Dance Parade

This year the Dance Parade was awesome! Especially since I got a press pass and I could walk alongside the dancers. Once again, I had a hard time choosing between two lenses: the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 and the Canon EF 300mm f/4L. It was a lot easier to take the photos with the Sigma but soon after the parade started I switched to Canon.  

Before the parade started I had some great opportunities to photograph the preparations: practicing, assembling gear and resting. The huge frog vehicle was a must for me. It came inside a yellow truck and they needed almost ten men to carry it out from there. The place was surrounded with some more interesting looking vehicles: a wolf like bike, two giants ponies, a purple bus and a furry little green car.

The scene was very colorful and festive, As soon as the ribbon cutting ceremony was over, the parade started marching on Broadway and 21st. I caught this cute girl popping her head out from the bus's window and went to look for my favorite act.

During the preparations I saw a Japanese act of two girls covered with the cherry blossom, hanging out with a golden man. They were fantastic and I immediately declared them as my favorites. Although I have been twice to the Sakura Matsuri festival I have never seen anything like it before.

Another one of my favorites was a pink-haired girl riding on a gigantic "My Little Pony". The pony was so big that I had a hard time capturing all of it. Finally, I snapped a photo with my cellphone.

As for real animals, at the beginning of the parade, I saw Oswaldo Gomez, also known as Ms. Colombia, with her African grey parrot named Rosita. Also, I saw two dogs walking in the parade, one of them was a Chihuahua named "Little One". I was told that Little One never missed a dance parade in the city.

The parade was fun as well as exhausting. By the end of it I could barely walk let alone carry my 300mm lens. I packed everything, took the city bike and headed to recharge myself at Shake Shack. See you all at the next Dance Parade :)