Mihai Topoleanu Photography blog

After the Chinatown parade on Sunday, the group split – I guess that since the wait for the parade was longer than the parade itself, the people in our group were a bit worn out. But, as I was talking to Mike, he said something about doing some work for some friends of his, and I asked if he needs an extra ‘tog. Mike being a nice guy, said yes, so we went together to that event.

I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t even realize what kind of event it was until I got there – all I knew is that  it was an indoor event, and as for all indoor events, lighting is bad.

More after the break…

(continue reading…)

And the parade day came –  I left my home in the morning and headed out to the Canal St Starbucks to meet with the POTN gang. Nick, Tom and Crissa were already in position, down Mott street, and we went to join them.

We were lucky to have warm weather, blue sky with no trace of clouds and  sun. However, the weather was not so perfect for photography – the light was very strong and harsh. We had to either use flash, or shoot in the shade. Before the parade started, the sun moved a bit, and the road that was bathed in sunlight, was shaded by the nearby buildings.

More after the break…

(continue reading…)

This Sunday there will be a parade in Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The parade will have elaborate floats, marching bands, musicians, acrobats… and apparently, over 5000 persons are expected to take part in the parade.

Besides the fact this will be very interesting, I’m expecting it to be very very crowded, and i’m not really sure what gear to get. I’m leaning towards the 17-55 on 7D and 10-22 on 40D, although I think I’d need some telephoto coverage as well. Maybe I’ll use one WA zoom on the 7D and one of the telephoto primes on the 40D. I guess I’ll have to figure it out once I get there.

I will be joining few people from the POTN forum, who went to the parade in the past years, and maybe we’ll be able to “join” the parade, and take pictures from inside the police barricades, not from behind them. Based on the experience I had during the Halloween parade,  the probability of getting better photos is higher when you don’t have to fight for a place close to the barricade, and when you can roam freely through the parade.

I hope it won’t rain/snow, I’m still mentally scarred because of the Halloween parade experience, when it poured, and me and my gear got soaked…

Here is the link to the Feb 21st parade details: 11th Annual Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade & Festival

When I first started this blog, my thought was to “narrate” my journey into the photography world. And I did that, up to a point, when I got side-tracked with other things. I will continue the story from where I left off.

I had my mind set to go through Central Park for foliage colors, but things did not come together for some time. After I got my new camera, the 7D, I decided it was time to do what I planned.

First things first: Gear Selection – I  decided to use two bodies – 7D with canon 17-55 2.8 lens and 40D with canon 70-200 f/4 IS lens (this lens was rented, and I got it because it has the reputation of being the sharpest zoom in canon’s lens lineup, even sharper than some primes). I also decided to put the 85 1.8 lens in the bag, just in case. All these were housed in my Tamrac Aero 85 backpack (which I will review separately). Batteries were charged up from the night before (it once happened to me to forget to charge the battery when going to a baseball game, and it died halfway through the game…), memory cards were empty and formatted.

(continue reading…)