ClickinWalk 2016

Saturday morning I attended my third photo walk - the second through Clickin Moms. Last year we met at the Sculpture Garden and it was great, but I think I loved this one the best. I think my pictures were better last year, but I learned so much more this year and, since it was a much smaller group, I was able to connect with others in a more meaningful way.

Our group consisted of professional and hobbyist photographers - and was led by two professionals who provided great information on everything from lenses and flash to posing to running a photography business. There were times I wasn't taking pictures because I just wanted to suck up all the knowledge they were sharing.

This year we started at the Mill Ruins Park, walked up to the boardwalk, through Mill City, around the farmer's market, into the Guthrie, and back to the Stone Arch Bridge. The group headed back to the farmer's market for lunch, but between my parking meter running out of time and my back killing me I decided to go home. It was a hard decision because I didn't want to miss a thing with this group.

Our walk was from 9:00 to 1:00 which I thought would be long, but the time flew right by. The only thing I would have liked to change was the weather since it was about 38 degrees when we started out and super windy, but I suppose it could have been raining (or snowing because, you know, Minnesota...) so I won't complain.

I love this area since there are so many interesting spots and so many lovely textures, whether it's flowers, water, old stone buildings, metal... this area has it covered. It's no surprise that so many photographers come to this area for their photo sessions. In fact, we ran into a woman that was doing mini sessions and I thought she looked familiar. I think she might have lead our group when I did the World Wide Photo Walk.

Below isn't a great picture (I snapped it at the last moment without changing my settings), but here are our two leaders, Kirsten and Angela. Angela was showing us how to pose in this spot to block the posts and fire hydrant behind her (and then you just have to clone out the big sign that was next to her). I was able to take a few shots of her with her full frame camera which was super dangerous because it just stirred up in me how much I would love one (but don't need one). Still, such a fun learning moment.

Speedlight recommendations

While in the Guthrie we checked out the Amber Room and the Endless Bridge...

More textures and lots of places for reflections as well...

As we were walking across the Stone Arch bridge we were even able to be a part of a marriage proposal. It was a fun little surprise to add to our day.

I really need to do more of these walks. I love being part of the photography community and the support everyone provides for each other. I can't wait for the next one.