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Monday, November 8, 2010

And the winner is . . .

Grandmaster Champs: Princeton. They did a no-nonsense show. No props. No clear theme. But their music was strong, their lines were good and their soloists were ok. Year in and year out they are a favorite with the judges and generally put on a strong show.




Best General Effects: Spring Valley. Their effects were pretty flags. PERIOD. No other props what-so-ever.


I will have to admit, those girls were working it with the flags and the band did some impressive marching (in my humble opinion - better than the winning band). I was also impressed with the inclusion of a 'special needs' child - rarely seen with a marching band. So I give them "props" for that as well.

Oddly enough - the tomato cage band ranked higher than our band. That is just wrong on so many levels. I have to question that choice. (I was so dumb-struck I didn't even get a good picture of the tomato cages ) I can appreciate the strength of the winning band's music and the General Effects band's marching - but tomato cage group - not so much.

And our band, well the Knights came in 3rd over all. They were first with Drum Majors, Percussion and Band Booster involvement.

*as a side note - thank you to the previous post's comments. I used my 70-300 mm lens and cranked the ISO. All pictures were taken from up in the stands. So, while my shots are not going to win any awards - I'm pretty pleased with them considering the f/stop limitations, distance, and did I mention they were taken around 8-9 pm!

10 comments:

  1. These are great shots. Looks like yoiu had fun taking them..

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  2. I've never seen a band competition; it looks as though it would be fun. I had no idea they used props; I just thought they got out there, played and marched. You did a great job in the low-light conditions, Nicki.

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  3. I've never seen a band competition either! Very impressive, and it looks like most everyone really puts their hearts and souls into this (except maybe the tomato cage band????? Was it meant as a joke?) And your shots are fantastic! I just scrolled through a few days and you really worked that 70-300! Did you use a tripod, or are you just naturally steady-as-a-rock? The "Fiske" guide gave me a little heart palpitation just looking at it--ah! the stages we parents must go through to off-load (I mean , LAUNCH!) our offspring!

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  4. Thanks - I'm old school band, no props, just music and marching - so the first time I saw a 'current day' show I was like "wow!". They even change out a portion of their uniforms each year to match their theme. I have to say, these kids put in so many hours and the artwork on their props (done by the art department)is outstanding. As for the 70-300 - I hand held. I had a tripod in the back of the car, but didn't feel like hauling it in. Not sure they would even let me use it in the stands.

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  5. These are some very cool shots as well! And thank you for letting us know the results. You just never know what's going to pop in your mind at 3:00 A.M. Now I don't have to worry about the tomato team beating the Knights . . .

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  6. Thanks for letting us know how it turned out! I can't believe what a major production the competition is, lots of dedicated band members (and parents!), which is great!

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  7. Looks so fun! I got caught up looking at both these and your previous posts photos, they are great!!

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  8. Looks like it would be a lot of fun! Love some of the costumes. great job!

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  9. Great shots! Such wonderful color! Looks like a lot of fun!

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