Shooting an event - St Patrick's Day Parade London

It has been a while since I last shot an event.  This may be because there has been a lack of outdoor events to photograph during the winter months.  it may also be down to the fact that my focus has changed somewhat to more street work and for the last couple of weeks the London Borough of Hackney.  Unfortunately, Hackney didn't have a parade for Paddy's day but the Mayor of London did.

In shooting this event I wanted to improve on my images from the last event I shot for assignment 2 - the Lord Mayor's Show.  I also wanted to move away from the stereotypical Irish scenes associated with Paddy's Day - the pint of Guinness, the green leprechauns etc.  I wanted to capture the essence of Irishness from my point of view - that of an Irish person abroad.

Here are a selection of my best images.

Overall I think this is a strong set of images.  I found that I was more confident shooting this event than I was the Lord Mayor's show.  I knew where to get myself positioned and I was prepared for the speed at which the parade would pass by.  I also used a prime lens which saved a lot of time and I was also able get a shallower depth of field.  

I think this image is my best image.  I'm not sure what it is about it.  Is it the fact that it's a man that is having a shamrock painted on his face or maybe its the fact he's smoking and holding a can.  Perhaps it is because to me he looks very Irish more in a Colin Farrell way than a Father Ted way.  I'm not sure.