Pitchfork (in and out of focus)

The view south from near the Connector Stage at the Pitchfork Music Festival on Friday night.  Although I've been known to intentionally put scenes out of focus from time to time, the top image was actually the result of a massive focusing error.  I like how it turned out.

I attended all three days of Pitchfork this year, which was an absolute blast (if a bit hot).  If you're interested, you can see more of my photos from the weekend in my Pitchfork set on flickr. 

Photo details: Nikon D90 with 105mm AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR lens, 1/500sec and f2.8, ISO200.

2010 Chicago Pride Parade

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.

Anyway, I found a good spot to watch the parade this year, right where it turns from Halsted to Broadway.  This allowed me to get some great shots of the approaching festivities:





I had the camera held above my head for at least one of those two photos.  This was necessary, because I didn't arrive early enough to get a front row spot, and I was looking through about two rows of people.  This resulted in a lot of photos where my view was obstructed, such as this one:



See that dark spot on the right-- that's someone's head moving into the frame just as I hit the shutter.  Erg!

I did get some good sign photos.  These are my favorites:





Someone standing near me tried to tell this guy that his sign was upside down, but he didn't seem to understand.  Say it with me... WON NOISULCNI SNART!  WON NOISULCNI SNART!

Finally, I think this was the least happy person I saw at the parade:



I doubt this lady wanted to be photographed, but hey, if you're gonna plop yourself on a window ledge on Halsted Street, it goes with the territory.

You can see more photos by visiting my Pride Parade set on flickr (which includes some half-assed photos from 2007 and 2008 as well).

Photo Details: Nikon D90 with 55-200mm for all shots.

Chicago Stock Yards

The South Side Irish parade, March 9th, 2008.  I've always wanted to see the South Side parade, and now I have, though unfortunately on a very cold, drab, overcast day.  This is the only photo taken that day that I really like.

The South Side parade is very similar to the downtown Chicago parade, only with perhaps less spectacular floats, but much more booze.

Nikon D50 with 18-70mm lens, 1/250sec at f5.

EDIT: This is the Chicago Stock Yards Kilty Band.

Chicago Pride Parade photos (aka: proof of concept: yes, I can actually photograph people.)

My three favorite photos from the Chicago Pride Parade:

Top photo: a shot of the crowd through the parade.  I took a sequence of these photos, perhaps a dozen, just trying to capture the enthusiasm of the crowd as the floats passed by.  I turned off the autofocus so the focal point would stay in the background.

Middle photo: my friend Chaz, enjoying the parade.

Bottom photo: Tom Skilling on the WGN float, having more fun than just about anyone I saw that day.  Kudos to you, Tom.

You can see the entire set on flickr.  I'm really happy and pleasantly surprised with how many decent photos I took.  I purposely tried to avoid the usual pride pictures-- the barely dressed men and women that are so prominent on the floats-- not because those aren't fun and entertaining, but I wanted to capture a different feel for the event.  If I go again next year, I'd like to focus even more on the crowd, perhaps a candid or portrait series of some sort.  I've never considered that type of photography my strong suit, but who knows, maybe I just need to do it more often?