Up, up and away...
During the summer at Valley Park in Hurricane, Thursday evenings come alive during their Night Markets with food trucks, vendors and live music. This particular Thursday's theme was Superheroes and they were out in force! Little superheroes were roaming the grounds having their favorite hero (and sometimes villain) theme painted on their faces. Elaborate balloon characters and shapes were handed out by the Balloon Guy and vendors were selling everything from leather goods to hand crafted cutting boards to tasty treats. And these are the exact kind of evenings that have me grabbing my camera and heading to the park.
While the hot air balloons were absolutely attention grabbing, they were only a part of what made the evening so memorable. Watching families look up together, kids waving as the balloon floated overhead, and seeing complete strangers gather on blankets in the grass to take it all in, that's what kept me there until after sunset.
One of my favorite moments was meeting a sweet family and snapping a few photos for them before and during their hot air balloon ride. It wasn't planned. It wasn't a session. It was just a moment of capturing something worth remembering.
I've found photographing events like this have forced me to slow down and pay attention to the things happening around me in the best way possible. Capturing the wonder of a child, a family having a fun evening together, complete stangers smiling for my camera has become something that brings me great joy.
Life happens every day.
Sometimes we just need to slow down and take it all in.
Until the next story,
Lori
