Q. How do I select the winning photo for my walk?
A. After image submissions have closed, Photo Walk Leaders will then have until October 13 at 12:00 noon EDT to select a winning image from their Photo Walk. To do so, you’ll simply log in at WorldwidePhotoWalk.com, go to your walk page, and click the button below the image you wish to choose as the winning photo. Confirm your selection, and that’s it!
Q. How do leaders submit their photos to the leader contest?
A. After the walkers’ contest is complete, we’ll be sending out info on the leaders’ contest.
Q. How can I lead a Photo Walk?
A. You can apply to be a Photo Walk Leader right here. It’s really easy to to setup your Photo Walk and you’ll get instructions once you’ve been approved.
Q. Does everyone get accepted as a Photo Walk leader?
A. We’re looking for people who have experience leading groups, so if you’re the president of your local camera club, or a college teacher, or photography instructor, or you run a local camera store, or you’ve lead PhotoWalks in your area before, etc., you’re more likely to get accepted to be a leader. We ask for your qualifications on the leader application, and that’s the type of experience we’re looking for. Last year, we had some people put, “Well, nobody else signed up from our city, so I guess I’ll do it.” That’s doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in you as a leader.
Q. I led a Photo Walk in previous years but didn’t get my invite to lead a walk again this year. Do I need to apply to be a leader again?
A. Nope! If you’ve led a walk before, just click right here to have your login info sent to you so you can set up your walk. Make sure you use the same email address you used to sign up!
Q. I sent in my application to be a Photo Walk Leader but haven’t heard back. Where can I find out the status of my application?
A. You can check your application status right here. Keep in mind that we receive hundreds of applications each week, so we appreciate your patience in waiting for a response.
Q. What if my city already has a Photo Walk, but I want to lead a walk, too?
A. Some big cities can accommodate more than one walk, and so as soon as one starts to fill up, we add a second city walk if we have a leader apply. Or, if the walks are held geographically far from each other but technically in the same major city, we usually add those, too. (Cities like Paris, New York, London, Tokyo all can have multiple walks and draw from totally different population groups)
Q. Since the Photo Walk is on two days this year, will my walk be both days or just one?
A. We wanted to get you the option of doing your walk on either Saturday or Sunday. Your walk will still only be on one day, but you’ll be able to choose which day you hold it on.
Q: Do I have to hold my walk during the day?
A. Nope. There are plenty of walks scheduled during sunrise/sunset. The only stipulation is that your walk takes place on October 1 or 2
Q. Can I hold my walk at a location that charges admission, like a park or zoo?
A. You absolutely can! Just be sure to post the admission fee on your walk page so everyone who signs up is aware of it. Walk leaders will not be allowed to collect the admission fee.
Q. What do I get for being a Photo Walk leader?
A. You’ll receive the new Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It book by Scott Kelby. Once you’ve completed all your leaderly duties, you’ll get an email with a coupon code for the store at KelbyTraining.com that you can use to order the book completely free of charge! You should get the code by the end of November.
Q. Can I enter my best photo into the competition?
A. Leaders are not eligible for the grand prize competition, but you do get a free copy of one of Scott’s books (hey, that’s more than most walkers will get)!
Q. What can I do to get the word out about my Photo Walk?
A. We’re currently working on putting together a press kit for leaders. When we have everything ready, there will be a link to download it on your Leader Dashboard.
Q. I set up my walk, but I don’t see it on the map. Why not?
A. Once you’ve set up your walk, the last step is to click the blue “Publish” button on the right side of the page. Once you do that, your walk should show up on the map.
Q. Where are the “Join Walk” button, “Leave Walk” button or “Contact Leader” link on my location page?
A. Leaders won’t see these when you’re signed in. You won’t see the green “Join/Leave Walk” button above the map because you can’t do either, and instead of “Contact Leader” you’ll see a link that says “Contact Walkers.” Everyone else will see the “Join/Leave Walk” button depending on if they’re part of your walk or not, and the “Contact Leader” link next to your name.
Q: We have a really large photography group that wants to participate, can we add more than 50 people to our walk?
A. Unfortunately, we can not allow our walks to exceed the max number of 50 walkers per location. However, please feel free to have another member of your photo group submit a leader application in the same area and have him/her specify that they are working in conjunction with you. If your walk in that location is full we will approve his/her application to host a walk near yours. Besides, if you plan to lead more than 50 people, you should have helpers anyway. =)
Q: Is there an age restriction? Can I allow children to participate?
A. We do not have an age restriction. Since each walk is different (location, time of day, etc.) we thought it should be up to each walk leader to decide whether they want to have children on their walk or not. If you are a walk leader that decides to allow children on your walk, please consider posting specific rules regarding supervision! We strongly suggest you only allow children if they are accompanied by a parent/guardian. As always, we want everyone to be safe during the WWPW but we also do not want to see a walk leader be held liable if anything happens to someone’s child during a walk!
Q. What happens if I have to cancel my walk?
A. We strongly recommend that you have a backup leader in place as part of your planning for the walk. This way they can step in and lead the walk in case something comes up at the last minute, and all of the people who signed up won’t be disappointed.
Q. I want to lead a walk on 10-2 and join a walk on 10-1 in a neighboring community. Would that be an issue?
A. You probably have to create a separate account to do that since this is the first time there are two days. All we ask is that you consider your own walk first, the effort you have to put in to make it great, and whether or not you’ll have time to do another walk as a walker the next day. If you do decide that you can’t lead and walk in another walk, please be sure to remove yourself from the walk so someone else has a chance to join in. =)
Q. How do I change my password/email/name?
A. Log in to your account, go to your Leader admin area, and go to your Profile page. All your info is right there.
Q. How do I get a profile picture to show up next to my name?
A. You can sign up for a Gravatar using the same email address you used to sign up here, and that will give you a profile picture.
Q. How will I pick the winning photo from my Photo Walk?
A. When you log in to your admin area after the submission deadline is past, you will be able to view all of the photos submitted by your walkers and choose the winner.
Q. Can I get a new password? I lost mine…
A. No problem! You can get a new password right here.
Q. I have a question or issue that isn’t addressed here. How can I contact you?
A. You can email us at photowalk@kelbymediagroup.com, and we’ll help you out as quickly as we can. Remember though, we are helping thousands of people around the world, so please be patient in waiting for a response. Also, please make sure you send your email from the email address you used to register. This will make it much easier to find your account and help you out 
Q. How do I submit my best photo to the contest?
A. First, log in at WorldwidePhotoWalk.com, then go to your walk page. There you’ll see instructions in a big yellow box on how to submit your single best image from your walk to the contest. You will have until October 10 at 12:00 noon EDT to upload your best image to the contest.
Q. What size/dimensions/resolution should my photo be?
A. The maximum file size for images is 1MB. We suggest it to be 1000px on the longest side at 72dpi.
Q. If I participated in two Photo Walks, how do I submit my images to the contest?
A. Walkers can submit one image per walk that they participated in. To do so, log in at WorldwidePhotoWalk.com, then go to one of your walk pages and upload your image from that walk. After you’re done there, go to your other walk page and upload your image from that walk.
Q. What is a Photo Walk?
A. It’s a social photography event where photographers get together (usually in a downtown area or trendy section of town) to walk around, shoot photos, and generally have fun with other photographers.
Q. When is the 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk™?
A. This year’s Photo Walk event will be held on Saturday and Sunday, October 1-2, 2011.
Q. Is there a fee to participate this year?
A. Once again it’s free—there is no fee to join this year’s Photo Walk—just come and have a ball!
Q. How many cities participated last year, and how many photographers did the Photo Walk that day?
A. We had over 1100 Photo Walks and over 33,000 people who participated around the world last year! That’s a HUGE leap from the 236 locations and 8,324 people we had the first year.
Q. What happens when a walk fills up?
A. It’s full =)
Q. How many is full?
A. Photo Walks are limited to 50 photographers. If that doesn’t sound like a lot, you haven’t seen 50 photographers coming down the sidewalk at the same time, and later all converging at once on a restaurant or pub. It’s more like a scary bike gang (except without the bikes, or gang, or scariness).
Q. Since the Photo Walk is taking place over two days, can I participate in more than one Photo Walk event?
A.The idea behind having a second day is not so the same people can fill up both walks—it’s to let people who couldn’t walk Saturday have an opportunity to walk on Sunday. If you sign up for both days, chances are you’ll be denying someone the opportunity to walk. That being said, if it’s a week before the walk, and there are plenty of open slots for a Sunday walk (like 20 or so openings), then it’s perfectly OK to go ahead and join a 2nd walk, because you’re probably not stealing anybody’s spot at that point. Just be a good egg and don’t sign up too early for a 2nd walk, so other people have a chance to participate. You’re on the honor system for this one, and we trust you to do the right thing.
Q: Is there an age restriction? Are children allowed to participate?
A. While we do not have an age restriction, we thought it should be up to each walk leader to decide whether they want to allow children on their walk or not. Check with your leader to see if children will be allowed on their walk.
Q. So are you going to try and work some angle so that Orphanage in Kenya gets something out of this?
A. Ahh, you know us too well. Last year Scott was trying to come up with a good tie-in, but luckily one of his blog readers, Rob from Towner Jones Photography, came up with a great idea—we created an official Worldwide PhotoWalk T-shirt. We’re doing it again this year, and 100% of the profits from the sale of any of these t-shirts will go to feeding the kids at the Springs of Hope, Kenya Orphanage. We think it’s a great idea, and we’re so grateful that Rob came up with it! The online store will be up very soon!
Q. What are the rules for pictures I can submit to the contest?
A. We’ve had a ton of questions each year about this. Most recently, we’ve had lots of questions about model shoots during the walk. Here’s how we feel about it: you can shoot models as long as it happens on the walk route, during the official 2-hour (approx.) walk time chosen by your walk leader. Also, you can use Adobe Photoshop to your hearts content, as long as everything in your photo was taken during the official walk hours along on the walk route. You can’t go back at sunset and shoot it in better light, and so on. Also, you can’t add a better sky that you shot in that same location on some other day. Basically, whatever you submit, it has to be taken during the official walk you participated in. You can shoot panos, HDR, B&Ws, you can create collages, you can process them with Instagram on your iPhone—I don’t care—it just has to be all shot during your 2-hour walk. If you don’t agree with the rules, no sweat whatsoever—just don’t enter the competition portion of the walk.
Q. Is there a Grand Prize?
A. You betcha!! Details of the prize packages can be found in our Prizes page (Top prize is awarded by Scott to the single best overall photo taken that day, from all the Photo Walk locations around the world).
Q. Are there other prizes?
A. Scott will also pick photos for 10 Finalist prizes, and there will be one People’s Choice award that will be voted on by you! Whatever photo you all vote as your favorite will get a great prize!
Q. Do I have to enter the prize competition?
A. Absolutely not. This is a totally separate part of the experience, and if you don’t want to enter your images, you absolutely don’t have to (it’s just to make the experience more fun). Some people freaked out last year thinking they were required to enter, but just know—you absolutely don’t have to enter your image—you can go and shoot for the day, and never let anyone see your photos. Ever. They can be your private “secret” photos.
Q. Did anyone complain last year about how the winners were chosen?
A. Absolutely. People get pretty cranked if they think their image deserved to be the winner and wasn’t chosen, but Scott’s been one of the Photoshop World Guru Awards judges for 10 years, along with judging other competitions over the years, so he’s kind of used to that response. Surprisingly, he didn’t get one single complaint about the picks from any of the winners.
Q. How do I get a profile picture to show up next to my name?
A. You can sign up for a Gravatar using the same email address you used to sign up here, and that will give you a profile picture here and anywhere else online you post comments.
Q. Where can I share more of my photos from the walk?
A. While you can only submit one image for the contest, you can upload up to five images per day at the Official Flickr Group for the Worldwide Photo Walk right here. If you don’t have a Flickr account, it’s quick and free to set one up!
Q. I share an email address with someone who also wants to participate in the Photo Walk. How can we both register?
A.One of you will need to sign up for another email account to register. It’s free, quick, and easy to do with any number of services including GMail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, etc.
Q. Can I get a new password? I lost mine…
A. No problem! You can get a new password right here.
Q. What has been best thing that came out of this whole Worldwide Photo Walk thing?
A. I think it was the fact that so many photographers have not only made new friends, but have gone on to form their own photo walks during the year. This is totally a social event, and that’s why makes it so much fun. Most of the people on my walk had never done a Photo Walk before, but everybody had so much fun, they all wanted to do one again right away. Photo Walks are infectious, because when you get that many creative people together, who all have the love of photography in common, you can’t help but have a great time.
Q. I have a question or issue that isn’t addressed here. How can I contact you?
A. You can email us at photowalk@kelbymediagroup.com, and we’ll help you out as quickly as we can. Remember though, we are helping thousands of people around the world, so please be patient in waiting for a response. Also, please make sure you send your email from the email address you used to register. This will make it much easier to find your account and help you out
