Tell about 43 shots that got away

this goal on hold for the time being; I expect to return to it when I’ve completed my travel.

I would have liked to have taken a shot of my feet resting on the platform inside a big wooden bucket half filled with steaming herbed water at the China Tibet Foot Soak place..

Four rounded bags of cloth and who knows what else rested on the sidewalk outside the Studio City Branch of the LAPL. The muted grays and blues were terrific together, small holes providing accents in lighter tones.

I almost went back to the car for my camera, but decided they would still be there when I got back. They were, but their owner was also there, and I didn’t want to bother him. I can’t imagine how he carried them. There wasn’t a cart in sight.

As I drove by about a block from Kaiser-Permanente Hospital in Panorama City, a 30-something man in a blue hospital gown crossing the street with a bottle of soda in his hand. The wind rippled through the split in his gown and his flip-flops slapped the pavement as he headed back to the medical facility.

Wonder what he was in for?

One happy dog: a Dalmation – mostly white, with black patches resembling the pattern of a Holstein cow – carefully lapping vanilla ice cream out of a small cup being held by her owner. smile

Imagine this:

a woman in a restaurant facing you

sitting in dimly lit warm golden lamplight

smiling at her dinner companions

& (incidentally therefore) also at you

with the enigmatic lips of a peaceful Buddha

wrapped in the joyfully patterned elegance of cloth from India

I wish I’d had the courage to ask her if I might make her photograph (she was one of the most physically beautiful individuals I have ever seen in person). smile

Visualize this:

a bright clear morning, blue skies with high clouds, a light fresh wind, & the sun beginning to show the first warmth of spring

a crowd of golden daffodils standing crisply at attention against a fence

the fence itself painted black, its iron bars mimicking the tall straight posture of the flowers

I was stopped at a traffic light—but not for long enough. wry grin.

Not sure why I didn’t post this back in the spring; I found my notes today while cleaning up paperwork, so I’ve gone ahead & written it up now.

Just outside a circle of guitar players and singers at a campsite, a white poodle rests inside a guitar case lined with emerald green. Her chin rests on the edge of the case. She sighs happily.

I drove through Hollywood this morning around six in the morning. Near the corner of Hollywood and Highland I missed this shot:

A homeless man sleeping sitting up on a bench, with the neck of his hoodie pulled up over his mouth. Above him, a huge poster with a row of clean young women in pastels sitting in lotus position, smiling serenely.

I was too close to even attempt a snapshot through my car window.

I tried to get my camera out, but couldn’t in time.

A good looking guy in jeans and a cowboy hat stepped up onto the back rung of his shopping cart and started coasting down the Trader Joe’s parking lot in Palmdale. Even better, his wife or girlfriend put her fingertips on his butt and gave him a push.