The new year’s upon us, and I can’t think of a better way to (attempt to) (re)start this blog than with a set of photos from London’s New Year’s Day Parade. Now in its 30th year, it’s got an extremely State-side vibe, what with marching bands and cheerleaders! Reportedly 8,5000 performers took part, with close to 30 bands from American high schools.
Despite having shot street parades many times before, I’d never been caught in a situation where poor crowd control made for blocked visibility. I was told that they’d be forming up the barriers and stopping all road crossings, but they didn’t, and people were allowed to continually stream across with impunity, during the parade (in between the contingents)! Fortunately, I was again testing my monopod elevation technique, which was first deployed during SantaCon last month. It worked wonderfully. So here’s a tip, and a reminder to self: never stand ‘downwind’ of a crossing, no matter what the stewards tell you.
This being such a colourful event, I’d be remiss not to share shots in colour, though I personally prefer the black and white selection (below):
