4th of July Parade, Lamoni Iowa

The color guard with the U.S. flag leading the 4th of July parade.

Each year for fun I photograph the 4th of July parade in Lamoni Iowa, and I send photos to the local newspaper. Here are some photos from this year’s parade, along with a few parade photography tips.

Parade camera gear.

This is my parade photography gear. One camera has a 24-105mm lens and the other has a 70-300mm lens. The small backpack has spare lenses, extra memory cards, and backup batteries. I put empty memory cards in each camera to minimize the need to change cards mid-parade. I charge all of the batteries the night before the parade.

Several years ago when photographing the Lamoni parade, my 24-105mm lens died. I replaced it with a 17-40mm lens out of the backpack. That means I had a focal length gap from 40 to 70mm but I got by. Some photos were shot with a wider filed of view than I prefer (like 40mm instead of 50 or 60mm), but I could crop those photos later on the computer.

Most of the photos taken with the Canon 7D Mark III and the 70-300mm lens.

For those of you who are curious about the numbers, I took 3 photos with my iPhone (which I could post immediately on social media), 52 photos with the camera with a 24–105mm lens, and 83 photos with the camera with a 70-300mm lens, for a total of 138 photos. The screen capture immediately above from Adobe Bridge shows most of the photos taken with one of the cameras. Monday afternoon by the 5 pm deadline, I will send a dozen or so of the best photos to the local, small town newspaper. I never know which photos or how many the paper will use.

Lamoni 4th of July parade.

Why two cameras? Because things happen quickly. If I were using just one camera there isn’t time to change lenses. Why not get a single, do it all, 24-300 mm lens? Because there isn’t a lens that covers that wide a focal length range with the quality I need. A 24-300mm lens would be a little soft at the wide end and much softer at long end. I really need sharpness at the long end. Another reason to have two cameras is in case one camera dies. You keep on shooting with the other camera. A quality point-and-shoot camera can be your second camera.

When I shoot with two cameras, one camera strap hangs around my neck and the other strap hangs from my right shoulder. That feels most comfortable for me. I can switch between cameras in about 2 seconds. The photos immediately above and below of the same flatbed trailer were taken with two different cameras, the one above with the 70-300mm lens (with less ball players) and the one below with the 24-105mm lens (and more of the ball players).

Lamoni 4th of July parade.

I do not have set focal lengths in mind. I look at the scene, decide how I want to frame it, and choose the lens and camera accordingly. When I looked down the street with the beginning of the parade over a half mile away, I wanted 300mm. With a long trailer right in front of me, I need something wider.

Lamoni 4th of July parade.

Shoot a little of everything, with an emphasis on the kind of photos people enjoy looking at. In a small town, people like to see photos of people they know so I include a good mix of group photos with several people.

The Pledge of Allegiance. Lamoni 4th of July parade.

I always shoot the color guard with the U.S. flag (photo at the top). This year the color guard stopped in the middle of downtown and we all did the pledge of allegiance to the flag.