9 Days of NAPP Day 8: Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk

This past Saturday over 32,000 registered walkers in over 900 walks participated in a history making event: Scott Kelby’s second annual Worldwide Photo Walk. I participated in a 6-hour walk in Atlantic Station, a picturesque community of shops, hotels, and residences at the edge of downtown Atlanta.

Last year I missed the walk due to a church meeting. Honestly, I was a bit intimidated, too. Although there were some pretty fancy cameras (and the photographers weren’t too shabby, either) on our walk, I think you could have a whole lot of fun doing it with a point-and-shoot. Heck, I’d have enjoyed myself with a Polaroid. The social aspect was as much a part of it as the shooting, and our group was a fun and easy-going bunch; I loved picking the brains of the seasoned pros.

One highlight for me was finally getting to meet Beth from Pages of Our Life, a fellow blogging, homeschooling, shooting, Photoshopping mama. I tried to tweet and twitpic the walk and got a kick out of “Tweet a pic with you and Beth!” After hanging out for over 6 hours, it feels like we’re old friends.

Anything is fair game in a photo walk. Like shooting other photographers:

See the cool reflection in his glasses?

It’s this colorful slatted shade over an outdoor table:

I don’t have the faintest clue what this is, but it’s a nice one. Looks like it should be spewing something toxic, doesn’t it?

This train was well-photographed by the photo walkers. I think the conductor questioned our sanity when a few of us stood straight in its path to shoot it instead of getting out of his way.

I wanted a good ice cream shot, but didn’t really get what I was looking for.

This guy and a girl were standing alone in the shade of a building. We were across the street and I felt funny aiming my camera at him, but something about him just screamed “photograph me!” At least it did to me.

Something about the combo of wifebeater t-shirt, man-capris (I totally didn’t know they made those for men; do they?), house shoes (yes, house shoes), the shades, and attitude—he exuded attitude, didn’t he?—makes this one a favorite. I was trying to get him instead of the girl and considered editing out her arm, but it adds a little mystique to the picture and contributes to his “dudeness.”

Here are a couple of random shots I like:

One of the coolest things about our walk is that we kept shooting after dark.

Almost every summer my husband and one or more of our sons run the Peachtree Road Race here in Atlanta on the fourth of July. Runners across the city wear their official t-shirts like a badge of honor, a silent symbol of the special community of participants to which they belong. I feel the same way about my official Photo Walk t-shirt and hope that in the future it will help me connect with other photographers who shared this special day. It’s not too late to order yours!

Check out the Worldwide Photo Walk Flickr stream (5400 images and still growing)!

Related posts:
9 Days of NAPP Day 1: My NAPP Story
9 Days of NAPP Day 2: NAPP on Twitter
9 Days of NAPP Day 3: Matt Kloskowski and the Lightroom Killer Tips blog
9 Days of NAPP Day 4: KelbyTraining LIVE
9 Days of NAPP Day 5: NAPP Members’ Website
9 Days of NAPP Day 6: Corey Barker and Planet Photoshop
9 Days of NAPP Day 7: Scott Kelby
9 Days of NAPP Day 9: LIVE from Photoshop World!
I’m a NAPP Evangelist!

How do you win?

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of three prizes at the end of the “9 Days of NAPP” series! If you participated in the Worldwide Photo Walk, leave a link to your blog post or favorite photo walk photo, either by blog link or to its page on an image hosting site. If you didn’t participate (and I’m sure you will next year, won’t you?), link to one of your favorite photos Feel free to leave lovely comments for each other here about the photos (you can respond to someone’s comment by clicking the “Reply” button below it). If you feel like humoring me, I’d be interested to know which shot of mine you like best.

There will be three giveaways at the conclusion of the “9 Days of NAPP” post series, with winners selected from the comments on all nine posts: an autographed copy of Photoshop CS4 for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby, an autographed copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby, and the grand prize of a 1-year membership to NAPP!