Band Kids Never Give Up...
I photographed my 1st Marching Band Invitational... well, my son's band's marching band invitational - his first (he is a freshmen) but their 3rd annual.
My son's school band hosted it but there were 14 visiting bands... his band was only scheduled (we'll get back to that 'scheduled' point later) to do an exhibition performance since they were hosting - hosting band does not compete. His band competed at one last week and will do so at another next week... busy schedule these band kids keep.
Luckily there were 3 other photographers as well (there were likely a few thousand people there between bands, parents, and friends)... two were other parents and one was a student and band member so he didn't get to shoot the entire time, but he did shoot quite a bit...
Side Note: That student photographer I just mentioned - He is a senior and an amazing fashion photographer with a phenomenal eye - particularly for his age! Please check out his Instagram @iamjackgrooms and if you know anyone in or around the fashion or fashion photography industries please consider turning them on to his Instagram as well. He's a great kid and a great photographer so I'd love to see him get connected with someone in the industry that could really help him make the jump into it.
All 14 bands performed but the rain kept coming and going - but those kids were absolute troopers...
I shot my Pentax 150-450 all night because it is weather sealed - the Tamron 70-200 is not so it stayed in the car (I really missed the option to push to 2.8 when it got dark and rainy, but the 150-450 4.5-56 held its own quite nicely - I was thoroughly impressed with how well it did!)... because it was POURING at times... as you'll see in some of the shots - those white streaks on some of the shots are hard angled rain!
My son's band actually didn't get to play - they had to delay a bit for a really bad downpour at one point and more severe storm was on the way so they used their performance time to clean up the school grounds after the event.
But it was so much fun to shoot! Especially in the rain - in part because I got to have a little fun poking at friends with Canon and Nikon who were scared of the rain... ;) I'm just razzing 'em but it is kind of fun that the rain doesn't stop me from shootin'! They are all great photographers and they wrapped their gear up and kept on shootin'!
And seriously, these kids from these schools never gave up so we knew we had to do right by them and keep shooting - they performed in wind and rain and more rain... they put on great performances and it was amazing to watch, and record, their talent and dedication in action!
Here are some of the rain shots that will give you the general idea of how wet it got - the rain just kept stopping and starting and got heavier each time it did... I got over 1,500 shots just on my camera so here are just a few... They are all out on a public site so the parents of these amazing kids can view and download them - but these are some of my favorite "it is raining" shots...
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