Buc Days Dunking of the Mayor | Corpus Christi Photography
In Corpus Christi, a local Buccaneer Days tradition that dates back to the 1930s involves having buccaneers ‘kidnap’ and force our mayor to ‘walk the plank’ to kick off the Buc Days celebration with the Dunking of the Mayor. This year, Corpus Christi mayor Paulette Guajardo was taken aboard the Red Dragon Pirate Ship (of Port Aransas) and spent a few moments chatting with Buc Days representatives and student scholarship honorees decked out in pirate attire.
I took up a place along downtown Corpus Christi’s historic seawall with a perfect view of the action. Two cameras were set up on tripods with interval timers (typically used for timelapse photography) and I had a third camera handheld to get the actions wherever it might be during the event. Both tripod cameras were Canon 6Dii bodies, one with Sigma 24-70/2.8 and the other with my Canon 400/2.8L. I utilized a rented Canon R7 body with my Canon 200/2.8L handheld. Skies were mostly overcast with some breaks which meant that lighting was pretty consistent and diffuse throughout (every outdoor event photographer’s dream.)
On another note, if you ever come to visit the coastal bend (perhaps staying in a short-term rental I’ve photographed) and you are planning to visit Port Aransas - taking a Red Dragon Pirate Cruise should be on your list of things to do. It’s a fun trip with some pretty fun (and interesting) pirate characters who have an attitude all their own.
