Photos of the 2005, 2006 & 2007 Washington DC Dragon Boat Festivals at Thompsons Boat House.
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2006 Washington DC Dragon Boat Festival
One Race, Start to Finish
This is definitely one of my favorite photo series. I had walked over to the park/plaza where all the tents, announcers, teams not racing, and fans gathered near the Watergate and Kennedy Center. I found a spot where I could shoot some pictures without being in front of any other fans and without them being in front of me and I shot two races, from start to finish. In the early shots you can see the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and by the end, the key bridge, and the brick, concrete and limestone facades of Georgetown.
Everyone was having a lot of fun. There is a big difference in the quality of the photos, especially when the sun hid behind the many clouds (the day was well beyond “partly cloudy” as it seems to be year after year in this part of May) and I hope in 2007 to have a somewhat better digital camera. All these pictures have been reduced to about 1/5 their original size. If you would like a CD with the full size, original pictures from the 2005 and 2006 Festivals, including many not pictured on the website, please use the contact form. I will have to charge you, but I will include limited use rights.
The race is just starting. Roosevelt Bridge and Roosevelt Island are in the background.
Early in the race, hard to tell much from where I am.
Now they are moving. The drums are getting louder.
Green and yellow dragon boats break ahead. A tem from the next race crosses in front headed for the start line.
The team headed for the start line is as interested in the race as the rest of us.
They are still racing hard, I'm taking more pictures as quickly as the camera gets ready.
Red is looking good but it turns out to be tha angle from our position.
The boats have the finish line in sight and are really working now.
Is the sun really coming out from behind the clouds?
Green has a big lead now, but everyone is having a great time and the crowd on the shore is cheering their favorite.
Green boat stretching its lead, almost at the finish.
Just a little further.
I moved a little upstream. Green crosses the line first with yellow close behind. The crazy wing shaped towers in Rosslyn are visible above Roosevelt Island.
Yellow takes second place. Look at the green crew starting to feel happy.
The next couple of shots show the rest of the dragon boat teams coming across.
Red just ahead of the finish line.
Red crosses for 3rd place. Blue trailing the pack.
Now blue, too, crosses the finish line.
Swinging the camera upstream, you can see red relaxing as the traffic sorts itself out and the boats spread out to get out of the way of the finish line for the next race and return to the dock.
I moved around the point to get a shot of the boats against Georgetown. You can see the Key Bridge and Georgetown University. Is the facing of the bridge limestone or is it jsut weathered concrete? I should check it out.
Now everyone is happy. You can seegreen in the foreground and the safety boat and a little sunfish sailboat in the background.
And here is yellow at a more relaxed pace.
The first of 3 shots of blue and red.
Here they are again.
The 25th and final picture from this race.
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