You remember how “in the olden days” you were limited by the number of photographs you could take on a roll of film? It was generally 12, 24 or 36. I remember when a roll of 36 film was expensive to buy, and even more expensive to process. As a child, I would generally only be able to afford 12, and occasionally 24. 36 seemed like such a luxury to a young boy from the country.

Fast forward to 2017, and today I went on a photowalk where we were instructed to take no more than 36 shots. “Only 36?”, I thought to myself, adding “This will be a challenge since I regularly take 80 to 100 shots in a single day”. The Local Guides Meetup Sydney Photowalk was one of a number of similar walks held around the world today with the same common instruction.

Today, a group of about a dozen wandered from Milson’s Point, to Cockatoo Island, to Darling Harbour, Barrangaroo, Circular Quay, and many points in between. It was a fun day, hanging out with a couple of blokes I already knew, but also getting to meet some new people I would never have otherwise had the chance to meet.

I’d have to be honest and say most of the people on our photowalk had no intention of sticking to the 36 rule. Many of us had participated previously in photowalks, and many of us were “snap happy” to say the least. Even so, it was good to have in our mind the idea that you should think more carefully about the photographs, rather than take hundreds, as is so easy in the days of digital photography.

So how many did I take?

Art by https://willcoles.com/

Pic: Scott Hamilton

44

https://maps.google.com/localguides/meetup/sydney-harbourcity-photo-walk

https://goo.gl/photos/m9F3aTtrpLNxL32E7