Sunday was Pride day around the country... so I went to the Atlanta Pride Parade. I maneuvered my way to the end of the parade, where the people and the floats were separated. As it turns out, that meant I avoided the crowds and was able to get close to the people. I was shooting for the movmeent challenge, so I had some slow shutter speeds, and wasn't quick enough to adjust on the fly, so some images are a bit soft, I'm afraid.

It was a cloudy, overcast day. Thunderstorms were in the forecast. But that didn't dampen spirits. Everyone was pleasant and didn't seem to mind being photographed - in fact, most of them welcomed it.

Here's a queen for the day.

It goes without saying that there were lots of outrageous outfits. I think a lot were done tongue-in-cheek, and they seemed to have a good time with it.

I like the irony of the hairy arms this guy has sprouting from his outfit.




Same deal with these two.



In case you thought the guy on the far side didn't smile, he did. A lot.

What's a parade without a horse or two? And that's exactly how many I saw - two. Obligatory motion blur.



And speaking horses, there were some iron horses there too. Blur was de riguer, so here's another one.



And some scooters.



And I was amused by the cop's stoicism at the end of the parade. This was an unsuccesful attempt to capture the contrast between the officer on duty and the erm, um, casual paraders.

If this guy's hat is to be believed, he's an officer himself. Rather brave, I feel.

When this little girl was hungry, her universe came to a stop, even if the rest of the world didn't.

And then the promised rain came. Boy, did it ever. Sudden and extreme rainfall paired with lightning that was dangerously close. I know better, and I still huddled under a tree to keep the gear dry. One burst of lightning was so close I thought I was going to pay for my carelessness.

Here's the one shot I got of the rain.



This poor fellow didn't have a roof to hide under... homeless folks hang out at Piedmont park, I've noticed.



The rain caused some gully washers - this woman's bike got a wheel washing. Not the best shot, but it shows the water.



Back at the festivites, they tried to make do as best they could.




And some didn't appear to be at all perturbed by the rain. Wonder how this guy kept dry? I was soaking wet.

A couple of kids made the best of it. They kept flinging each other into the water and sliding. All I could think of was the lawn chemicals that might be in the water.



Anyway, after all that, it was off to the Mellow Mushroom for some pizza, more rain... and some sun shining off a wet table. I think my sensor might need cleaning.

Thanks for posting the pictures. I always love posts like this that show the events from the day and tell a great story along with it.

Dave