Anthony Bush, chief photographer at the Topeka Capital-Journal, is stepping away from his photojournalism gig for a Saturday morning to lead a group of photographers in capturing artful photographs in downtown Topeka.

The free event is part of the Worldwide Photo Walk, an international contest that has 829 walks in the works so far and over 16,000 individuals participating, all happening July 24, 2010. 50 Topeka photographers, led by Bush through downtown Topeka, will train their lenses on architecture, foliage, people and objects, take interesting shots, choose one of their favorites and then submit a photo to the competition.

As the leader of the photo walk, Bush was tasked with finding the location in Topeka to stroll and shoot. For him, downtown was a no-brainer.

“I just wanted a location where there’s a variety of things to shoot. And I’m familiar with downtown Topeka. As a photographer, I have to go out and find photos, and I often find myself downtown,” he explains.

Bush is a professional photographer, but he stresses the point that the Photo Walk is open to people of all skill levels and with any camera imaginable, from the heftiest Canon SLR to a point-and-shoot. “Anyone can sign up,” he says.

Locals are competing for a chance to win how-to books on Adobe Lightroom 3 or Adobe CS5 by Scott Kelby in the local contest and a $1000 gift prize at Adorama Photography (for first place) in the international contest.

But besides the lure of the prizes, the event is just a fun time for people who like to take photos to stroll the streets of downtown, angling for interesting shots and socializing with like-minded people. It’s also an event that will bring foot traffic to downtown on a Saturday morning, a typically slow time for the area.

“I think it’s a good way of promoting Topeka and the things that people want to do with downtown,” says Bush. “There will be 50 people walking around downtown on a Saturday, and that isn’t usual.”

With only 50 spots available, Bush says that the event will fill up fast. As of this writing, there are 24 spots still available.

“As soon as you hear about it, sign up as quickly as possible,” he says.

Interested photographers can sign up at www.worldwidephotowalk.com on the page for Topeka’s photo walk. *update 6/25: due to interest, a new photo walk has been added, with the location in Gage Park. See the photo walk website to register for either event.*

The downtown Topeka Photo Walk will be held 8:45 – 11 a.m. July 24, starting at the corner of 9th and Kansas Avenue. Afterward, the group is encouraged to meet at the Kansan Grill for lunch and talk about their shots, share their perspectives and have a good time in the company of other photo enthusiasts.

[June 2010 | Leah Sewell | photo courtesy Anthony Bush / World Wide Photo Walk]