So it was early August and the posts and information for Scott Kelby's WorldWide Photowalk began to trickle through my streams. I've attended a few as a walker in the past, and was excited to participate again, this time in a new city, but when I logged on to register, there wasn't a Portland chapter or event scheduled. Seeing as how this was the 10-year anniversary of this annual event, I wasn't having any of that!! So I applied to lead a walk in Portland, and hot darnit, they agreed to let me do the thing.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have never led a photowalk before, nor did I have ANY idea what it would entail. Thankfully, the people at KelbyOne have a plethora of resources that helped guide me through it all, ensuring it would be a success.
The guy that took this picture claims it was the first photo he's ever taken in his life. Pretty cool achievement to unlock on a photowalk...
While I anticipated 10 or 15 people, and would have been thrilled with that turnout, I was blindsided by the fact that the thing filled up. We had 50 RSVPs (the limit set by WorldWide Photowalk), and we had about 40 of those show up. I freaked out at first, wondering how I was supposed to keep it all together, but, well, this was another reminder - get a group of photographers together and they'll always find something to focus on (see what I did there...).
So that was it - Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2017, Chapter: Downtown Portland – From the Mural to the Market - was a go!
We started by the iconic Keep Portland Weird mural on the backside of Dante's, walked down Ankeny by the famous VooDoo Doughnut and their neighbor Kit Kat Club (the first strip club I've ever seen that accepts Bitcoin!!!), by the Skidmore fountain, the oldest fountain in the city, all the way to the Portland Saturday Market along the waterfront, ending at the Nato fountain, the newest fountain in the city.
Here are a few of the images I was able to capture in the midst of trying to herd us all together, and for a full gallery of everyone images from the Portland, walk, click here to visit the Meetup page I created for it.
