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| Caribana 2007 in Toronto |
14 August, 2007 |
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Photograph courtesy David Cornet
 Even
though I have lived in the GTA my entire life, I had never been to
Caribana before. I should have gone years ago, but I have always had
other plans when it came around. This year I was convinced by my
brother to go with him. The colours, highly decorated floats and
costumes should be bait for any photographer, really. So, we got the
details and planned out our day.
The only actual planning
was for the actual parade. This was pretty much the only event that we
were even aware of. It was supposed to start at 10am. A little early
for a relaxing Saturday but that's fine. We arrive a little late and
figure that we should head near the end of the route just in case we
miss too many floats. As it turns out, the parade had not even started
yet. I was sure there were some general problems, and I was OK with
that. After all, it is a rather large event to organize and a little
delay is acceptable. This just gives us more time to scout out a good
vantage point before the other photographers get them.
 After
we pick our spots and prepare for the exposures, we wait, and wait, and
wait. OK so 12pm rolls on by and still no floats. At this point, the
sun is in it's "hot" position and I can feel a burn starting to set in.
I honestly did not expect to be out here even this long. I was sure
that the parade would be well under way at this point. Now I was
starting to get anxious. I did not want to stand out in the sun for
much longer, but I didn't want to vacate my spot if the parade started
up. So I waited some more.
 1230ish
and I can hear the music. Finally! A few minutes later and I can see
the tops of one of the floats. GREAT! So I get my gear ready and go
over my composition idea- OK now why did the float just stop?
Fifteen
minutes later, it's back on the move. It slowly comes up to our
positions and I'm furiously snapping frames. The float passes by and is
followed by... nothing? Where are the rest? I wait another twenty
minutes and after nothing else shows up I begin to get quite frustrated
and vacate my spot to investigate.
 After
navigating through the crowd, I come to the beginning of the parade.
All of the floats are there, but they are not moving for some reason.
Alright, I think to myself, I suppose they will have to start at some
point. Then I head back.
I take up my vantage point again (luckily enough a friendly person me held my spot for me) and waited.
During this time, I could feel my arms begin to get toasted. Yes, I know, you should wear sunscreen...
 Finally,
at around 2pm, I see the next float. I take another series of pictures
attempting to put aside my thoroughly cooked arms and somewhat grated
nerves. After that float passes, another four are immediately behind
it. So close together they are I had no time to properly frame them.
All of the participants were energetic, excited and most importantly,
wanting to have their picture taken. For the next hour, I was in and
out of the parade, (the barricades at this point were broken and the
parade was halted by all the wandering people) taking photographs at
whatever seemed interesting at that time.
 At
around 3pm the parade was still going strong (and very slowly), and my
sunburn at the level of "well done". I decided that I was not going to
be able take being exposed anymore and headed home. Next time I go to
Caribana, I will make an effort to be three hours late and have tons of
sunscreen.
See the other photos from Caribana 2007 here...
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