On a Saturday evening in Fall 2022, a battered marching band returned to Dixie Heights from a chaotic West Clermont Invitational competition. Just before performance, straight-line winds crushed all four of the band’s banner frames. Parents struggled to keep hold of the 10-foot-tall props, but were powerless to stop the metal frames from buckling above their heads.
The band performed minutes later despite continuing gusts. Not yet fully recovered from the winds of West Clermont, the band would go on to place second in the Class 3A Mid States championships the following week.
Fast-forward to 11/2/24. Nothing but clear skies and gentle weather in Southwest Ohio. The Marching Colonels returned to the West Clermont Invitational and prevailed as Class 4A champions, sweeping awards in every caption.
There’s a reason they call it “magic light.” That final hour of direct sunlight offers gorgeous images for anyone with a decent lens. No flash needed to capture these band kids doing what they do best. Just a Manfrotto monopod, a 5D Mark iii, and an EF 300 f/2.8 was all it took. Of course, with so much happening on the field all at once, a second (or third?) photographer would’ve been nice.
But I’m not complaining.