The Ride

 Let's approach this one from a couple of different sides.  First, the event itself.  Then, the photography.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the annual SGT Jan Argonish Memorial Bike Ride.  It starts and ends in Jessup.  The ride raises money for veteran's charities, and it honors the memory of SGT Jan Argonish, who died in Afghanistan in 2007.  I never met SGT Argonish, but I got to know his father.  We met right after Jan died.  Our paths crossed again in 2012, when we attended the same gym.  I was doing the math in my head as I drive to Jessup yesterday.  I've been here nine out of the 14 years, going back to when the staring point was in Dalton.

The ride is one of those things that triggers every emotion-- sadness that we have to do something like this, satisfaction in knowing that a lot of money is being used to help others, happiness because so many people volunteer to make this happen, pride in the flag and our nation, warmth when you see the number of people who came to say they care, gratitude, always.

And now, the photography...

Of course, I had to get some wide shots to show the size of the crowd, and the numbers were impressive.

I tried a "theme" this year.  I attempted to go a little tighter and focus on flags.

I went for fast shutter speeds, freezing the motion of the motorcycles and the flags.  As regular readers know, I harshly criticize myself, and there certainly was room for improvement, but I think it worked.

The lighting was my friend yesterday.  Some high clouds filtered the sun quite a bit, giving me a flat and even light.  No bright spots.  No shadows.  I lucked out.

And the lighting really seemed to make the red, white and blue stand out quite a bit.

Plus, there were so many photo opportunities...  I had a chance to spread them ut over Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram, and the blog.

Thank you for allowing me, once again, to be part of a special day.