Photograph what you are passionate about. I read that in a photography book once. Definitely sound advice advice and it is no secret to people that know me (including being shamed, ridiculed, teased, and judged) that I love fancy goldfish. I have kept goldfish since I was little, have them tattooed on me, and my Pisces soul simply loves them. The Goldfish Council, which is a newer organization that started in 2016 and is “dedicated to the education and research of goldfish,” hosted their second annual West Coast Goldfish Palooza on June 30th, 2018 in San Jose California and, being my first goldfish event, had to photograph it. I didn't really know what to expect and I had really hoped that I would find my in-person tribe (vs the Instragram and goldfish forum communities) , other fancy goldfish fanatics, that I could exchange phone numbers with and make plans to have coffee and discuss husbandry techniques, similar to what my former knitting club used to do for my social life. I did not find that. I did eat a taco standing up in the parking lot and made small talk with a koi keeper but I sort of got the vibe he was mistaking my friendliness for flirting and I was most definitely not doing that. However, I did find some beautiful goldfish for sale (I, with the utmost of restraint did not buy the speckled fish that felt like it was my destiny) and took some really nice photos. I also got to meet Gary Hater, who is a bit famous in the goldfish keeping circles, and watched a presentation on disease and treatment and how to keep the best goldfish first aid kit. I had a hard time culling my photos for this collection and it feels a bit over loaded but I can't help bust share.
