The traditional colors of Mardi gras are gold, green and purple and these colors are often reflected in the costumes of the riders.
This lady was riding with the Krewe of King Arthur in their 2009 parade. Her costume and face paint are resplendent with these traditional colors. She's chosen to use face paint in place of a mask. Almost certainly this was a more comfortable choice for her. I often wonder how the riders tolerate the plastic masks that most of them wear. I guess the idea is that the crowd are not supposed to know who the krewe members are.
Often, krewe members will tell family and friends which float they're on an which side to stand in the hopes the rider can pick out the familiar faces in the crowd and throw more stuff in their general direction.
Clearly at this point this lady isn't looking for anyone in particular. She's gazing at the crowds and preparing to throw a string of gold beads into the sea of raise hands she's gazing upon.
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Production Data
Camera: Canon EOS 5D
Lens: Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS
Processing: Lightroom 3.6
Processing: Photoshop CS5
Processing: OnOne Photo Suite 6 (onone) 10% discount with coupon code rdavisphoto
