ten years ago!
 
Thanks all. I generally prefer B&W myself, but it would almost be criminal to reduce some of those costumes to monochrome! I think there are one or two color shots that would work well enough in B&W, but I couldn't do an all B&W series for this event!

And, no, 2012 does NOT work well with sunglasses. I guess we have the rest of the decade to figure out how to get a basically round lens into the numeral "1".... :cool:

-Ray
 
Great captures and fantastic colors, Ray! Thanks for sharing. Looks like I missed a cool party. :)

Also, think the use of the fisheye is interesting... decided to keep that lens? I especially like the 2nd mono fisheye of the woman walking away. Cool way to use the effect.
 
Great stuff Ray -- when I saw the thread title I figured it was you. The Mummer's Parade is a street-shooter's delight. Fish eye shots are particularly fun. I think they work well with the craziness of the event.
 
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