A Walk with Rufus

I took my dog for a walk earlier this evening and didn't bring my dSLR along with us. I know, I know, bad Magic Elf Box.

To be honest, unless Rufus is off leash he's usually just in the way: pulling on my arms while I'm framing an image, nudging the tripod/monopod, getting into pictures I don't want him in or not into pictures I do want him in.

Today I just decided to bring along my Android. I'm sort of like Luke Skywalker like that.

All images were edited with Snapseed.

The first image, to the right, is of a pair of shoes I saw there at the park months ago, the last time Rufus and I walked over there. I saw them still sitting there under a bush and decided to take them down to the lake shore and use them as a prop. 

The picture of shoes is something I've been wanting to do and this was just a serendipitous moment.

What really surprised me was the number of dead fish on the beach and in the water. A ranger (or was it the Park's GM) once told me this was natural but I've seen too many stories on the news about swimmers getting rashes and mutant fish to trust that line of spin.

This fish was just sitting there and I think I might have stepped on him before noticing him lying there. There was still a little bit of snow near his tail (that's the white stuff back there) and you can see the line in the sand where I removed a twig that served no aesthetic purpose what-so-ever. Not that a dead fish is aesthetic at all, but the twig didn't fit the image I wanted. 

Remember, I went out with only my Android and Rufus to keep me company. While the coyotes were howling and Rufus was sniffing the dead fish I was able to capture this image of the Cherry Creek lake, Denver Tech Center and what can be seen on the mountains in the background.

At one point we saw (I say "we" but I mean "I" -- Rufus doesn't notice these sorts of things) a bicycle chain dangling from this gate post. I have to conclude, since this is a very active bicycling route, someone's chain broke and they either field replaced their chain or called for a ride and left this dangling for a good Samaritan or park ranger to dispose. 

To be honest, with Rufus pulling on the leash eager to move on, I only had a chance to take this one picture before he dragged me in front of a father/son duo of bicyclists. Not the greatest shot, but I like juxtapositions and this one has metal and wood, man made and natural.

I have noticed, though, the images appear better on my Android with Snapseed than they do displayed here. For some reason the colors aren't jumping out and the sharpness doesn't seem to be as prevalent as it appears on mobile. Is it the screen? Hm.