Lunar New Year 2025 Redeux

Saturday: There were two Lunar New Year celebrations. One was in Millbrae and the other was in downtown San Mateo. I opted to photograph in Millbrae because it was the bigger of the two. Five blocks had been blocked off, the vendors lined both sides of the streets. I managed to find a parking space on the street just outside the barricade, so I only had to cross the street to find myself in the middle of the celebration.

I appreciate that so many different cultures were represented through their cuisines. You could buy a whole grilled turkey leg, then walk a few feet and purchase dumplings, and if you looked hard enough, a good old fashion hamburger with a side of fries. Soft drinks, boba iced tea, so many things to try.  I could just see myself reaching for the Tums. Oh, to have the stomach of a 20-year old.

New Approach: I wasn't really happy with my choice of equipment when I was "lion hunting" in San Bruno a few days before. As I mentioned in my previous post, equipment choice would have an impact on my ability to get my shots. First, it was a night event, and the low light caused my wide angle lens to hunt for proper focus, a process that lengthened the time between shutter press and the actual exposure. Also, the flash I was using wasn't optimized for manual adjustment. Lastly, the adjustments on the radio controller I chose were difficult to read outdoors, and difficult to manipulate with fingers numbed by the cold.

The Camera: My lens choice was a Pergear 14mm F 2.8 lens. As a fully manual lens that is adjusted externally. Looking down on the lens, the distance scale, depth of field table, and the aperture setting are clearly visible from above. The Pergear has a Sony mount, so I used my full-framed Sony A7.

Flash: I'm used an early Flashpoint Zoom Li-on flash. The flash recycles quickly, has a zoom flash head, and most importantly, requires manual output adjustment, which is controlled with a rotating wheel, which can be adjusted with one hand.

Controller: In this case, I would use on older radio trigger. a long discontinued Calumet Wireless Trigger. It's a simple radio trigger that has a hot-shoe on top which allows me to trigger a full-powered softbox for a key light and having the option of mounting a conventional TTL speedlight for on-camera fill. 

So wouldn't you know it. Saturday was gifted with high intermittent clouds, which served both as a diffuser and a reflector. If you compare the asphalt on the street, you can see that both the highlight and shadow areas could be reasonably well exposed with an average exposure setting, meaning that I really didn't need to use flash if I watched my positioning. The shadows show that the sun was coming from behind my right shoulder. Simply put, there weren't enough shadows to require my flash. 

I concentrated on making a photo that would include the crowd, one prominent lion, and some audience interaction. Using the "Hail Mary" overhead position, I made this shot with a above the crown perspective, which eliminated the background sky and gave me plenty of room for the lion and his fans. Even though this shot was made early the day, I followed the lions down the street, trying to "one up" this early shot.

Another Perspective: Nick Rose, another Journal photographer, was sent to cover the San Mateo event. I didn't attend because I knew I'd have many photo opportunities in Millbrae, due to the size of the celebration. It also started just as the San Bruno lions were getting up to speed, and there wasn't a way for me to get the San Mateo, find parking, and make a shot. His photo (right)  made Page 1 of the Monday edition, and I was stunned by the graphic simplicity of the image. The prominence of the two lions and the absence of any people gave the view the quintessence of "lionism". I really appreciated the simplicity of the image, and clearly a different approach to getting a telling photograph.

In the end, the Editor In Chief ran the Millbrae and the earlier San Bruno photograph on consecutive days. They appeared on page 2, a space normally reserved for photos from UPI or Reuters. The San Bruno photo, taken at night under somewhat challenging conditions, is shown below.

Between these three shots, I think the Lunar New Year was well covered.