Have you ever wanted to meet a Folklife Festival photographer? On the closing weekend of the Festival you’ll have a chance to do just that. Join photographer Francisco X. Guerra on a Smithsonian Folklife Festival photowalk, and find out how he approaches some of the unique technical and creative challenges of shooting in the Festival environment.

See musicians, dancers, and artisans from around the world while touring the Festival grounds with your camera. If you like, stay on after the photowalk for refreshments and conversation at the Budapest Bistro. Meet on Saturday, July 6, at 11 am at the Peacock Tower—the tallest wooden structure—near the Smithsonian Metro. All cameras and photographers welcome!

In the meantime, take a look at some of the beautiful photographs shared by our visitors. If you have some photos you want to share, please join us on Flickr. We choose a gallery of our favorites every day, and feature the galleries on our Festival blog. Photographers selected for the final Best of the Festival Gallery will receive free Festival merchandise in acknowledgement of their contributions.

Be sure to tag your photos #2013Folklife.

Not on Flickr? Sign up for free here.

Ariel Fielding is a former Folklife Festival fellow in community and online engagement. Ariel first learned to use an SLR camera and a darkroom at the age of six, and recently collaborated with photographer Michael Barker on ALPHA Alternative School 1972/2012, an ethnographic art project based on environmental portraiture.