Taking on the Concord 250 Parade as a Student Photographer
By Grace Chai
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It was 6 a.m. when I rolled out of bed, blearily rubbing my eyes to double-check that it was indeed time to get ready for the day. It was an early start for me, but it wasn’t nearly as bad for me as it was for the two hundred UMass Minuteman Marching Band members who had a 4:30 a.m. call time to drive from Amherst to Concord.
That’s what I told myself as I brushed my teeth, braided my hair, and ensured everything was ready for the day. I had two backup SD cards for my camera — my precious Nikon that I had saved up to buy last winter — and a fully-charged battery. My lucky yellow mango sticky rice plush keychain that I attached to my camera bag smiled up at me, and I gave it a squeeze, feeling excited that the band was playing 20 minutes away from my hometown in Boxborough, MA.
After wolfing down some breakfast, I laced up my trusty black Dinkles — the iconic marching band shoe — and I was ready to go. I took one last glance in the mirror. I looked like the perfect ambassador for the marching band in my maroon shirt with a giant “U” emblazoned on it and khaki pants with deep pockets ideal for storing camera lens covers and my phone.
It was go time.
While driving down, I quickly realized why the town of Concord had gone to all the effort to make a color-coded map of blocked roads and alternative ways to get to the parade site. Almost every possible place you could take a turn was blocked off, and I was getting worried that I wouldn’t be able to get to Concord-Carlisle High School, where I was supposed to meet everyone at 7:30 a.m.
My dad ended up dropping me off near the intersection by the high school, where I watched four red and white buses round the corner. At least I knew I was in the right place!
Starting the Day
When I arrived, the band was putting on uniform parts and warming up their instruments, and as soon as a fellow Audio/Visual staff member handed me an SD card, I was shooting away.
Even though it was chaotic running back and forth to take pictures at good angles, and adjusting to the changing lighting as the day progressed, I had a lot of fun taking photos.
My favorite types of photos to take are candids because they capture a moment in time that is authentic and fun. This parade, in particular, gave me so many opportunities to take pictures of band members interacting with parade goers and having fun despite the 80-degree weather.
It was amazing being able to return somewhere where I had taken field trips as a kid and visually capture the band performing at such an important anniversary event.
Photographing the parade
Throughout the entire parade, which was about 3 miles long, I took over 1,000 photos and posted about 200 to Facebook on the UMMB Media account for band members, alumni, and parents to see. The initial SD card hadn’t been enough — I ended up taking so many photos that my camera told me that there was no more space on the card, and mid-parade, I switched to my personal SD card and finished the job. The cutting and editing process was long, but I truly enjoyed going through my full take and finding gems that I knew people would appreciate.
As my first official gig photographing the marching band as an A/V staffer, I think it was very successful, and I’m looking forward to growing more as I take on more gigs!
