Stealing the title from Ingrid, because that's what you can do after you meet people in real life. I broke my cardinal rule of thumb when it comes to the Internet: I met people in real life that I had known only previously online. There's a reason I do that, and it has a lot to do with disappointment and expectations. Online, with plenty of time to edit, and the freedom that comes from not having to deal with normal social cues, people are wittier, funnier, more pleasant to be around, and generally cuter (in my head at least). And the simple fact of the matter is that they rarely are. But it's what you build up, and what you expect, and what you generally don't get when you meet them in real life. It's happened often enough that I generally don't like to do these meetups. Saterday, however, was a special occasion. The Gates openned up, and people whose work I greatly admire were gong to be in attendence. This was a prime opportunity to both get in some really great shots, and to blatently steal technique and artistic vision. I had to go. Sadly, my plans to make a flickr lanyard badge fell short, I wasted time in Chinatown trying to get some New Year's shots, of which there were few to none. As a result, when I finally got to the steps of the Met, I had no easy way to identify myself outside the hope that people would recognize me from my icon. Only Ingrid did that, and she came just in time for me to humiliate myself. Do you know just how embarassing it is to scream, on the front steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in front of literally hundreds of people, that "My name is LarimdaME, and I'm looking for flickr people!"? It's not a proud moment, to be sure. But it did lead me to Nachosan and Duvet, both of which were good sports (and not at all fazed by my complete lack of dignity). Evil1, JoeinQueens, fxs65, and atanas quickly caught up as well. I suppose it was worth it (but now I wish I had tucked in my shirt at least). And then it was off to wander about the park. Finding an original shot is very hard when you're with some great shutterbugs, and the fact that every third person in the park, which was packed doesn't help matters. I couldn't really get any that satisfied me, but it was a lot of fun joking around with the others, especially when one of us found a particularly interesting item, and then the rest of us would swarm said item (usually a befuddled person) like an angry mob of paparazzi. Lots of humorous pics, mostly instigated by Evil1, who is a hoot and a half. And, of course, lots of rather dull pics on my part. One by one they broke off (it was getting late, dark, and cold), until I was left alone in a darkening park. Which of course is exactly where I wanted to be. Night shots are my forte. Partly because I get out of work late and can only really do night shots, so I've got some experience under my belt in what to look out for. And partly because I love the shadow and light play you get at night. But mostly because it's where you can still get some interesting shots that those pesky daylighters haven't already done. The angles I had laid out in my head didn't work, as I had misread the map and wher e the gates would be placed. I lost a lot of daylight screaming at this moron to get off the ice, which was too thin for everyone but, apparently, morons. And I spent a fair bit of time mapping out backup locations since my primaries turned out to be such duds. But I managed to get some really nice shots I'm actually proud of, and others seemed to have liked. I got some shots that really don't do the scene justice, nearly cost me a header down a 20 ft. rock face, and nobody really liked, and I got some shots that were just plain bad (not having a tripod was a real disadvantage). But all in all, I had a blast, and The Gates were a lot of fun. And now, I'll actually know some people for this Thursday's official meetup. Still debating on going, as it seems like I've pushed my luck pretty far (in the whole breaking cardinal rule thing), but we'll see what happens. Oh, and look out for some rawking Movable Hype 2.0 pics too, as the concert is on tonight.