How to Photograph a Hometown Parade

Independence Day 2009

I am fortunate to have a wonderful nephew who has a great family and lives very close to the heart of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Along with Concord and Lexington, the whole area is a treasure trove of American history. Not every hometown parade comes complete with Minutemen shooting muskets, but every town has its own story to tell. Hometown parades are better than "big city" parades for a photographer; you don't need a crane to shoot over the crowd or need to get in a good position and the parade itself is less predictable. Summer parades like the Independence Day and Memorial Day processions are the best for color and history. Read on for some techniques-and then grab your camera and go capture some local color.

Things You'll Need

• Small Town Parade
• Camera

Instructions

1. 

   Every small town parade will have some antique cars. They are colorful, have unique horns and make for great pictures. Who are all these people in the cars? The locals may know and some cars might have signs of local politicians. But who are these two? In any case, if you like antique cars a local parade is a good place to find them. They usually rally at the start and finish lines of the parade if you want a closer look.

2. 

   Every parade will also have clowns and acrobats. Clowns scare me, but these two on the unicycle were quite good. Sure, at the Macy's Day Parade you could see a troupe of Russian Acrobats, but try getting a picture. At the local parade it is easy to be in the center of the action.

3. 

   Every parade will have some unique local color. In Sudbury it is a fife and drum group straight out of the Revolutionary War. In a western town it might be Native American dancers. Whatever it is, take a picture of it. If you want to document the time and place of the parade nothing will help more than having a picture like this.

4. 

   To me, the funny part of the parade is that all of the local merchants have floats. The Chinese restaurant throwing out candy to the kids, the local Nursery carting a trailer full of bushes add to the local flavor and make for interesting pictures (I am glad this guy wasn't giving out free samples).

5. 

   Every parade comes complete with music. At the Sudbury parade the Fife and Drum Corps was just the start. It seemed like every float had a musical element even if it was just a boom box. The pipers are always my favorite to photograph.

6. 

   Some parades like the Sudbury parade have some unique elements. As we stood there watching the parade I distinctly heard gunshots. My nephew smiled and said "oh here they come." Mothers pulled their children back from the parade route and covered their ears. The Minutemen had indeed returned to Sudbury and gave me some great "shots."

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to be courteous and share the parade with other spectators.

• It takes a village to raise a child; be careful of the little ones underfoot.