This young boy was part of the Indonesian section of yesterday’s Moomba parade (14 March 2011) here in Melbourne.

There are always great subjects at any Moomba parade, but by far the biggest challenge is getting a clear shot. Why? Well here’s the reason. It’s a street parade, with no tiered seating to give you a view over spectators’ heads.

Yesterday I was about five or six back from the front and – as in any street parade – you duck and weave to get a clear shot of your subject, but must be prepared to be thwarted as someone’s head bobs into your frame.

I love the challenge of working in these circumstances. The more challenging the circumstances, the greater the satisfaction when you actually manage a clear shot.

Remember, too, that many parents carry young children on their shoulders, so that the kids can get a clear view of the parade in front of them. So not only are you trying to shoot through heads that swivel to get the best view, you also have people moving in the crowd who obscure your hazy (and VERY narrow) field of vision.

The other thing I’ve noticed in the past five years or so is that of course everyone has a camera, or a camera-enabled cellphone – which means just when you think you have a clear shot, someone’s camera or cellphone comes straight into your field of vision!

The trick is to be patient, be respectful of the fact that everyone in the holiday crowd is having a great time and to realise if someone intrudes on your best shot of the day, that’s just part and parcel of the challenge!

I do not crop, enhance or post-edit my images in any way. Shot with a Pentax K100D, using a Sigma 70-300mm lens. F6.7, 1/350, ISO 200, focal length 210mm.

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