The action is fast, furious and frothy as one of the world's premier tugboat races, Olympia's Harbor Days, churns out of the south end of Washington's Puget Sound. Music, kids' rides and maritime festivities round out the programme over the Labor Day weekend.

Tugs are built for power, not speed, so when they do race they stir up VERY impressive wakes. This in turn sets the boats swaying wildly from side to side. In the midst of this churning, swaying mass, the tugs race for the finish.

The best vantage point is from one of the tugs, so if you can cajole one of the captains you'll be in for a memorable afternoon. Failing that, take binoculars, as the fury of the race means it has to take place well offshore.

Onshore, 30 tugboats and an oil-spill clean-up vessel are moored along Percival Landing and open for public tours. On a smaller scale, 25 model tugboats are in action in water tanks, including tug-barge combinations up to eight feet long. In the non-maritime line, the festival features several local bands and kids' events including free rides, a puppet theatre and a karaoke contest.

Official Olympia Harbor Days website...

McAlester Area Chamber of Commerce Website

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Every year in early September Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation, celebrates its heritage with the "World's Largest American Indian Fair". Attracting over 100,000 people from all over the world, the fair runs for five days and celebrates and promotes traditional Navajo values, beliefs and pastimes.

Singing, dancing, livestock and arts and crafts are the staple diet of the fair. Cowboys and girls from eight different Indian rodeo associations throughout North America compete in the legendary all-Indian Rodeo and the Miss Navajo Nation competition is always a showpiece spectacle.

Highlights of the event include arguably the largest inter-tribal pow wow in North America. Historically pow wows were held in order to meet, dance, renew old friendships and start fresh ones. Dance, fellowship and song have always been as integral a part of the heritage as the colourful costumes which are representative of the vibrant and ever-changing culture. The pow wow begins with a flag bearing procession which includes the US and tribal flags, although the US has a dual meaning as Native Americans remember those who fought against the country of which they are now a part. Veterans, including tribal chiefs, lead the colourful procession that, once everyone is inside the arena, gives way to energetic round dances and singing to the beat of the drum.

Official Navajo Nation Fair Website

Join American PHOTO and Nikon professional photographers Daniel J. Cox and Jill Enfield to discover the pristine beauty of Austria, September 8-15, 2005.

We are traveling to Austria to capture its breathtaking beauty with special photo-ops set up by the American PHOTO special events team. The workshop will be based in the historic cities of Innsbruck and Graz proving to be a photographer’s dream!  There is, quite simply, no place in the world that compares with the 2 time Winter Olympic Town of Innsbruck…“a city at one with nature and its mountain environment.”

With the Alps as your dramatic backdrop, catch images of Innsbruck in the early morning light when we shoot the sunrise in this city rich with culture and history.  Or snap a photo of hang gliders floating across the mountain landscape.   Practice your portrait photography with locals dressed in colorful traditional Austrian costumes specially arranged for our group. At sunset, we will take you to the Berg Isel Ski Jump overlooking Innsbruck where golden images await you as the warm hued sun sinks behind the majestic mountains.  In Graz, one of Europe’s best-preserved cities with a harmonious blend of old and new, stroll down narrow lanes and renaissance courtyards and explore the modern buildings that are the buzz of the architectural scene.  Then travel to southern Styria, known as Austria’s “green province,” where you’ll capture images of the famous Lipizzaner white horses of Piber running through the lush meadows.

Mentorseries Website

WaterFire Providence® , the award-winning sculpture by Barnaby Evans installed on the three rivers of downtown Providence, has been praised by Rhode Island residents and international visitors alike as a powerful work of art and a moving symbol of Providence’s renaissance. WaterFire’s sparkling bonfires, the fragrant scent of aromatic wood smoke, the flickering firelight on the arched bridges, the silhouettes of the firetenders passing by the flames, the torch-lit vessels traveling down the river, and the enchanting music from across the world all engage the senses and emotions of those who stroll the paths and bridges of Waterplace Park. WaterFire has captured the imagination of many thousands of people, bringing life to downtown, and continues to revitalize Rhode Island’s capital city.

Cited by the Providence Journal in 1997 as “the most popular work of art created in the capital city’s [365]-year history,” WaterFire continues to grow and gain in popularity. Barnaby Evans created First Fire in 1994 as a commission to celebrate the tenth anniversary of First Night Providence. In June 1996, Evans created Second Fire for the International Sculpture Conference where it became the gathering place for thousands of participants from all over the world. Ardent art supporters convinced Evans to create an on-going fire installation and started a grass-roots effort to establish WaterFire as a non-profit arts organization. With the support of hundreds of dedicated volunteers, generous donations from many individuals, contributions from corporate leaders and support from the City and State, WaterFire’s flickering flames now regularly return to illuminate downtown Providence.

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The beloved Feast of San Gennaro is an annual celebration of the Patron Saint of Naples. The first Feast in New York City took place on September 19, 1926 when newly arrived immigrants from Naples settled along Mulberry Street in the Little Italy section of New York City and decided to continue the tradition they had followed in Italy to celebrate the day in 305 A.D. when Saint Gennaro was martyred for the faith.

Since then, the Feast has grown from a one-day street party to a gala 11-day event. On September 19 during each Feast, a Religious Procession, including the Statue of San Gennaro, winds along the length of Mulberry and Mott Streets, between Canal and Houston Streets. The procession begins immediately following a Celebratory Mass held at the Most Precious Blood Church on Mulberry Street, the National Shrine of San Gennaro.

One of the most popular events each year in New York City, the Feast of San Gennaro attracts crowds exceeding 1-million people during its 11-day run. Activities for the entire family take place along Mulberry Street, Hester Street and Grand Street, from 11:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (Midnight on Fridays and Saturdays). The streets are decorated with festive banners and arches in red. white and green, the colors of the Italian flag.

Official San Gennaro Website

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Kinetic Sculpture Races are a speciality of the Californians - don't miss the chance to sample one of the more quirky sides to West Coast culture. In Ventura visitors can watch these crazy people-powered sculptures racing along the beach, through the town and in the harbour, showcasing highly original designs and fantastic costumes during a bizarre and thoroughly hilarious spectacle.

If you're going to enter, your vehicle should be able to travel over mud, sand, water and land; and of course there are extra points for competitors with goggles and laughing dogs. If you don't feel up to that, the organisers are looking for volunteer Kinetic Kops to police the proceedings from the sidelines.

Kinetic Sculpture Race Website

While in Yellowstone, the focus of our photography will be twofold. The main emphasis will be on photographing the diverse species of animals in addition to photographing classic scenic locations at sunrise and sunset. September offers great opportunities to photograph the elk rut with majestic bulls locking antlers in battles for supremacy. Surrounded by fields of autumn colored grasses, other animals in the park will be set against backdrops of gold. Animals that are commonly seen are pronghorn, moose, coyotes, trumpeter swans, raptors, owls, and other species. We’ll jump on every opportunity to photograph them as we cruise the many miles of roads in Yellowstone. If we’re lucky, we’ll get the chance to photograph the wolves that inhabit the park. With regards to scenery, geothermal landscapes beckon cameras to expose a magnitude of images. Misty landscapes enveloped in the reds and golds of autumn await the chance to be caught on film. Other subjects include waterfalls, frost patterns and textures, fog encrusted valleys, and many other scenic gems.

Tetons: majestic views of the snow dusted Grand Teton and Cathedral Group, breathtaking panoramics of the Teton range reflected in the still waters of morning, and blazing fall color enveloping the granite walls of the peaks all await the eager photographer. Other subjects will include The Chapel of the Transfiguration, aspen grove studies, buck and rail fences, abundant wildlife - both large and small creatures - marmots, trumpeter swans, elk, moose, bison, coyotes and raptors. Additionally, we'll photograph old homestead houses, panoramic vistas from Signal Mountain, the famous Old Patriarch tree, and waterfalls.

Russ Burden Photography

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