San Antonio Gay Pride Parade Photos
San Antonio definitely knows how to put on a parade, and the 2024 ‘Pride Bigger Than Texas’ night parade did not disappoint. Unlike the behemoth production that is the New York City gay pride parade, San Antonio’s celebration was much more intimate in scale. But while smaller in size, the parade felt like a giant hug from the community. In today’s blog post, I’ll be sharing with you all of my San Antonio gay pride parade photos along with details of how I captured Saturday night’s event.
San Antonio Gay Pride Parade Photos: When and Where
Let’s start with the basics: June is gay pride month. While the city hosts events all month long, the celebration culminates with the parade on June 29th. The San Antonio gay pride parade, technically called the ‘Pride Bigger Than Texas’ night parade was held at 9:00 p.m. The parade staging area is at the corner of Dewey and Main Streets. The parade runs the length of Main Street from Dewey down to Maple Streets.
If you attended the Fiesta Flambeau night parade, then you have a pretty good idea of what the gay pride parade looks like. And as with all the Fiesta parades, the photos of San Antonians waiting for the parade to begin were my best images.
San Antonio Gay Pride Parade Photos: The Technical Details
I photographed the parade using one Canon 5D Mark IV body, and two lenses: a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 and a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens. I also had a 600 EXII speedlight with me.
Speaking of flash, because the parade is held so late at night, lighting is a definite challenge. The trick to avoiding total darkness is to position yourself next to the judging table. Very bright external lights were set up for the videographers who were recording the parade for the organizers. As I have found with most events, you can’t beat the videography lights. I positioned myself right in front of the judging area and found I had sufficient light when combined with my flash.
San Antonio Gay Pride Parade Photos: My Best Images
I left my house two hours prior to the parade and walked to the staging area. While I enjoyed the parade itself, the camaraderie before the event produced my best images. I mean, how can you not like an event with cute go go boys dancing next to a very gay air puppet? Needless to say, after taking a look at the people who came out for the parade, one thing is clear: San Antonio is NOT boring. My top advice for anyone coming to photograph the parade is to get there early. The pre-parade action can’t be beat.
Conclusion
This was a relatively small parade, especially in comparison to what I’m used to in New York. This is a welcome relief, however. The San Antonio version is not overwhelming, and instead there is plenty of room to move and capture all the action. People are very friendly, and my only regret for the parade was that I didn’t dress in my finest rainbow attire. I’m finding that for life in San Antonio, I really need to dress the part and get separate outfits for Fiesta, pride, etc.
Enjoy the images, and I will have more photo adventures for you next week! Happy pre-Fourth of July, everyone.
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If you found this article on ‘Visiting Boerne, Texas’ interesting, then check out some of my other recent posts:
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