2013 Chicago Pride Parade Vignettes

I attended the Chicago Pride Parade again this year and I've added a set of photos to flickr.  I almost didn't go this year.  After also attending the Blackhawks parade on Friday (so many parades, so little time!), I was a bit worn out, but the pride parade is such a fun event to photograph and contains such a fascinating mix of people, I couldn't pass up another opportunity.  Please go to flickr to see the full set, but here are a few highlights:


"Balloon People" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved. Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f6.3, ISO100. This balloon company's parade entry was impressive.


"Raise 'Em Up" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 16-85mm lens, 1/400sec at f8, ISO100.


"I'm a Yes" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/640sec at f6.3, ISO100. Proponents of marriage equality, not surprising, had a huge presence in this year's parade.


"Toni" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f6.3, ISO100. This is Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle.


"Friends Forever" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/400sec at f5.6, ISO100. I also took a photo of Benny the Bull last year. This year he brought a friend with him.


"Pride Bubbles" Copyright Andy Marfia 2013 All Rights Reserved.Nikon D7100 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/500sec at f5.6, ISO100.

I think of my pride parade photos as a series of vignettes-- small glimpses that reveal something greater about the event and the people attending.  My goal is to put you, the viewer, in the thick of things.

All photos were were taken along Broadway Ave, between Montrose and Irving Park Road.

Faces of the 2012 Chicago Pride Parade

I stopped by the 2012 Pride Parade with the intention to take just a few photos and post them by Monday or Tuesday of the following week.  Here it is Saturday and I'm finally writing a blog post about it.  Needless to say, I found myself with a lot more shots than expected, which is a good problem to have. 

Here's a set featuring 25 of my favorites:


All photos taken with a Nikon D7000 and either a 16-85mm or a 70-300mm Nikkor lens. Copyright Andy Marfia 2012 All Rights Reserved.

Since Flickr is still using flash for these slideshows, those of you on iPhones and iPads probably can't see a thing.  Follow this direct link.

This set includes the usual mix or parade subjects-- from politicians to spectators to a guy in an over-sized dog outfit-- but I did try to focus more on faces this year.  The thing that I've realized after going to this event for many years is that I really don't care about the floats, at least not in and of themselves.  It's the people sitting on them or walking along side them, and the emotions they reveal as they soak in the day-- that's what's interesting to me.

All of these photos were taken on Broadway Ave between Montrose and Irving Park Road.  The city of Chicago changed the route of this year's parade, extending it to Montrose and removing the hairpin turn that used to exist at Halsted, Broadway, and Grace.  Overall, I think this was a very good change and it was notably less crowded where I was. 

2011 Chicago Pride Parade Photos

I've finally finished posting photos from last weekend's Pride Parade in Chicago.  Here's the whole set:



Most of these were taken at the north end of the parade, at the intersection of Halsted, Broadway, and Grace streets.  A few others were taken along Halsted St., roughly between Grace and Roscoe. 

Last year I wrote the following about my parade photos:

"I made another half-ass attempt to photograph the Pride Parade this year.  I say "half-ass" not because I dislike the photos, but rather because I always leave the parade feeling like I could have done a better job.  Perhaps by next year, I'll finally have a definitive set."

I'm not sure if this year's set is "definitive" but it's certainly less half-assed than in the past.  I improved on last year in two important ways: 1) I arrived at the parade an hour before it started, securing a position at the front of the fence on Grace St, and, 2) I brought a much better lens with me, in the 70-300mm Nikkor f4.5-f5.6.  Yes, gear matters. 

My only regret is that I didn't get a photo like this one by flickrite TheeErin.  That's really an awesome shot.

Also, I ran out of memory cards.

Also, I probably ventured about one block too far south.  Around Roscoe street the crowd got ugly, with lots of pushing and shoving as people tried to move around.  This was by far the most crowded parade that I've been to. 

But overall, I like this year's photos.  Maybe I'll take next year off.

Photo of the Week: Rahm!

Nikon D7000 w/ 70-300mm lens, 1/2000sec at f5.6, ISO200. Copyright 2011 Andy Marfia, All Rights Reserved.

As I've done for the last few years, I took a ton of photos at this year's Chicago Pride Parade.  It will undoubtedly take me a couple of days to go through them and get the best ones on the internet, but I thought I'd get started with this shot of our Mayor, Rahm Emanuel.  I had planted myself near the turn at Halsted, Broadway, and Waveland, and Rahm came around shaking hands.  Just before he got to me, he did some sort of Arsenio Hall style fist pump and ran off.  This photo doesn't really do it justice (I was zoomed in too close), though I think it's a neat photo regardless.