For fraternities in college, Bid Day is a special occasion which marks the end of recruitment for new members into the fraternity. Some colleges, such as Transylvania University, make an interesting spectacle out of the event. Fraternities parade with their painted colors, costumes, and flags to a common area and gather en masse to await run-outs. These new potential members, known formally as pledges, literally “run out” to their fraternity of choice to be swept up into the group of fellow future brothers and lifted into the air. What follows is a unified show of almost simultaneous excitement and anticipation; the fraternities are grouped very close together, so they often do not know which pledge will run to who until he is already barreling toward them.
All of the following were captured with the NEX-7 and Nikon 105mm f/1.8 AI-s (all shot at f/2.4 and ISO 100 as well), the same lens which I have fallen in love with ever since Holi Day this year due to its unique rendering of detail and depth-of-field separation even at a distance.
First up, the parades:
