I know I said I wouldn’t post another digital photo story on here but today’s story came out pretty well! I intended to shoot it all in film, I even had two film cameras loaded, saran wrapped and ready to face the colored pigment that is typically used in Holi.

What’s Holi? Holi is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus as a festival of colors.It is primarily observed in India and Nepal. It is also observed by the minority Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well in countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mauritius, and Fiji.

Basically, this being America, we all just threw handfuls of color at each other. The festival was held at my school, Towson University as a way to gain donations for charity. The day began with a run (no photos of that, sorry, too early and I hate running) and was concluded by everyone ending up on the main field and participating in a color explosion.

When I got there, I realized that with all of the crazy movement and tiny dust particles, that this was an instance where I needed to bring out the digital technology. Smoke on film was one thing, but colored dust is another. I was quite sad that I only took one photo with my lomography fish eye camera, but there will always be another time. For now, enjoy these digital photos!

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson Holi Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

Towson Holi Run

Towson University Holi Color Run

As a photojournalist, especially one new to the game, I’m always trying to learn new techniques. I realized that a lot of the time I don’t get close enough to my subjects and my photos suffer because of it. Today I learned that in order to really capture the event, you have to also participate. I definitely did. I don’t think my shower has ever seen that amount of purple before.

Next blog post will be on my results with my first roll of slide film! I’m excited to share the photos. Expensive but worth it. Sorry for the digital break but I wanted to post something and I was moderately proud of these.

After popular demand through my Facebook photo page, here is what I looked like after this color war.

Towson Holi Run 2013

****Check out the story on The Baltimore Sun here!