Celebrating the year of the horse

I’m probably gonna struggle to explain this, but..

I’ve noticed lately that I don’t really experience time in months anymore. I feel like I experience it in events. More specifically, the events I photograph.

Yes, January 1st is the technically beginning of the year. But I feel like the year doesn’t begin for me until the Lunar New Year celebration rolls around. It’s typically the first event I photograph for the year.

After that, the Cherry Blossom Festival in April, the Asian Festival in May, Porchfest in June…these events indicate “time” more than anything.

Don’t know if that makes sense.

Last Saturday, I went down to 30th and Superior for the second year in a row to photograph the Lunar New Year festival. This year is the year of the horse, which is supposed to be a transformative year. I’m hoping it’ll bring about positive, transformative change.

I was a little disappointed that the Sho-jo-ji dancers weren’t performing on Saturday, because I could only be there that day. But that’s okay. I still got some great photos of the Kwan Lion Dance, and the Silk Road Collective presented a traditional clothing showcase and sword demonstration.

I will say that I desperately need the 16-55 zoom lens. I only had the 27 and 75 on me. Some of the portraits would look a little nicer if they were a few inches wider.

After grabbing some lunch (Parilya as usual), I headed off to my next adventure: thrifting. Overall, it was a good Saturday. And it was good to be at the festival. And like I said, my year officially begins once this event comes around.

The next event I’ll be photographing is Brite Winter tomorrow. Which reminds me…I need to go shopping for some clothes to keep me warm. After a week of warm-ish weather, of course the temps are gonna drop tomorrow.

But I’ve never been to Brite Winter, so I’m looking forward to it!