Shutter to Think: Joy was genuine at Petunia Festival

Smiles and joy were bountiful over the weekend at Dixon’s Petunia Fest. Another large crowd enjoyed the perfect weather, music, food, drink and togetherness. (Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@shawmedia.com/credit)

“Everybody’s so joyful tonight.”

I must have said that a half-dozen times when talking to the people I met at Dixon’s Petunia Fest last Saturday.

I had gone down to cover the music and was just so delighted to see so many people smiling and engaged with one another.

In journalism, you never want to be part of the story – you need to observe, document and ask questions. So I routinely will tell the people I’m photographing to “act like I’m not here.”

I want to get them in their most natural, candid state when possible.

But Saturday night it felt almost impossible to sneak in a photo on the sly. There was no shyness –people wanted to show and express their happiness, and I wanted to show that too.

It felt like that giant community embrace that so many of us had missed when we couldn’t embrace.

When I would normally observe, I became engaged. Where I would look to stay hidden, I became part of the story.

I personally only know a few of the people I photographed, but I consider them all friends now.

These photos aren’t perfect, but the smiles are.

– Alex T. Paschal, follow me on Instagram @svmphotogs or message me at apaschal@shawmedia.com.