Johnson Street Festival (August 27) 2011 in Victoria, BC (Part 1)

This past Saturday, I went to the Johnson Street Festival in Victoria. The Johnson Street Festival is a great event because it brings hundreds of people together for one common cause, which is to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In addition to contributing to such a wonderful cause, the event helps promote local business and ensures that everyone has a blast.

I really feel that it unites people in Victoria as they explore all the wonders of Johnson Street.

I arrived there at about 12:00pm and I stayed there until 5:00pm. I feel that the 5 hours I spent shooting both stills and video were definitely well spent. The sun was shining, and the temperature was just perfect for spending a nice day downtown.

I did not dress up for the event because what I cared about the most was being able to take photos and videos. Certain clothing can restrict movement as well as make you sweat, so I wanted to avoid both of the aforementioned as much as possible. Therefore, I just wore short shorts and a tank top, no make-up, and tied my hair back. I felt very comfortable that way and was able to focus on the photos as opposed to worrying about whether or not the make up will run, how my hair looks, or if I sweat.
Here is what I brought with me that day: money for donating to the cause, a notebook to make notes about what to write in this post, Nikon D200 with a 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens, JVC Everio Video Camera , a water bottle, and a change of clothing.

The lighting situation was pretty tough because one side of the street was in the shade while the other was sunny. The light kept changing on me as soon as I thought I got the exposure, shutter speed, and f-stop correctly for the conditions. I also experimented with exposure compensation and ISO. I feel that it was a great learning experience for me, and I did my best. I believe that if I study photography and keep going to events like this, as well as experiment with lighting without fear of messing up the shoot-I will be good. When it comes to learning, one of the best ways to learn is to always try to challenge your own abilities.

I hope you enjoy the photos, and if you were at the event and I got you, then you are welcome to download the photos if you like them and use them for your Facebook, etc. I do ask that you credit AH Life and Style for the photos. 🙂

Above: Skateboarder getting ready to go down the ramp and charm us with his moves.

Above: Just outside of Devlish Damzels Boutique.

Above: Learn to hula with the Devlish Damzels ladies 🙂

Above: Makes me wonder what they are looking at. Well, I will leave that up to your imagination.

Above: Outside of American Apparel. I didn’t realize it was on Johnson Street…(man, I’m out of the loop)

Above: The $5 mystery. You could have won Rifflandia tickets, yoga passes, and other cool prizes.

Above: Super cool crowd of interesting people.

Above: Stylish young lady outside of her boutique.

Above: Absolutely gorgeous!

Above: At first, I thought it was a real person…then I got closer, and realized it was a mannequin. Just outside of SOHO Boutique.

Above: The owner of SOHO Boutique and the mannequin.

Above: Beautiful DJ just outside of Devlish Damzels Boutique

Above: Just outside of LeBlanc Boutique.

Above: The window of Paradise Boutique.

Above: Alex for Rifflandia Festival.

Above: Beautiful Yoga ladies 🙂

Above: Suasion Boutique Window

Above : There were so many people at the event. I tried to get images of people without appearing like a weirdo with a camera, so I was pointing the lens into the crowd as opposed to at certain people.

Above: This was actually the first photo I took that day and it was of a skateboarder in motion.

If you really liked these photos, come back again, as there will be more!! Videos too!!

What’s coming up: more boutique shots, street shots, firemen and police officers in the dunk tank and much more!!

I didn’t post all the photos here because I didn’t want to make you scroll any further than you already did. 🙂

Aviva