On Monday (Labor Day) I woke up at 1:30 AM to go out and photograph an event called Jouvert, which is a pre-carnival parade around Brooklyn. What I'll know for next year is that it actually starts at 4 AM, not 2 AM, but that's just experience. I felt really comfortable prowling around at night photographing the action. Since it was so dark, I parked myself under a NYPD light stand and tried to catch people as they came into the light. That's why the pix are so surreal.

I got home at 6 AM, slept for 2 hours, and went back out to photograph the West Indian parade. I got a few good shots, and I got over feeling like a complete imposter with my fancy lens. But I'm still obsessed with the pix I didn't get....

At one point in the parade I had to decide if I was going to jump over the fence and get into the middle of the action, or continue to shoot from the sidelines. I chose to not jump. I wasn't sure I could get over the fence (I'll need to practice that), and I didn't want to get in trouble with the cops.

My immediate goal is to get a press pass, and then I don't have to worry so much about wandering around past the barricades.