one | january 2017

Happy 2017! We are kicking off another year of our beloved little blog circle! I always look forward to what my friends post. There aren’t any rules or themes, we just pick an image that sticks out to us each month.

My image is from our annual “6 Degrees of Eugene” photowalk shootout in downtown Chicago. Let me explain. One of the very best things about photography is how many wonderful people it has brought into my life. The fabulous women in this blog circle? I would have never crossed paths with them otherwise. We met in online photography courses! We are from Chicago, Denver, NYC, Georgia, Texas, and the Seattle area. So thankful we connected with each other and ever since have become fast friends and have traveled several times to have in-person fun as well. I can’t wait for our next adventure together! It’s impossible for us to not have fun.

Back to 6 Degrees of Eugene. Eugene is an old friend of mine. He’s a veterinarian, and I worked with him way back when I was a vet tech, working my tail off to try to get into vet school. We’ve always kept in touch and then have also had our photography “habit” in common. Eug and I meet up a couple times a year downtown to walk around and do some street photography. Such a nice departure from what I’m normally shooting. Last year, Eugene had some other friends come along, and their friends. We had the best time together shooting downtown and have been trying to meet up again (which is like herding cats). Everyone knows Eugene or someone who knows Eugene which is where the 6 degrees come in ☺️

We finally did it again! For some reason we keep going out in January – in Chicago. We got a lucky break and it was close to 40 degrees. You know you are with a group of photographers when:

1. You are within yards of some of Chicago’s most famous landmarks and you spend most of your time shooting underground
2. You nerd out all day chatting about lenses and gear
3. You take pictures of each other taking pictures of each other taking pictures
4. You lose people in the group from time to time who get ridiculously distracted by things like puddles, fog, or broken glass
5. You set up portable tripods for group selfies instead of asking someone to take your picture

Please follow me to Bainbridge Island, WA to see what my friend Krista has been up to! She has gotten some new gear for Christmas and I’m hoping to see a lot more of her amazing work because of it soon!