The 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
The Squamish Sikh Parade is my second downtown Squamish parade in the last three days, after the Squamish Pride Parade. The last time I shot this was in 2019 for the Squamish Chief and I ended up winning a press award for it. The scene and traditional Indian clothing are bonanza for photography. I dragged my wife and her foodie friend along with the promise of a good time.
The Sikh Riders lead the parade at the 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
Sikh youth doing mock combat displays during the 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
Women in traditional sari’s during the 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
The 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
This guy came up to me and asked me to take his photo.
Men get fitted with traditional Sikh turbans. The 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
Men using traditional Indian mortar and pestle to make a traditional drink.
Traditional chickpea and onion buns. It’s a Sikh religious duty to feed anybody who asks, which is why you can get a free (and delicious) meal in most Sikh temples. These chickpea buns were out of this world.
Women in traditional sari’s during the 2026 Squamish Sikh Parade.
Tech Stuff
One of my old Z6 cameras is about to bite the dust, so I picked a new (to me, at least) Nikon Z9. Before I switched from the old Nikon F and D series and moved to the new mirrorless Z series, I had always run the large, heavy, top of the line Nikons (F3, F4, F5, D1x, D2x, D3, D4), but with the newer cameras I decided I was go with smaller and lighter D6 (two years before they released the Z9), along with mostly prime lenses. So much for good intensions, I found myself using the zooms more and more, then adding the pro sized 24-120 and 70-200mm S series lenses. I had to admit that while the Z6 is a really nice camera, especially with a lens like the 35mm f/1.8 S, its auto focus really struggled in a lot of situations.
The parade was the first time I’ve used it, and a big reason for going to the parade was to dial in the settings on the new camera and make sure there’s aren’t any hidden issues, since I need to start using it for commercial jobs starting on Monday. Good thing too, as when I tried to download the photos I found the new memory card was No Bueno, it took the photos in the camera, but I couldn’t load it up on my computer. I just swapped over a card from the old camera, which worked fine, but that’s the kind of thing you want to know about before you start working for paying clients.
A couple of people have asked me about why I’ve suddenly started my blog up again. The first reason is that I really like shooting community things, it gets me out and about and keeps my skills sharp. I take a lot of inspiration from journalists who have gone from staff positions to running personal podcasts, re-branding themselves as ‘Citizen Journalists’, so I guess this makes me a Citizen Photojournalist. There’s also been another unexpected boom, the extra web traffic I’m getting (and brother, it’s been a lot of traffic) is driving my professional web page up on the front page of Google for commercial and event photographers in both Whistler and Vancouver. That’s making a lot more money than if I was shooting these events for the local papers.