Sometimes it's easy to predict that a subject will be photographically interesting.  Other times . . . not so much.

     A fun and interesting trip to antebellum homes and a Civil War battlefield in the deep South produced some good images, but fewer than I would have anticipated.  Conversely, while pulling into my driveway one evening, the sight of the dirty old running shoes my husband had worn that day really caught my attention. Something about the way the exterior house light illuminated them created an image that I found fascinating and irresistible.

     Yes, interesting as I believed it was, the photo of those shoes in that light didn't satisfy my interest. I wondered how the shoes would look in a time exposure in complete darkness. I wondered how they would look in the afternoon sun. And what if I used a flash? So I took those pictures. And yet I am not finished.

     I haven't really captured them in a true "golden" light, and I'm not exactly sure when I'll be able to capture that light in this setting. Because I am determined that the funky old shoes must be photographed in the exact same spot. I'm also wondering how they'll look in a full moon, and that opportunity is still a few days away.

     Oh, and this is just the beginning. I have some very interesting software from Topaz, and I haven't even begun to experiment with the interesting effects those might produce.

     We know that photography is all about the light, and somehow the funky shoes have excited my interest in exploring these options with a single subject. I believe the shoes are interesting, and they tell a tale. Also - exceptionally important - they do not change, so I can play with them over time. And they never ever complain.

     Photography is about the light, but of course it is also about experimenting and about passion. Why do the shoes do it for me? Impossible to say objectively.

     Below are four photos that I consider interesting. And here is one fact I can state with some certainty: you haven't seen the last of the shoes.