Mysterious Shoes at the Van Hotel ( Create Your Own Story)

The sun rose bright and hot today on a cloudless sky. I drove downtown and dropped off some images for the paper of the Kinetic Carnival. Afterwards I stopped in the parking lot of JD Redhouse the local feed store. Two dogs waiting for their master in the back of a pick up truck were just begging to be photographed. Later as I was driving around the block to head home I saw a pair of shoes on the sidewalk outside the Van Hotel.What in the world were they doing there? They were lined up rather deliberately against the wall. Rather nice and neat actually. All kinds of scenarios and stories popped into my head. Why do you think they were there? I'd love to read your comments and stories about the shoes down below. God bless, chris She awoke to a blazing hot sky. Reluctantly she pushed the covers aside and dragged herself out of bed. It seemed to take forever to get dressed. Adding clothing on just seemed to just intensify the heat. Especially now since on today of all days she had to dress up a bit. At last she pulled on her navy blue flats, called out to the dogs and walked out to the pick up. The dogs seemed eager to go in spite of the blazing day as they bounded up into the back of the old gray Dodge. Later as she was driving the long, dusty road into town she thought to herself that she would have to mind their paws on the scorching pavement when she got to town. Reaching town she made the left turn off of Commercial Street past the old Van Hotel onto Main Street. As she was making the turn a flash of bright light caught her attention in one of the second story rooms of the old brick hotel. She was tempted to drive on but her curiosity drew her back. With some reluctance she pulled off the side of the road and parked on the street in front of the hotel. She warned the dogs to stay in a stern voice and she climbed out of the truck. She looked up at the old hotel sign covered in chipped blue and white paint and then began glancing up into the windows of the hotel. Seeing nothing but the walls and ceilings of empty rooms she slowly she made her way to the lobby doors and peered inside at the dusty dirty floor. She jiggled the door handle and was surprised to feel the knob turn under her grip. She began to push open the door. Then suddenly she stopped. She looked around, backed up and slipped off of her flats and placed them neatly beside the door.She then pushed open the door and slipped inside.

On the Run

This morning I was on the run doing my usual drop off of my daughter at school, grocery shopping, getting some gas for the car, etc. when it suddenly hit me the lighting was just perfect for a portrait of Badger. There I was at the pump looking over the roof of my car at the light blue sky and the soft white clouds. Wow, that would make a great backgound for a portrait of Badger. As you may have guessed it Badger is my dog.

Well I was tempted to take Badger and throw him on top of the car right then and there and shoot the portrait but a stronger head prevailed and I drove a few blocks to a nearby park instead. Well would you believe that Badger wanted nothing to do with being on top of my car. Not even moving mind you! He jumped off of the roof and lay at my feet on his back begging me to pet him and assure him everything was all right between us. So being the sensitive guy that I am I petted him profusely and put him back up onto the top of the car. It was then that he realized neither the car nor I were out to get him and he settled down. A few dozen pets and hugs didn't hurt.

I took a few shot horizontal images before I realized that I really like the vertical portrait format better. I made squeaking noises to keep Badgers attention whilst I clicked away from a low angle. While shooting I realized that Badgers impeccable hairdo had gotten a bit mussed while he was groveling around on his back in front of me. I did my best to flatten out his hair a bit. Then I noticed that he would probably look better with his collar off. A bit more flattening and fluffing of his fur made him look a little better.

In the end I was fairly pleased with how our little impromptu shoot worked out. I like the low angle and the soft background. It just goes to show that you don't always have to have a lot of fancy equipment to create a photograph that is of some worth to the viewer. Now I just need to email a copy of the image to the Humane Society from where I adopted Badger.

Sincerely and God bless,

chris