Augusta, MO Photowalk

Had a chance to do a photowalk with the photogs at the O’Fallon Photo Club at Augusta, MO this past weekend. Haven’t done a photowalk with these folks in a long time now. My last photowalk with this club was back in 2006 or so during the worldwide photowalk day in St. Charles, MO.

Though I really like the idea of taking part in photowalks, there always seems to be something or the other that takes up the priority.

Photowalks are like a box of chocolates.

You will never know beforehand what you will get into…unlike a planned photo shoot, where one would know the subject to be photographed in advance and do his homework, photowalks are a challenge. Am I going to shoot street shots or will it be landscape or what it would be? – one would never know until he participates in a photowalk. I like this challenging part of the photowalks.

The challenge begins right from the moment you decide onto participate on a photowalk,

* What lens should I take for the photowalk?
* Do I need to take my spare camera body with a attached lens?
* Do I need to take my walkabout prime or do I need a zoom or do I need a macro?
* What bag should I take – backpack or messenger bag?
* Do I need a tripod or how about a monopod or none?

So the challenge goes on…although there isn’t a clear cut answer, I am leaning towards a prime and a macro for future photowalks. The general idea is to travel light. Then there is always going to be a second thought (in a future walk) on why didn’t I bring my zoom lens 😉

Here are some of my thoughts on photowalk – besides the social aspect of meeting the like-minded photogs, there is always a trick or two you will learn. In my case, I had a chance to chat with couple of folks on their workflow and also had a chance to see how a photog used a wireless flash to lit the subject. I might tag along my Cactus transmitter and a speed light for my future photowalks.

So, we did the photowalk for a couple of hours and I came up with a few shots that I like.