Life through a lens

Last year at the Carnaval parade, I saw a girl with a beautiful smile dressed in colorful clothes dancing with a joyous abandon.

This year, she has been crowned San Francisco Carnaval’s teen queen with an electrifying performance in the junior king and queen contest as I mentioned in the previous post. After the event, she and her family graciously gave photographers like me some time for portraits. Showing a patience and grace beyond her years, Cassandra posed with a cheerful smile on her face.

The way she had danced like a trained ballerina, it was a surprise for me to learn from her that she does not have any formal ballet training. She is in eighth grade and I really wish one of the numerous dance companies in San Francisco Bay area would take her under their wing. There was this slogan on the mural in Everett Middle school lobby - “Follow your dreams”.

Follow your dreams Cassandra! I wish you all the luck.

April 25, 2008 An Update
(courtesy Colleen Tiffenson from Mas Makers, a leading Carnival group of SF bay area ):
“Cassandra is a long time student of noted Bay Area Choreographer Linda Johnson and attends the Oakland School of Performing Arts. She is scheduled to be part of two dance camps this summer at UC Berkeley and Alvin Ailey in NY. As a member of Mas Makers performing cast, her talent is recognized and she is receiving guidance in the pursuit of her dreams.”

This past weekend was the junior king & queen / prince & princess contests of Carnaval held at Everett middle school auditorium on Church street in San Francisco. Carnaval crowned a new junior queen, a prince and a princess to add to its 2008 royalty.

The event had its moments - a perky six year old dressed in bright green takes the stage, starts and then freezes seeing the massive stage and lights. “Do you want to dance again?” Shake of the head indicates negative. Three requests to dance follow but no luck; kiddo wants to come back to the shelter of the side of stage.

After two more performances by others, the kid comes on encouraged by parent and under flashes of the camera, dances graceful movements to a perfect rhythm, looking to his parent for approval from time to time. The music finishes and happy and buoyed by the dance, he returns thrilled with his performance. Everyone on this stage is a winner for me.

I remember when I first went to recite poetry on a big stage with lights and hundreds of eyes watching me in the lighted up auditorium. There was no lectern to lean on and my legs were shaking uncontrollably but with hands clasped behind my back, I put up a brave front, recited my poem and somehow moved into a different zone. When my poem finished and the clapping sound brought me back to earth, it was a moment of relief that the recital went well without any lines being bungled. Yes, I could certainly understand what the six-year old was going through initially.

A good rhythm and dancing never fails to have my feet tapping. If I were not behind the camera, I think I would be dancing.

Though there were many stellar performances, I really loved Cassandra’s performance. She was the first participant on the roster for teen queen and she had a charismatic brilliance. Moving very gracefully, her steps flowed like a trained ballerina and those included an air split.

My Congratulations to all the youngsters and to their parents who provide the all necessary support and encouragement for them to follow their dreams. Much goes on behind the scenes to put up any such event; kudos to Roberto Hernandez and Karol An Meier for their loving dedication and the legacy they impart to these kids for years to come.

Some portraits follow…more photos of all the participants may be seen in my event galleries .

I have always enjoyed photographing San Francisco Carnaval. I remember back in 1993 when I had just arrived in SF after travelling for around thirty-two hours. I got to my hotel room and opened the television and there it was, the Carnaval parade in full regalia. I resolved to go to the parade next year and have been photographing the parade ever since almost every year. This year is the 30th anniversary of San Francisco Carnaval.

Last night, I was at 1015 Folsom in San Francisco to photograph the Carnaval King and Queen contest. It turned out that the format had been changed this year and we would only see the finalists of a preliminary competition held earlier. Wish I knew earlier.

Everett and Kellita of Hot Pink Feathers were crowned King and Queen of San Francisco Carnaval 2008 after a scintillating performance. Here are some portraits of Everett and Kellita from the event. More may be seen in my Carnaval galleries to be updated sometime this week.

Everett all smiles: “what a feeling to be the king”…

the bubbly, energetic queen Kellita with a big smile…

Posing for a portrait after the crowning…

Savoring the moment…

All hail the king and queen…

My congratulations to Everett and Kellita, the new royalty of Carnaval!

‘Was an overcast day for the San Francisco Carnaval parade in mission district this year. After the parade, I went to the street festival on Harrison St. I have not been doing any street photography for quite some time. I have always liked meeting and photographing strangers on the streets. The photos in this post incorporate the colorful murals along Harrison.

It was a pleasant surprise to see my photograph of Yuyi featured on the website of San Francisco Arts Commission.

Maybe one day, I will get a grant to pursue my photography projects too.

Drum beats and colorful dancers. Add a gorgeous day to the mix and this would sum up the San Francisco Carnaval parade this year. I chose to drive and got to the parade bright and early and walked to where the participants were warming up, getting ready for the parade. Along the way, met a photographer friend and we walked some ways together, ready for a long day taking pictures.

I always want to shoot portraits but then, I am also interested in action portraits of the beautiful people dancing. Ofcourse, it’s another story that I end up liking the posed portraits much more. Maybe, next year, if I am around to photograph the parade, I’ll shoot more portraits instead of action. Or maybe not. I am too fickle, maybe too moody.

I met the three musketeers warming up next to the gray wall.

Yuyi, my friend, is an accomplished artist. You can see some of her illustration work on Yuyi’s site.

I met Nina with her friends at the Carnaval wall in Mission district. This was her first time participating in the parade.

Monique is the reigning queen of SF Carnaval 2006. Dressed in bright fluorescent green feathers, apparently her creation, flashes me her brilliant smile.

Christy has a beautiful smile with dimples. Dancing with her contingent, Mara Reggae, she stopped briefly, to allow me to compose the picture.

Kim Anderson sashayed down the Mission street with the Mara Reggae troupe. She has has an infectious personality with a ready smile, makes you want to take a picture of her.

Throughout the day, my senses have an overload of visual and auditory stimulations. And, I keep on shooting. At the end of the day, after I am back home, I feel dehydrated, sunburnt, yet happy with a long day’s shoot. It energizes my spirits. Does photography energize you too?

I have been away from the blog for quite some time. To make amends, here are some images from the King and Queen contest of San Francisco Carnaval 2006. If you like, see many more unprocessed proofs in my event galleries.

Carnaval is always colorful with fantastic rhythms, music and spirited dancing by the beautiful people.

Luis Fernando, the newly crowned king of SF Carnaval is all smiles with his electrifying moves.

I chatted with the newly crowned queen, Monique Perry after the event when I took this picture. She was very gracious and soft-spoken. As I waited for the ballroom light to shine blue, she posed very patiently.

My congratulations to the newly crowned royalty of San Francisco Carnaval!