Ed Sutcliff

Unfortunately not. They were on the field when I was making my way up the ramps to the cheap seats!

Thanks for the note. I tried to edit the 2,700 down to a smaller group, did NOT mean to leave them out!

I had a great time at the 2010 Atlanta competition. Took two of my sons & my camera... then spent the entire show taking over 2,700 photos of 24 of the corps from the upper deck seating area. Some of the photos (loaded in the order the corps appeared in the show) are located at the following album: http://picasaweb.google.com/L2RPhoto.Boro....10ATDCIAtlanta# Feel free to download the image and/or share the link. EDITED: A. Fixed link B. Added BD photos Sorry the BD photos didn't make it the first time, I did not realize the online album had a limit of 1,000 images

Don't know how you are doing it all, but keep the comments & photos coming!

As a parent, I applaud ANY decision made by DCI & corps management which ensures the safety and well being of my son. It is a GOOD thing that an organization can bite the bullet and allow a corps to sit out a night to recover from illness. In addition to ensuring their own corps members, volunteers, and staff are able to fully recover, they are also helping prevent a larger outbreak which would certainly occur if the infected members were forced to interact with other corps/fans. Questioning the decisions made by any of the affected corps demonstrates an incredible ignorance of the realities of touring in close quarters with infectious diseases. Hope all the corps impacted by this summer's flu bug (or whatever it turns out to have been) make it to Indianapolis at 100% strength! Ed

Thanks for all of the helpful info in this thread. Big thumbs up for the road construction warning. I'd have been one of those poor saps stuck in the single northbound lane if you hadn't posted!

My understanding is Teal Sound is having similar issues...

Judging from Tera's twitter post, I think we can assume she is not the least bit interested in the shows & probably won't make too many observations for us!

1. Music City Legend 7:40 2. Memphis Sound 7:57 3. Pacific Crest 8:14 4. Spirit 8:31 5. INTERMISSION 8:48 6. Colts 9:08 7. Blue Knights 9:25 8. Santa Clara Vanguard 9:42 9. Carolina Crown 9:59 Contest Coordinator: Scott Speelman Chief Judge: Monte Mast Brass Performance: Monte Mast Color Guard: Jacqueline Gilley Ensemble Music: John Bell Ensemble Visual: Gary Czapinski Music Effect: Peter Furnari Percussion Performance: Mike Davis Visual Effect: Don Newman Visual Performance: William Chumley

I appreciate the positive comments, but please respect the other photographers who work hard to capture the DCI experience. I was able to get decent photos in Valdosta because I had a good spot in the stadium & the conditions were perfect for capturing images from a distance. Being able to "look down" onto the field was also a huge advantage. The photographers who work from field level can get great close-ups, but they are at a disadvantage when it comes to seeing the larger formations. I think anyone with a camera would agree that no matter how many photos we take, and no matter how many corps members we manage to photograph, there are alway TONS of other positions/angles we'd love to have used to get more exciting pictures! Hopefully the photos I took are a nice alternative to the field level images you are used to seeing. Ed

Prayers out to everyone associated with Crown. Hope they get back to 100% soon. Ed

Thanks for the comments! And yes, "watching the show" is tough while snapping the images, but I did my best! Ed

The following links contain images from the July 10, 2009 competition in Valdosta, GA. A few things: There is NO CHARGE for viewing/downloading/sharing these photos.... enjoy & share them! I am the parent of a Spirit trumpet player, so the Spirit collection is the largest! I hadn't seen my son for over a month, so I wasn't in the stadium for the Boston Crusaders (Sorry!) For best viewing, chose the "slide show" and "full screen" options. Ed 1. Sounds of the South - Sun Devils 2. Sounds of the South - Atlanta Corps Vets 3. Sounds of the South - Legends 4. Sounds of the South - Teal Sound 5. Sounds of the South - Spirit 6. Sounds of the South - Glassmen 7. Sounds of the South - Blue Stars 8. Sounds of the South - Phantom Regiment

Congrats Spirit!!!

No kidding.

Ugh! I stand corrected. Think I have it right now. Thanks!

It appears the corps in tonight's IA competition had a much harder time maintaining or improving on their previous best scores as compare to the corps in the Rome, NY event. Dubuque, IA Event Previous High Scores - - - - - Tonight's High Scores Cavaliers 78.500 - - - - - - - - 79.000 Phantom 77.700 - - - - - - - - 78.400 Blue Stars 74.500 - - - - - - - - 74.700 Scouts 69.500 - - - - - - - - 69.400 Spirit 69.600 - - - - - - - - 69.300 Colts 69.700 - - - - - - - - 68.500 Pioneer 61.900 - - - - - - - - 63.600 The Cavaliers/Phantom/Blue Stars barely moved up from their previous best scores. The Scouts/Spirit/Colts actually lost ground. Rome, NY Event Previous High Scores - - - - - Tonight's High Scores Crown 80.500 - - - - - - - - 83.000 Cadets 79.700 - - - - - - - - 81.700 Crusaders 71.900 - - - - - - - - 74.700 Surf N/A - - - - - - - - 64.700 Crown/Cadets/Crusaders - All showed significant upward movement in their point totals. Must have been the night air in New York that made the difference!!!

Big thanks to everyone who helped keep us posted on this event!

Thanks for the post!!!

Absolutely. Hearing real-time feedback is something parents/relatives/friends love! Nobody is going to argue with your honest opinion. It's the follow-up stuff that might drive some of us to distraction. Thanks in advance for your comments. Ed

Thanks for the photos!

Trust me, if I could retire today & tour with my kid, I'd be at every show... doing whatever was needed. I did manage to make two events last year even though my son was only an alternate & not performing. I got some decent photographs from the cheap seats, pictures which were made available to everyone in his corps. I imagine there are parents just like me at every event producing similar online photo albums. Yet, seven events into this year's schedule, the 2009 photos section of DCI.org only contains "special events" photos & does not have a single image from one of this season's competitions. How on earth is the public supposed to know about the corps with that kind of media black out?! Digital cameras, digital recordings, instant uploading & web publishing... should mean the DCI product is being seen/heard by a much larger audience. My original point was that DCI seems stuck in a 1960's PR mode in the way it avoids using available technologies and mass media to aggressively advertise their product. Sadly, unless you are the parent/relative/band director of most of today's corps members, you aren't even aware DCI exists. Ed

I'm only a 2nd year DCI parent, so my opinion may not count for much... but I believe DCI does a horrible job marketing it's product to the general public. Good quality video/photo/news from events are almost invisible to anyone unconnected to the corps. I for one, am happy places like YouTube & FaceBook contain some information. Tweeter updates from the competitions are also a welcome addition. I don't understand how an organization which is laying off employees and changing rules to attract new members, can be so adverse to the use of free publicity to expose it's product to the masses.