Baytown Christmas Parade

Baytown held its annual Christmas Parade on Friday night and my wife and I braved the cold [for Texas anyway – about 45 degrees] for a couple of hours. I had hoped to come up with some “Holiday” shots for my photo clubs upcoming assignment on that topic, but didn’t really end up with anything out of the 140 shots I took that rose to that level. I did get a few I ended up liking that I will try to post here over the next few days. The balance fell short not only due to the usual technical issues I struggle with in limited light shooting, but also with other issues. The old downtown Texas Avenue venue often appears more run-down than quaint and gets worse all the time in spite of the city father’s efforts to save it. The crowd seemed festive enough but seemed to lack the right photogenic elements, and many of the parade participants could have been marching in any parade [e.g.: low-rider car clubs and karate clubs.] But then again that’s small town parades for you. I have no doubt that other photographers might have captured far better moments from the same spot I was standing.

Tech: Oly E-3 f4 & 1/60 @ ISO 1600 +1EV, Zuiko 12-60 @ 20mm, Flash fired in auto mode Post Processing: Duplicate Background>Crop>High Pass Sharpen>Curves>Levels>Topaz Adjust Noise Reduction, Topaz Adjust “Simplify” Preset>Crop>Lens Distort Vignette