I mentioned the Photo Walk we took last weekend briefly in my Type-A Mom recap post, but today I wanted to share some of the photos from the event. The photo up top is my favorite from the walk. I edited it a bit – cropped a tiny bit off of the lady’s dress up top, colorized it some, and added an edge burn (Pioneer Woman’s site has these Photoshop actions available for download). I adore the shot – and the feeling it evokes. I love shoes and bags… and bokeh. My daughter went with me on this photo walk and helped me with my camera gear and pointed out things to take photos of. She’s going to be a great photographer herself one of these days, I’m sure!
Bokeh is the faded part of the photograph that has a nice blur – and sometimes makes the picture look more like a work of art and less like a photograph. The Chocolate Lounge shot has NO bokeh. Everything is nice and crisp. Don’t you just want to mosey on in there and have some sweets? Mmmmm. Chocolate.
I had a groovy crew to hang with for the walk. TYPE (see above photo – sorry, had to include it) A Moms. A for AWESOME. We had less time than we planned since our conference session went longer than scheduled, but it was a wonderful FIRST Photo Walk for me. Dawn and some of the others had already been on these types of photography events before. My little girl wants an old typewriter for herself. I bet she puts it on her Christmas list. She likes to write.
Here’s Dawn, Little Tech Girl and Mishelle. I plan to make Photo Walking a new hobby. Only, I’ll have to get Morgan’s camera fixed so the kids can share it. She borrowed my camera a few times and helped me change lenses. She was a perfect photo assistant. I love to look at the images the kids take on their own. This could prove to be a great new hobby that provides some homeschool PE class, artistic growth, and nature study!
Dawn’s “shoot sack” was pretty cool, too. Look how light weight it is. When you are walking a lot, a heavy camera bag is not great on your back. The camera is heavy enough as it is, and professional lenses are sometimes as heavy as the camera body. Wish they would send me one to review! If you can’t have an assistant, it pays to have your lenses nicely squared away on your hip.
Driving through a city gives you a small taste of what it is like, but when you are on foot, you get to see so many little things that you would miss in a car. Take for instance: this neat little ‘Doggie in the Window’. I whistled at him when he disappeared inside to come back and he posed for us. I love standing still and listening to the buzz of traffic and people moving while I’m on a busy city street.
We got to see the bustling city at dusk. And we got to enjoy performances by local musicians. These are the Lyrical Vocalists, I think. There was a guy painted in white with a black guitar, too. When he was finished singing, he froze and tried to appear as a statue. The city is full of strange sights and interesting people to photograph. Dawn got some head shots of this guy. I was too far behind the crowd and our bus was about to pick us up for a ride back to the hotel.
Morgan really liked watching the statue-man. Really interesting.
We enjoyed the picturesque display of neon, groovy shops, and artwork. Below is a Viking Helmet (which of course, I had to photograph since my little baby was 9 lbs. and 4 oz. – two weeks early – and we’ve been affectionately calling him ‘The Viking’ since before he was born).
We even enjoyed snapping shots of each other.
I figured I would be really out of place with the big-shot photogs and their colossal lenses. However, they were really nice people – and they didn’t make fun of me for asking questions about my DSLR. Mishelle even showed me a trick or two. If you like taking pictures, and you have a chance to get out and do a photo walk in your area… by all means, don’t chicken out! You’ll be glad you went! Also: don’t underestimate photo walking as a homeschooling tool!
Quick Links:
My Homeschool Series – where you can find more field trips by grade/year
Another Out-of-State Field Trip Adventure
secret agent mama says
I love your depiction and description of the photowalk! I'm always up for photowalking. Let's meet up somewhere cool. I'm sure Dawn would be IN! 😉
Tracy says
Looks like a fun time…and this is my favorite thing to do alone, with friends or my Mommytographers!!
Sandy Toes says
What wonderful picutres! I love them.
sandy toe
LittleTechGirl says
Love your photos and story. It was great fun for sure! I wish I were closer to hook up with you all. 🙂
Nikowa@KHA says
Girl you are one talented shutterbug!
MarshaMarshaMarsha says
I have never done a photowalk before, but I plan to do the Kelby one next year for sure!
Dana Wilson says
Enjoyed your photos and story, Heather! Now that we have a decent camera, a photowalk would be an intriguing way to spend an afternoon! We live near Charleston, SC, so that would be a wonderful place to go.
You are a talented photographer.
Blessings,
Dana
Tiany says
Fab pictures, they all came out great,..I have never heard of a photo walk but it sure sounds like fun.
Amy @ The Q Family says
Amazing pictures. And I love the red bag lady as well. 🙂
Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home says
I love, love, love that shot on top. I can't believe I had just switched lenses after using the zoom the rest of the time. 🙁
Thanks for capturing the ShootSac. I'm totally nabbing that one!