Thank you gentlemen, very kind of you to take the time to write these kind words.
I just love these Awa Odori festivals, you feel such an energy in the terrible heat of the Japanese summer (it was still 37C when I took these).
As the face of the drummer tells, this is very challenging physically for them. They are top class athletes on top of being dance/music artists.
Honestly, taking these is child's play with a D5. Out of the 3,000+ images I took in 1+ hour, I had in excess of 90% of tack sharp images, 80% of them shot at f2.8. Most of those not in perfect focus were still usable and had been shot with the 300mm f4 PF that isn't quite as fast as the 70-200 f2.8 E FL AFwise.
The challenge is secure a good location amidst the crowd, to withstand the heat, not to bother your neighbors (too much), and then from a photography standpoint to capture the best timing and to find pleasing compositions with the background.
Cheers,
Bernard
