With the daylight fading on the First Night festivities I made my way down to the main stage where the People’s Procession (apparently someone has a thing for Lenin?) would finish. I figured I’d get some shots as the parade came in. As I approached I heard country music…not a genre I’m not real familiar [...]

I’d say I achieved my secondary goal, but that’s about it. I think the root of it was that I was underprepared–I didn’t know the event well enough to know exactly where to go–and I wasn’t mentally prepared for adopting the hi-I’m-here-from-so-and-so-to-take-your-picture persona. In short I was more than a little self-conscious about what I [...]