Breton dancers

[bhurley]

I got asked by a group of friends from Brittany to take photos of them dancing in the annual St-Patrick's Day Parade here in Montréal on Sunday. I happened to catch this image in which almost everyone's feet were off the ground. Lighting conditions were difficult: the parade started at noon on a cloudless day, bitterly cold (-6 Celsius, 21 Fahrenheit, with a strong wind that made the air feel a lot colder); I don't know how the musicians managed to move their fingers! The dancers warmed up quickly; I stayed warm by running all over the place snapping photos.

[wlou]

A good picture Brad. It may have been coold yesterday, but its a snow storm today. So I gess you were lucky with the weather.

[bhurley]

Yes, we were lucky the snow didn't hit on Sunday! I just came back from shovelling. ;-)

The image is cropped as you can tell, so it loses quite a bit of resolution, but it feels like a panorama in this aspect ratio and I like the sense of movement.

[dje]

I like it too Brad, it really captures the spirit of the parade. The pano works well too I think.

Dave

[Shadowman]

Lucky for you there were no clouds or else you wouldn't get those animated cast shadows. I would keep those in the image if it doesn't offset what you have presented here.

[bhurley]

Yes, the shadows are definitely part of the image! I did feel compelled to crop them a bit at the bottom, otherwise the image would be bottom-heavy (and if I extended the image higher there would be some unwanted distractions up there). I have another black-and-white image where the shadows play an even greater role; I'll post that in a moment.

[bhurley]

Here's one in black and white:

[djg05478]

Very Nice!

I live an hour south in VT...every year I think about attending the parade and never make it happen. Maybe next year.

[bhurley]

And one more in colour; the lighting here was hard too...I had no fill-in flash so had to be careful with exposure and a little bit of post work to lighten the faces.

[bhurley]

I live an hour south in VT...every year I think about attending the parade and never make it happen. Maybe next year.

I've been living here for 10 years and it was the first time I've been to the parade. Being in it as opposed to watching it was exciting and a little scary: when we hit Ste-Catherine street the crowds became huge and a little unruly, although everyone was in a good mood; I took photos of some of the spectators as well, which was fun. I normally only do landscape photography but I really enjoyed taking photos of these folks.

[Shadowman]

Here's one in black and white:

Very nice, just shows middle of the day shooting can provide some dramatic imagery.

[djg05478]

.....when we hit Ste-Catherine street the crowds became huge and a little unruly, although everyone was in a good mood

..and that is the reason I haven't made it happen. I'm not really comfortable in those types of situations. Nor am I going to elbow my way to the front of the crowd to be in a good position to take pix.

Guess I'll just enjoy yours