Scott Kelby’s Worldwide Photo Walk is the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography itself. It takes place on the same day around the world where photographers of all walks of life and skill levels gather together, usually in downtown areas to socialize, learn new tips from each other, and explore their corner of the world through photography.
“In 2008, we had 241 walks,” said Scott Kelby, founder of NAPP, editor-in-chief of Photoshop User magazine, and president of Kelby Media Group. “Last year, we had over 900 walks with over 32,000 photographers participating. We did the math… your average photographer will take upwards of 300 photos during a photo walk. That means that nearly 10 million pictures were taken in that one single day that may never had happened otherwise. I think that’s pretty cool and we all can’t wait to see what happens this year.”
There is no fee to participate but pre-registration is required. Just go to the Worldwide Photo Walk site, find a walk near you, and join in on the fun. If there is no Photo Walk in your area feel free to register to lead a walk of your own.
Anyone can participate too. All you need is a camera. It doesn’t even matter what kind of camera either. People have showed up with disposables in the past, had a blast, and left with a new appreciation for photography.
Kelby credits the success and popularity of the event to the social aspect of photography the world over. “Photography is usually viewed as a solitary activity, but the truth of the matter is that people love to shoot together, compare notes and just have fun with photography,” said Kelby. “The Worldwide Photo Walk is a social phenomenon. I’ve had group leaders contact me to tell me that they’ve turned their walk into a monthly event. Other people tell me that they’ve made friends at the very first Photo Walk that they’ve kept to this day. It’s the joy of shooting with friends, new and old that makes this event so special.”
The social aspect of this event has also transcended into the online world of social networks as well. Participants in the Worldwide Photo Walk post updates to Twitter before, during and after the event under the #WWPW hash tag, they share their pictures on Flickr (view pictures from last year’s Flickr group), and get updates from NAPP via its Facebook page.
In addition to enjoying a day of photography with other like-minded individuals, participants may also be eligible to win prizes from the Worldwide Photo Walk’s sponsors if their photo is chosen as the best photo of the day by their walk leader. Each winning walk photo is then entered into a global competition where Scott Kelby picks the single “best photo” of the event along with 10 runners-up. Full details are available at: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/
Great Places for Great Photos
Let me help you to find a great location for your next photography adventure. I will list many lesser-known destinations, as well as the famous "Icon Locations" for photography. I will provide photos (Lots of Photos), location information, consisting of what there is to photograph as well as other information about the destination. I will give costs, maps, directions, contact information, and other essential information for a successful photo trip. I will only post for locations that I have personally photographed to ensure a quality guide to great locations for photography. If you know of great places that are not posted, please send me the details, I may just decide that is a place I need to go!
Greg Disch is a freelance photographer located in Arkansas. Greg specializes in nature, scenic, wildlife, and other outdoor subjects in Arkansas and other areas of the country. Most of the images on this site are available for sale as prints, personal use, or rights managed stock photos.
Greg offers both classroom instruction and in the field hands on photographic workshops. Classroom sessions are normally held in Fort Smith Arkansas, but arrangements can be made to bring a class to your group.
All classes and workshops have small class sizes designed to provide an optimum student to instructor ratio, where you can get the personal attention, you need. Most classes and workshops are limited to a maximum of six participants and will be held with a minimum of only two.
If you are looking for a wonderful opportunity to get personal individual instruction, I do private workshops and classes at a location of your choice, whether doing a location photo shoot, coming to your home or business, traveling across the country on a road trip, or at my classroom. This is a fantastic way to learn digital workflow and be sure that your computer equipment is properly configured for optimum performance.
