Chinese New Year Parade - Chinatown on the right day

There was no mistaking it this weekend as I headed down to Chinatown to watch the Chinese New Years parade that I got the date right. I arrived around 11:00AM and things were already abuzz with activity. Dragon dancers were warming up and parade participants were getting into place. Crowds were also gathering and lining the sides of the street up and down the parade route. The local media and even more people with cameras of every size and shape were frantically jockeying for position to stake their spot for the perfect shot. The parade began at noon with the Vancouver Police department and their bagpipe band leading the way. Then followed representatives from many of the local Chinese martial arts schools who had their Dragon Dance groups out which are always a crowd favorite. There were also corporate sponsors and members of the city government participating in the parade and handing out treats and red envelopes. About an hour into it was when the rain started. I got a few shots and tried out things like slow shutter speed to impart some motion and movement to the shots as well as trying to get some candid shots of people. Here is a small sample.

Chinatown on the wrong day

Well I got up early Sunday morning all ready to head down to Chinatown to catch the New Years parade and Dragon dances but found out once I got there that this was the wrong day and it would not be until next Sunday. I think I had read somewhere that they usually hold it the first Sunday before the actual New Years day which falls on a Thursday this year on the 7th of February. I knew something was wrong when I got there and it was completely quiet. But I made the best of it and since I had my camera with me I took some shots. Here are some pictures I took that include shots around Chinatown, the entry way of the Sun Yat Sen Garden and the False Creek area. I tried some shots with exposure bracketing and then merged them to create an HDR picture. I'm pretty pleased with the results because it was a very overcast during the entire time I was shooting and the brightness was a bit tricky to work with.