My involvement in photography as a hobby has been an on-again, off-again affair. It’s looking like that’s about to change back to on-again for a while, as I just found out about Scott Kelby’s Worldwide PhotoWalk, an annual photography event which has been going on for the last four years. I’m featuring this in an On The Horizon post because there are two walks in Houston (so far), one of which has already filled to capacity (50 photographers), and the other is already over half full (21 slots left as I write this), as well as one in Galveston with plenty of room (35 slots), and I want to get the word out far enough in advance (one of the usual purposes of an On The Horizon post). Note this is not specific to the Houston area or even Texas or even the US, and there is no fee to participate.

The Houston walk with openings starts at Lanier Middle School, 2600 Woodhead Street, at 8:15am, on Saturday, October 1, and is led by Laurie Ballesteros, who you may know from her photoblog at photine.net. The focus of this walk is Westheimer Road in the greater Montrose area, and it will be approximately 1.25 miles long. The end time is listed as 10:00am; after the walk, the group will gather for brunch at a local cafe in the area.

The Houston walk that is currently full is a downtown-based walk starting later in the evening on Saturday, October 1, meeting at University of Houston Downtown (1 Main Street) at 4:00pm, and running until 8:00pm. The leader of this photowalk is Joe Lippeat, administrator of the HoustonPhotowalks.com site, who has not yet announced the post-walk dinner plans. While this walk is currently full, you can sign up for a waiting list, as plans do change (the site will not let you sign up for more than one walk, however, including waiting lists).

If you’re further south, or don’t mind driving further south, there is also a walk in Galveston’s Historic Downtown Strand District led by John D. Lively, starting at 9:00am and meeting at Saengerfest Park. John led a walk based in The Woodlands the last two years.

If none of these appeal to you but the general concept does, you can start your own photowalk on the site as well, until September 15.

It looks to be a fun weekend for all, whether toting a DSLR or point-and-shoot.

Returning once again to Warehouse Live’s Green Room for the fourth time is Canned Acoustica, the acoustic concert series benefiting local charities. This will be the fourth concert in the series.

After two concerts benefiting the Houston Food Bank (thus the name) and a third which was a fundraiser for the Japan earthquake victims, this time around the benefit takes the form of a school supply drive for an unnamed Houston area school. In an email to me, organizer Mark C. Austin stated: “The Canned Acoustica team has simply chosen not to disclose the school in need at this particular time… we believe it is irrelevant to [the] cause at hand. Kids are in need. Simple fact. This school is not the only one.”

The featured acts (my apologies that most of these are Myspace or Bandcamp links, but none seemed to have their own official website):

• Los Skarnales
• Literary Greats
• Springfield Riots
• Venomous Maximus
• Nick Gaitan (bassist for Bang Bang Boom and Andrew Karnavas’s solo album)
• Frank Freeman
• Screwtape
• Brandon West and The Black Hats

The set times have yet to be decided, but will probably be posted on the Facebook event page when available. Also, preliminary indications are that H-Town StrEATs, which served up delicious food at the first Canned Acoustica (see recap), will be on hand this time around as well, and will be contributing 5% of sales to purchase school supplies.

This looks to be a great time for all, helping a great cause to boot. Save the date: Friday, 2011 August 26, at the Warehouse Live Green Room, 813 St. Emanuel. See you there!

[Artwork by Jason McElweenie]