It was a cold, rainy Saturday. It didn’t start off too bad—when I set out that morning, stopping at my neighborhood coffee shop for an Americano and a breakfast sandwich, the weather was mild and a little misty. I met up with the Glossed Over photo club crew and walked over to Broad Street to catch the annual Dominion Energy Christmas Parade, and by the time we staked out a little square of sidewalk, the temperature had dropped and the mist fattened into full-on rain.
The parade marchers and float-riders wore clear plastic ponchos and held umbrellas as they streamed by, grinning and waving despite the growing cold. Cheerleaders smiled and kicked, their made-up faces shining wet, the fur of mascot uniforms matted with rainwater. Over and over, the paraders thanked us for coming out in the dreary weather.
I quickly learned that my own raincoat, a recent purchase that hadn’t been properly tested out yet, was more water-resistant than waterproof, the long sleeves of my shirt underneath gradually soaking through to the skin. My hands were cold and wet, and my lens perpetually fogged and dappled with rain, making it hard to focus on the subjects in my viewfinder. I had no idea what to expect when I sent the film off to the lab for processing, each shot a gamble. Most of the color film from that day turned out to be underexposed, but this black and white roll of Kentmere 400 perfectly captured the feel of the day, grim, grey, and hazy. The above shot is one of my favorites from the roll—I love how the color guard members in their shining headbands resemble the Amazon women of Wonder Woman comic books.
One of my favorite things to capture in photography is movement, especially when the conditions are challenging; this is why I love photographing sports like skateboarding, surfing, and rodeo. It’s gratifying to point a manual-focus camera at a moving subject, knowing you only have an instant or two to grab the shot, and later find that you nailed it. It’s hard enough to manually focus your camera quickly when something is moving in and out of frame—throw in slippery, cold fingers and the challenge gets a little tougher. I stayed until the very end of the parade. By the time I hobbled home that day, I was soaked through from my head to the wet socks on my feet. My body was sore and tense from bracing against the damp chill. It was worth it when I saw the developed images and had gotten what I went out there for. It felt like an exercise in that sort of quick-draw action photography that I gravitate towards, like working a muscle I want to be strong.
Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.