I am not going to get into my views as they relate to the Minutemen and immigration. This blog is not a political one, but rather one focused on my passion for photography. I do have very strong opinions about this subject, but they may not be what you think.
The meeting was scheduled for 7pm. I left my house around 5:15pm so I could find a place to park and ensure I was in position early enough. I almost missed it! By the time I parked and approached the Uptown Theater where the event was being held, the protest rally was in full swing.
The leaders of the protest were speaking through a bullhorn to their followers. Within 15 minutes, they finished and all marched past the theater and back to a church where they finished their rally. Very few protesters remained and everything seemed very uneventful, so I almost went home. However, there was almost one hour left before the Minutemen meeting started so I decided to hang around and see if any other protesters showed up. I was not disappointed.
There were a group of young people who did not seem to be part of the original protest. They were all dressed similarly and several wore bandannas over their faces, which they said was due to the cold. The original group of protesters was very organized and the leaders were controlling the participants to avoid any kind of conflict. This group of young people was completely the opposite and had very foul mouths. Even so, they seemed interested in avoiding any kind of physical conflict.
At this point you are probably wondering, "What about the Minutemen?" Well, their side of the event was pretty boring. There was one lady outside with a homemade sign, and one other man with a printed sign. Most of their activities were focused on the meeting which started at 7pm. I am not omitting them on purpose, there just was not much to show.
Toward the end of my time there, three more young people showed up dressed in costume. The costume that caught my attention most was of a white knight of the KKK.
The atmosphere of the entire event was tense with strong emotions on both sides. But, there was no violence and everyone seemed pretty well behaved. In all, it was an example of free speech in action where everyone can speak their mind.
5 comments:
i was one of those bandana totin foul mouthed kids, but hey, you take pretty good pictures.
Very cool. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note. =)
Howdy, I enjoyed this entry a lot. I've wanted to try to shoot a protest as well and you did a great job with it. May I ask what lens you used? I assume you used your 430EX as well. Unfortunatley I haven't gotten out much to photograph, too much work lately. But this has gotten me more interested in shooting a protest, although we are pretty peaceful in Texas ;)
Hi, Natron! Glad to see you stopped by. I used my Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 for this. I find this a very useful lens and have it on my camera 95% of the time. I am looking for a medium telephoto zoom, but can't find anything I like.
Ah! Good to hear as I've been debating about that lens as my next lens... i really need something to replace my kit lens. The 17-40L piqued my interest by at f/4, i felt it may be too slow. I've read some good things about the 17-50 Tammy and its a pretty fast lens and sharp. That may have convinced me to go the Tammy route and get the speed vs. the 17-40 which is more expensive and slower.
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