Havre de Grace Mardi Gras parade attendances have been pretty lame in the past – I shot the parade one year when crowds of tens liked a three to four block area. But this year, with a little help from the weather, the crowd in our little town was surprisingly large. It was still dark though, very. I moved back behind the crowd onto a small step, facing an intersection, and held the camera (with a long lens) above my head. With the screen tilted down, I was able to at least frame the exposure, relying on autofocus a little more than usual. The intro shot – these kids were getting into it more than most – was exposed at an extreme iso of 25,600. Some of the others I managed to squeeze it all the way down to 12,800. In other words, while between the lights and surrounding darkness the contrast was there, the whole scene was somewhat darker than this to the eye when viewed from my distance.

Admittedly I didn’t pay enough attention to the announcements as to who was who as far as floats and groupings, assuming that it would be obvious from the images. And, I’ve never really expected much out of night-time parade shots. But it’s all part of the story. With an occasional note:

I recognize the Mayor here:

The local Organization of Italian Business men float. These guys are always up for a parade, usually smoking, or at least holding, cigars and wearing long black overcoats. This is the first time I’ve seen that semi-mafioso look toned down a little. They’re cool.

Abby Burger:

Added to the Havre de Grace Mardi Gras Gallery…