Thanks to a heads up from the Shutter Sisters, I found out about Scott Kelby’s 2^nd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk, which took place yesterday in almost 900 different cities across the world.  The Hamburg walk was one of the few German walks that was fully booked out with 50 participants/photographers, starting down near the Fischmarkt and making our way through St. Pauli, following the harbor until we reached the Landungsbrücken U-Bahn station.

As far as I could tell, I was one of the only foreigners in the group (except for that one guy that needed an English translation, I guess).  I also noticed that my Nikon D-40 and kit-lens definitely did not stack up next to these folks with seriously sophisticated cameras, multiple lenses and tripods.  What is this, a competition?  Well actually, yes.  But instead of trying to compete against lenses that cost thousands of dollars, I decided to compete with myself and see if I couldn’t take a few shots I was proud of.

Hamburg is a gorgeous city with beautiful, grand old houses lining the Alster canals with their immaculate, enviable gardens.  I love it, especially when I’m running or biking or boating.  But mostly I am attracted to the grittier side of cities, which are are endlessly fascinating and alive and so much more interesting than perfection.  Needless to say, I was thrilled to walk through St. Pauli, although our big group with even bigger cameras caused a little bit of a flutter passing through.

Anyway, as always, below are some of my favorite shots, but I had a hard time choosing just a few, so you really should check out the whole album here!  When I see links to other photos from our group, I will be sure to pass them along too.