Arthritis Foundation | 2018 Cruise-In & Auto Show

I met Liz Martin last fall, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, as we both were mastering the art of #adulting. At the time, I had no idea how much a chance phone call would change the direction of my life, and I am SO hugely grateful to the universe for crossing our paths.

The evening that followed that first phone conversation was the Fall SOUP event and the first time that Liz and I met in person. It was one of those, “oh hey, there you are” kinda moments that simply clicked.

Arthritis Foundation | 2018 Cruise-In & Auto Show

Since that fateful fall Sunday afternoon, I’ve photographed a handful of events in collaboration with Liz and by extension, the Arthritis Foundation. Each event is more kick-ass than the last, and the AF Auto Show and Cruise-In was no exception.

I have an intern this summer, Colby, who was with me at the Auto Show, and without him, I would not have been able to capture the event in the same way. Not even a little bit.

That first morning we got to check in, picked up our badges and the key to our golf cart (HELL YES golf cart!) and got to work. Hang on a sec, and lemme back up to earlier that morning. Colby got to the house, together we loaded up the cooler with bottles of water, Gatorade, and energy drinks, (props to the wedding and event photographer day of drinks of choice), made sure that all of our gear was packed and ready to go, stopped at Starbucks for a hit of that liquid gold, and off we went.

We figured out real early that first day that the k.H.a cooler, while heavy with drinks and ice, was not heavy enough to stay in the cart when we went around corners. (That tidbit of knowledge only took twice to sink in) Which meant that Colby was tasked with driving, while I rode shotgun, using my legs to keep the cooler where it was supposed to be.

The next two days were spent zipping around the show field, capturing alllllll the things. This show was the first ever auto show for both Colby and myself, which meant that we were both essentially little kids in a candy store, for the first time ever. Experiencing it, and soaking it all in, cameras in hand, eff-ing fantastic.

Arthritis Foundation Auto Show Food Court

Plus, Y’all, the food carts at the Auto Show? Ballin’. We dug into funnel cake, because if duh. If you’re able to be at a festival that has a booth selling funnel cakes, and you’re able to avoid it entirely, you’re a better person than we are. We inhaled that thing. Then lemonade. Then burritos. Something along the lines of keeping our energy levels up and whatnot.

Rockin’ out with Snidely Whiplash

Saturday, the second day of the Auto Show, Snidely Whiplash performed, and lemme tell ya, these guys have real big energy and are real fun to watch.

The show was wrapping up, I was done shooting, so I kicked my feet up on the dash of my golf cart, popped a top, and enjoyed the show. There could not have been a better way to end the weekend.