by Weldon Ryan
A spectacular-line up of costumes mezmorized the eyes. The mas players and revelers crowded the parade path enjoying refreshments and hydrated themselves probable with water but mostly with rum fueling the passion of the band. At times I was enveloped by these costumed mas of feathered backpacks with soca vibrating from the big trucks. I must have been crazy thinking I can capture images in this mas of flesh and feathers.
This mas of riotus revelers consumed with dance and frolly as the sundrenched day went on. You can imagine hundreds of bands members in bands totaling 25 plus. The amount of images to shoot was enormous . So we managed as best as we could to get the images that stood out to my team. If we stayed till all 25 bands chipped to the stage we’d be at the carnival way late. Coming out early limited our shoot time. We had to take a pause to eat and hydrate cause it was exhausting. Thank goodness for some of the bands giving the crew water.
As the day gave way to the sunset fatigue and the rum stepped in. At that point it was time for my team and I to stumble back to the Miami Carnival visitor center and pack up. We did get to some of the performances on stage but we were through. We couldn;t even stand.
But we couldn’t miss performances from Kes The Band, Patrice Roberts, Shurwayne Winchester, Teddyson John, Dil E Nadan, King Bubba, Peter Ram, Stiffy, Ricardo Drue, Trinidad &Tobago Prison Band, P Goodz, Prime Ethic, Soca Empress J, Scrappy, Rudy Live, Mr. Pearly, Julien Believe, Kiprich, Tara Lynne, Sweet Shells, Imma Haitian 257. We did the best we could. Next year we’re gonna need 2 shifts to get everything. Plus we’re gonna need enough flash for the night time .