Pageantry arts (Marching Band/Drum & Bugle Corps)

[Wsman2]

Here are a couple links relating to another strong interest of mine.

Drum & bugle corps pics (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/1497609/)

California high school marching bands (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/1463474/)

[AlexMa]

Cool Deal!

I marched VK 87' Remember them?

Euphi's Rule...others drool ;)

[Wsman2]

Cool Deal!

I marched VK 87' Remember them?

Euphi's Rule...others drool ;)

It's hard to forget them. 2KOOLVK

[AlexMa]

SCV is still my top choice........too bad they lost their director:cry:

I know he made a great inffluence in DCI!

If is could do it all over again I would have marched when I was 14.

I only marched 1 year......life just got in the way after that.

I'm in so cal......and there are 2 comps within 30 mins. Hope to make it out next season.

Did you ever march?

[Wsman2]

Nope, never marched. Just followed since '83. Up here where I am, there are 3 comps within 45 minutes (one of them, the CSO, is 2 minutes away).

And if you haven't heard, DCI World Championships will be in the Rose Bowl in 2007. Talk about a prime opportunity to take the equipment (but DCI has photo restrictions now). However, go into Webshots (http://www.webshots.com) and check out some pretty sweet pics taken by Charles Frey who lives down in San Diego (do a search for "drum & bugle corps"). Two years ago, he took pictures of the San Diego portion of the "Tour of Champions" that had DCI's 6 title-holding corps tour to CA for a week AFTER Championships. It allowed the West Coast to finally see late season shows that were actually complete for a change.

[AlexMa]

HAHAHA

Complete it right!

It's always amazing the transformation by the time it hits finals.

U can sometimes tell if a corp is going to kick some brass.

It's always cool to see BD or SCV "in the raw".

[flugelboy]

Sweet! It's always nice seeing drum corps pics. I didn't see VK 87 but I saw them MANY times over the next few years. I marched Suncoast 88,89,92 and Magic 1990.

[Wsman2]

Sweet! It's always nice seeing drum corps pics.

Yep, the colors and still-action are nice, but it's much better to see the movement and get your face blasted off.

I miss Suncoast, and VK, and Freelancers, and 27th, and........

[stephaniebarnes]

wow, some of those shakos look really familiar, ours are something like some of those with black plumes and silver strips...

and the bigger one on the far right corner looks out of step :), I was usually the first one to notice that in hour h.s. band this year since this years seniors (I am one) have been marching since 8th grade
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/90961031/in/set-1497609/

[AlexMa]

Hey guys!

I just updated my avatar.............forgot I had this.

[Wsman2]

Hey guys!

I just updated my avatar.............forgot I had this.

Nice. :cool:

Now I feel like I'm in one of the drum corps forums.

[AlexMa]

LOL

I always look back and wish I had more invlovement then one year.

I think my local corps are Impulse and Yamamoto.

Too bad we don't have a very strong influence down here in So Cal.

With all these people we need to revitalize the movement.

After all, we need something to shoot at.

[Wsman2]

You got Impulse right (from Buena Park), but that would be Yamato (members from the Riverside area & Japan).

The California corps scene looks like this:
Division 1 - Concord Blue Devils, Santa Clara Vanguard, Mandarins (Sacramento, won D2 & D3 numerous times), Pacific Crest (Diamond Bar), and Esperanza (San Diego, D2 champion in 2003).

Division 2 - Blue Devils "B", Vanguard Cadets, Impulse, and Fever (Modesto, remember Valley Fever?).

Division 3 - Yamato, Blue Devils "C", Mystikal (Buena Park), and Hawthorne Gold (Hawthorne). I don't know why DCI bothers judging BDC when they're basically aged 6-13, like this one: Pint Sized Member (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/42/76504211_cd426a6529.jpg).

But it doesn't stop there.

The past 4-5 years, there have been senior corps for people of all ages (some teens, but mainly the ageouts that still have a little something in the gas tank). They compete mainly in DCA, but when they compete here in the West, they're put into a "Senior Division" at a DCI show. Those "oldies" consist of: the San Francisco Renegades, River City Regiment (Sacramento), and SoCal Dream (somewhere in L.A.).

[Wsman2]

Jeezus. Someone let me know if I'm "over-geeking". ;)

Anyways, enough about drum corps & marching band. Right now, it's winterguard season.

I'm planning to at least attend Winter Guard International's West Power Regional (http://wgi.org/comp/reg/2006/West%20PR.php#) since it's close by.

***For anyone thinking of checking out a winterguard event, be forewarned that flash photography is not permitted. You can blind the performers which may cause serious injury. It has to do with some of the technical aspects they do - such as tossing & catching equipment - which happens quite a bit.***

[nrsieber]

I never had the privelage to march in DCI, but I marched contra in the 2000 Reading Buccaneers (DCA). I marched contra for 2 years in high school as well, and have been assisting and photographing my high school band since graduation (www.sthsband.org/gallery (http://www.sthsband.org/gallery)). I picked up a digital rebel XT and 70-300 lens just before chapters and ACCs this year and had some amazing results.

It's too bad that 70mm isn't quite wide enough to shoot from our press box, but I would love to shoot from the top of Lackawanna County Stadium with the digital rebel. I also photograph the musicals (www.sthsmusical.org/gallery (http://www.sthsmusical.org/gallery)) and picked up a speedlite 580ex, wired remote, a diffuser and mini softbox in case they are nice and will let me shoot a few scenes of the rehearsals using a flash this year. I'm new to doing everything manually, so some of the musical stuff will be best guess, but I'm up for a challenge :)

[nrsieber]

Oh yeah, winter guard... I'll probably be at some of the TOB chapter 6 indoor shows, possibly ACCs for indoor in Cape May.

[Brian Puccio]

I wish I marched DCI before aging out. I did do two years with a DCA mini-corps. I hope to get back to it after I finish night shcool when I have some more free time.

[Screamer]

Nice shots!

I too am a FMM...Cavaliers from Rosemont, IL '91-93. I played soprano. I started when I was 15, pretty young for an open class corps, but stopped during college. I wish I would have stuck with it, I would have aged out with seven seasons under my belt. My DCI summer memories are some of my fondest. I did get a nice "face/camera shot" during our '92 championship show on the PBS broadcast...that is a very nice momento!

[Wsman2]

Well, here's the calendar (http://www.dci.org/calendar/index.cfm?monthchange=backward&lastdate=07/01/2006) for this season. I'll probably go to the home shows for Blue Devils & Santa Clara Vanguard, the California State Open here in the San Jose area, and haven't quite decided if the wife & I are going to go to Madison, WI for Championships.

[AlexMa]

Scream,

I'm with you.........I only marched one year.

I remember a "kid" that marched the first year he was eligible. That's a lot of years before age out.

They were fond mems, even though some were just a blur.

I bet you don't look at McD's the same anymore.

What an awesome feeling when horns are @ Box and the crowd is going wild.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh miss that feeling!

[Wsman2]

I attended an indoor event in east San Jose over the weekend that featured both percussion and colorguard. Not all the shots turned out as good as I was hoping, but I can at least share a couple.

http://static.flickr.com/46/108585515_fd8e75632d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/)

http://static.flickr.com/43/109550564_6d5f1e7712.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/)


I'm looking forward to attending a huge winter guard event on Sunday, March 26th (it actually starts the 25th, but I can't go that day) at Santa Clara University.

[Wsman2]

Well, I just posted 254 pictures I took kinda' in a rush to put them out for those that are really into this stuff (click on any of the pics to get to the album if you want to see more). As I mentioned before, I went to a winter guard competition at Santa Clara University yesterday. Boy, my bum hurts from sitting so long. As time goes along, I'll try to work out some kinks. As I shoot as a hobbyist, I think I'm getting the hang of my Pro 1.

http://static.flickr.com/51/118595306_5c98f9e522.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72057594091573687/)

http://static.flickr.com/37/119147441_71311a8ce1.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72057594091573687/)

http://static.flickr.com/47/119184478_ebbfaafae5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildabeast71/sets/72057594091573687/)
(Don't be fooled by this one. The guy is really flexible. He posed like that for what seemed a minute and a half of his performance.)