Edwin Villanueva » Events

AIDSWalk San Francisco 2009

admin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:14:57 +0000

What did I have in common with 25,000+ people Sunday, July 19th? We all participated in the 23rd Annual AIDSWalk San Francisco at Golden Gate Park. The event raised over 3.5 million dollars for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and dozens of other Bay Arean HIV/AIDS service organizations. Since 1987, AWSF has raised more than $70 million for HIV/AIDS programs and services in the Bay Area and has become Northern California’s largest AIDS fundraising event. Last year alone, 25,000 walkers raised a near-record $4.5 million for SFAF and more than 50 other Bay Area AIDS service organizations. The event once again brought together people from all walks of life for a common cause in the battle against AIDS and to support people with HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases.

This was my second year attending the 6.2 mile walk and probably will be an annual thing for me as I try and do my part to help show support towards finding a cure for this disease.

Beautiful weather, great scenery, and 25,000+ people showing their support for a great cause – what more can you ask for? Below are some of the images I captured throughout the day. You can check out the full set here. Enjoy!

The start of the walk.

The memorial wall.

There was entertainment throughout the walk.

I love the interesting people I met.

It’s not AIDSWalk without the outrageous people. The guy on the right did the walk in heels!

And since this was at Golden Gate Park, there were alot of unique buildings, plant life and beautiful scenery.

Worldwide Photo Walk 2009 – San Jose

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 08:18:14 +0000

San Jose Photo Walk Group – Photo Courtesy of Eric Lee

Last Saturday, I participated in Scott Kelby’s 2nd Annual Worldwide Photo Walk in San Jose. It was a historic event as 32,000+ photographers attended 900+ similar walks around the world. In some of the larger cities and locations, there were multiple walks scheduled throughout the day. San Jose was one of those cities.

Our group was led by Frederick Van Johnson – Photographer, Writer, Instructor and Host of This Week in Photography Podcast (TWiP). Based on some of the gear fellow photographers were sporting, I’d say we had a good mixture of professionals and hobbyists.

The walk began and ended at Gordon Biersch, a well known brewery in the heart of downtown San Jose. From there, we were left to explore the wonders of downtown San Jose. There were so many things to shoot from modern buildings, art museums, parks, shops, clubs and even a cathedral. Throughout the walk, I got a chance to observe and speak to other photographers. It was a great opportunity for me to see first hand how other photographers shoot and compose shots. The pictures I’ve seen from the group have been fantastic. You can checkout some of the photos in the San Jose Flickr Group. Also checkout this short highlight video put together by Ni Ki Cruz Photography.

Personally, I had a blast even though I couldn’t attend the meet up afterwards at Gordon Biersch. Below are some of the photos I captured during the walk. You can checkout the full set here. Enjoy!