Swiss Carnival parade a clean version just for kids

Carneval (a.k.a. Fasching, Mardi Gras, etc) is a time for debauchery in many locales where it is grandly celebrated. But in some small towns there are several days of parades, including ones just for kids – like this Swiss carnival parade I photographed.

The subject: Visiting friends in a small, quaint town in Switzerland called Altstätten, I happened in precisely during the pre-Easter Fasching week of celebrations. In fact, when the just-for-kids parade was happening. My friend’s kids pulled out pirate and cowboy costumes for the local festivities.

The inspiration: The kids both in the Swiss carnival parade and onlookers were dressed in all sort of costumes, throwing candy and confetti. At the side of the road, kneeling with my camera to be at their height, the little ones loved tossing confetti right at me, including this little fairy snow princess. She showered me with “snow flakes,” much to the pleasure of her fellow snow princesses.

Artist’s tools: My Nikon D90 has served me well for many an adventure, as does the 18-105mm lens f/3.5-5.6, both of which I got when I returned to photography after about 25 years! What I like about this focal length on a lens is its ability to capture almost everything for me without fiddling with changing lens or being draped with several cameras with different lenses. For this particular photo during a moving Swiss carnival parade of little ones, I was set at 1/250^th of a second at f/8 with a wider focal length of 24mm. I prefer photos that relay a story and convey some realism so I also try to avoid over-processing. This little princess has had only the simplest of touches for a hair of exposure correction. This was taken in February 2015.