Downtown Chapel Hill, North Carolina right after UNC wins the National Championship

[beansbaxter]

This past Monday, UNC played MSU for the NCAA Mens Basketball National Championship. UNC won and to see the aftermath in downtown Chapel Hill was amazing and insane. The entire downtown Chapel Hill was blocked off and all cars were removed, all so the student body could celebrate. They let bonfires get started in the middle of the street. Someone ripped down one of the street signs and tossed it into the crowd, and some girl stood on top of the street sign and surfed the crowd on the sign.

News reports said there were 40,000 people pouring into downtown Chapel Hill, the helicopters should an entire downtown area just deep full of people. There are videos all over YouTube - just an amazing insane experience to be a part of. People were just happy, basketball celebration like none other.

And now some pictures...

With five minutes left to go in the game, it was easy to see UNC couldnt be stopped, so we started making our way to downtown Chapel Hill. People at this point were just running out of their houses, streaming out of the fraternities and sororities, just running as fast as they could screaming along the way:



The Police tried to stop people from climbing things:



But the crowd just kept growing and growing:





You can see the police at the bottom of the pole, they eventually had to leave because too many people were getting packed into the main intersection of downtown:





And they climbed:







More and more people just kept piling into there, it was getting to a point where all you could do is just stand there and not move and hope you dont get crushed.



Bonfires were happening all up and down Franklin Street:



And people would jump over them.

With one person on another person's shoulders, they jumped over the fire:





These 2 guys jumped over the fire at the same time from opposite sides, hit each other mid-air, and fell into the fire catching there clothes on fire:



A very unique experience, to be a part of a city where basketball is the heart of it all, where they love their sport, and the rivalries run high. Chapel Hill was in full celebration mode, an amazing experience to be in the heart of it all after they won the National Championship.

[beansbaxter]

Every picture is untouched, straight from the camera as is. Used a Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 lens, full frame, manual mode, no flash, ISO 3200.

[plummy]

Originally Posted by beansbaxter

These 2 guys jumped over the fire at the same time from opposite sides, hit each other mid-air, and fell into the fire catching there clothes on fire:

pic or it didn't happen

[beansbaxter]

Originally Posted by plummy

pic or it didn't happen

The picture underneath where I said that.

[plummy]

Originally Posted by beansbaxter

The picture underneath where I said that.

the actual catching on fire.

i want pic of that.

[ciao998]

Originally Posted by plummy

the actual catching on fire.

i want pic of that.

women.............

[Raven Ryder]

Originally Posted by plummy

the actual catching on fire.

i want pic of that.

flamers

[JWPhoto]

I can't believe you didn't us a flash and don't have crazy noise, your camera kicks @ss!!!

[beansbaxter]

Originally Posted by JWPhoto

I can't believe you didn't us a flash and don't have crazy noise, your camera kicks @ss!!!

It's definitely the camera, but I've found that my pictures have been way better since switching to Manual mode. About 90% of the time I shoot in manual mode, my pictures have been coming out better, clearer, and my flash hasnt even left the case on my entire trip so far.

I use to hate manual mode but I'm learning more and more so feeling more comfortable in making adjustments when I see things looking wrong in the preview screen.

[JWPhoto]

I just started using manual mode during my last trip to the dirt track and it made a huge difference when it was cloudy and I was worried about shutter speed.