First Photowalk

Photowalk (foh-toh-wawk) Def: The result of buying so much expensive camera equipment that motorized transportation becomes financially impossible.

Actually, that might be a slight exaggeration. Photowalking is exactly what it sounds like. I'm not sure where I first heard the term photowalk, but I do hang out on many photography sites. For me, the credit goes to Thomas Hawk, a professional photographer in the San Fransisco area. Reading about his travels he talked about getting together with other photographers and walking around San Fransisco taking pictures of everything. The concept was interesting to me and I immeadiately wanted to give it a try. The only problems, I'm more then a little out classed in addition to being a few thousand miles apart. The real draw for me, is to first watching what a professional photographer's eye catches and second how that person captures it to film. Both things I attempt to do, but I know I have so much work to do it well. Then again, I don't earn a cent for what I do, so it can continue to to be a hobby for me and I'll probably enjoy photography longer that way.

Turns out that a couple of the locals that have accounts on Flickr decided to have a get together to not only meet, but also do a photowalk. Last night was our first outing. After giving it a try, it lived up to my expectations. It was fun just watching what other people found for subjects. Just between Becca and myself, even though we walked the same general path, our photos have quite a bit of variation. I look forward to checking out the photos of the five people who joined us. We didn't spend much time socializing, but I was surprised with the number of people using film. In my mind, I figure everybody is using digital now. Instead it was more of a mix, not what I expected.

The most embarrassing part, it was my first time walking around downtown Kalamazoo! Only took me 10 years to finally do it. Sure, I've driven by most of places we walked, but it added another level of the Kalamazoo experience. I have no excuse for not doing that sooner. There definitely was no shortage of material to fill the camera's memory card with, that's for sure.

Hopefully, it's something that we can continue to do frequently and will gain a few more people. I have to smile at what it must have looked like to have seven people walking together like some tourists. Something that probably goes unnoticed in San Fransisco, but in Kalamazoo probably almost goes down as major news.

Photowalk (foh-toh-wawk) Def: The act of wondering around as if almost lost, meanwhile snapping pictures of anything and everything with friends

Yeah, that works.