Japanese Festival
This year was my first time attending the Japanese Festival, hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden, right by Tower Grove Park. One of the things I enjoy most about photography and my semi-unexpected obsession with it is that I want to get out there, to be shooting every day. And if I go to an event like this (where by “like this” I mean an event that many hundreds or even thousands are going to), I hope to get at least some shots that while fairly representing the moment aren’t where most people’s eyes would drift. This event was a joy to shoot. Very well organized, something going on in every corner of the grounds and often overlapping—but it went on for three days and most events were repeated, so you could either just meander, or choose when to stop in on a certain presentation. The shots below are from both Friday and Saturday.
50mm, f/9
50mm, f/9
50mm, f/9
50mm, f/2.2
50mm, f/2.2
50mm, f/2.2
50mm, f/5.6
50mm, f/5.6
50mm, f/5.6
50mm, f/5.6
50mm, f/5
50mm, f/5
50mm, f/5
This might be my favorite shots so far. There's a lot going on without it being noisy, several 'moments,' all distinct, some overlapping, and I like that it's representing this corner of feminine expression. To me it almost looks posed, like I set the scene.
50mm, f/5
50mm, f/5
50mm, f/5
50mm, f/5
I like this one, too. This gentleman sitting alone, doing something on his phone but with a new friend on his lap that he'll need to take care of.
50mm, f/9
85mm, f/8
This one is special to me because the woman dressed as a geisha on the right had noticed me shooting and chose to look over her shoulder right at the camera, when she was supposed to just be staring straight ahead, showing the back of her ensemble to the crowd.
50mm, f/8
A magician working the crowd. I'd been trying to find a way to get a decent image from his impromptu performances. He wasn't on the schedule. He would just wander around the grounds and decide when he wanted to perform and he'd start. I'd tried a number of things and nothing was working. Stood up on a bench here and grabbed this when he began running this young sir around in circles, and while normally I don't like subjects looking at the camera it sometimes makes the shot a touch better.
50mm, f/8
50mm, f/8
Another 'off the schedule' performance. I love that they worked in these little moments of surprise.
50mm, f/8
The dashi procession.
