The NC Pickle Festival in Mount Olive is always fast-paced, full of color, and packed with people. This year’s festival drew a huge crowd. It’s one of those events where you’re constantly on the move, scanning for interesting scenes, colors, and faces in the crowd.

The weekend kicked off with the Cuke Patch 5K on Friday night, followed by a great concert at R&R Brewing that brought out a lively local crowd. Both events had strong energy and set the tone for a fun weekend.

The expanded festival footprint on Saturday helped spread things out, which made it easier to move between events and find better photo angles. I brought a smaller lens with me for this one. It’s lighter, which helps when I’m walking all over downtown, and it lets me frame wider shots more easily, especially when trying to capture multiple people in one image. Most of the photos were shot in natural light, which works well for outdoor events like this. When it comes to editing, I keep it simple. I straighten the horizon, adjust the color and brightness, and move on to the next one.

One of the highlights this year was the pickle eating contest. It looked like close to 5,000 people were gathered just to watch that event. I got a little too close trying to capture the action and ended up getting sprayed with pickle juice. The contest was so close that second and third place actually tied. To break it, they went head-to-head for an extra minute to see how many more they could get down. The crowd loved it, and it made for some great photos.

It’s always fun covering this event. There’s a lot of community spirit, lots of familiar faces, and plenty of chances to catch moments that tell the story of the day.