Sand Castle Competition Revere

Revere, MA 071511 Competitors in the Revere Beach National Sand Sculpting Festival at Revere Beach on July 15, 2011 work on their entries: The Veil and Castle, as beach-goers stop by to catch a glimpse of the artwork. (Essdras M Suarez/ Boston Globe)/MET BEHIND THE SCENES: I've photographed this event a couple of times in the past but this time the weather was perfect and some of the sand sculptures were simply breathtaking. TECH STUFF: As always my trusty wide angle zoom 16-35mm 2.8 and the 70-200mm 2.8., WB cloudy, ISO 320, Aperture 11-16, speed 1/500th of a second plus. In an environment so filled with competing visual elements creating separation between the many subjects and the backgrounds is what makes this a challenging scenario.

South Sudan Flag Raising Boston City Hall

Boston, MA 070911 Maria Ajang (cq), who was kidnapped into slavery in Northern Sudan at the age of nine-years old , was with her family and over 100 Sudanese now living in the New England area to celebrate the independence of Africa's youngest nation: South Sudan. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ MET BEHIND THE SCENES: Sometimes we cover events at City Hall Plaza and they are just not that visually interesting. However this one proved to be the contrary. Brightly-colored dresses, white feathers ( I was told this symbolize pride), dark skin against bright skies all framed by high emotions. It was a visual cornucopia. TECH STUFF: I usually go by the rule of using my camera at first in Aperture priority mode and then after taking a couple of shots and looking at them, I then switch to manual and take over. This was an extreme case since it was a bright and sunny (high contrast) day and some of the subjects on these photos had skin so dark that it completely threw the camera's internal light- meter readings completely off. So there was a lot of trial and error until I was satisfied with the exposures. But even then the slightest movement on their part, just looking up versus looking down made the exposures change all over again. Lots of patience required for this one but the results speak for themselves. EQUIPMENT: 16-35mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 w 1.4TC. ISO 200-320, apertures 2.8-5.6, speeds 1/800th of a second and above.

Charlestown, MA 063011 The Sunset Parade at the Charlestown Navy Yard on June 30th, 2011 is designed to celebrate the neighborhood's naval heritage and the New England's patriotic roots. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ MET BEHIND THE SCENES: On this day I spent all day today covering "patriotic weekend" activities. Earlier I was on the Charles River on the fireworks' barge. Later on the day I was sent to the mooring pier of Old Ironside, USS Constitution, for this parade. I thought I was done after I got the image of the kid being helped with his shoes by another member of the band. But the moment I was driving away the clouds parted and the sun just shone in. So I turned around and got these amazing- light images. Never give up on your natural light. TECH STUFF: 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 w a 1.4TC, ISO 200, aperture 4.5- 5.6... and exercise patience.

Corpus Cristi Celebration Cuenca, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador 062411 The religious celebration of Corpus Cristi also known as El Septenario include the burning of structures called castles covered with pyrotechnics as well as hundreds of vendors selling sweets. The festival goes on for seven days and it culminates with a procession on the seventh day. (Essdras M Suarez/ EMS Photography) BEHIND THE SCENES: I was in Ecuador to teach several photo workshops around the country. I was in three different cities and taught close to 100 people between students and professionals. The Corpus Cristi celebration had been mentioned to me but it truly was serendipity that I happened to be there on this night. TECH STUFF: two cameras D3, D3S; two lenses a manual 24 2.0 and a 70-200 AF 2.8. I took a flash but decided against it. ISOs vary from 800 to 3200. Shooting fireworks is always challenging since you are dealing with a constant light-changing situation. As most of the times, I started shooting on Aperture priority and then once I'd look at the images I'd turn the camera to Manual mode thus controlling everything manually. This is strictly a trial and error situation.

Stanley Cup in Boston

Boston, MA 061611 Bruins’ team members stopped by at Tia's Restaurant and Bar on June 16, 2011 with the Stanley Cup. Fans like Sondra Perry (Cq) (foreground) of Manchester, NH who was posing for a friend to take her photo as Andrea Wolley (Cq) of Boston had her photo taken with Bruins' captain Zdeno Chara (bckground) Later player Dennis Seidenberg moved the cup around for more photos. But the ones that got the most fun out of the event were waitresses Kristen Wright (dk hair) and Kelsey Barrasso (blonde). They had asked to have their photo taken with the cup and when Wright couldn’t pick it up she turned Tyler Seguin and said, “Bro’ could you help me out with this?” and he replied,”did you just ‘bro’ me?”

Monson, MA/ Two days after the Tornado

Monson, MA 060311 Residents of Monson, MA try to cope with the aftermath of a tornado which hit theirs and 18 other communities in Massachussets two days prior. Some had their walls blown out as they watch from the inside of their homes, others like these children played with found objects like this bowling ball that showed up on their lawn and this soccer ball which took the brunt of the tornado head on. A bent STOP sign serves as yet another testimony of the raw power of mother nature. (Essdras M Suarez/ Boston Globe)/ MET

Monson, MA/ One Day After the Tornado

Monson, MA 060211 One day after three tornadoes hit 19 communities in Massachussetts, residents of Monson, MA got to take a first look at the devastation. Some attended church services, other started on the clean up. Such as Tony Esposito who took a break from cleaning as he sat atop the rubble which used to be his home. And some as these friends found a moment of joy in such simple things as finding a plastic Crayola piggy bank in the debris at one of their friend’s home. (Essdras M Suarez/ Globe Staff)/ MET BEHIND THE SCENES: Yesterday when I saw the weather reports I kind of knew I'd be covering this story today. I was told to go to Mononson, MA where a service was being held at a church which lost its steeple during the storm. Not hard to make photos when there is so much devastation all around you. TECH STUFF: Shot again with my trusty 70-200 2.8 with a 1.4 and my 24- 70 2.8. WB: Sunny, Cloudy and AWB for inside the church. ISO varied from 320 to 6400.