A post I wrote for the ‘Scenic Rim Photo Walks’ page recently…
A quick guide to a photowalk
“What is a ‘Photowalk’ anyway?” Is a question I get asked regularly and the answer is as simple as it sounds but deeper than you might think. At its most basic a ‘Photowalk’ is about getting out with your camera and taking some photos.
It could be around your yard, at a local park, in the city, or way out bush.
It could be 5 minutes, 5 hours, or 5 days.
It could be on your own or with a hundred of your closest friends
It could be using mutiple cameras and lenses, or an old film camera, or just with your phone camera.
You may take hundreds of photos, or you might take just one.
The point of a photowalk is simply to get outside, into the world and take some photos.
But a photowalk is not just about ‘doing’ – taking a walk and taking some photos but also about ‘being’ – immersing yourself in the world around you, slowing down long enough to notice the details of life that so often escape us. It is about taking the time to explore, be curious, challenge your perspectives, learn about your world and yourself.
A photowalk with friends can be a time of community and connection, of sharing a common passion, learning from each other and seeing how others percieve their world. I am always surpised at the wide range of images that emerge after one of our Scenic Rim Photowalks – even though we are all in the same place in the same conditions we all seem to find very different images.
I often find that going out on a photowalk even when I am not feeling particularly motivated, is a good way to become inspired and I find myself slowly seeing more and more. Sometimes I come back with some great images, sometimes mediocre but I almost always come back refreshed, having engaged in my surroundings, seen some otherwise forgotten beauty or simply refreshed by being outside and having some time out.
There is nothing complicated about it and all you need is some time and something that takes a photo, then go and enjoy the world around you, slow down, share the experience.
That’s what a ‘photowalk’ is to me – what about you?