These Boots Are Made for Walkin’

Today’s Post by Mildred Alpern

These boots are made for walkin’

And that’s just what they’ll do

One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you – Lee Hazelwood

Because I was unsure of what an outdoor excursion might entail, I chose to carry the light and compact and affordable Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 lens rather than the super-sized 40-150mm f/2.8 Pro. I carry the big gun for planned photo shoots with definite sites in mind. In this case, I was accompanying a relative for a checkup at medical offices overlooking the East River in New York City. If there was opportunity during wait time for shooting images, I was ready.

Good thing I was. A wide bank of windows in the seating area for patients gave me an expansive view of the river, a walkway alongside it, and an overpass above the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive.

Amidst this panoramic view, what caught my eye from a third floor perch, was a dog walker wearing a racer tank top, dark leggings, and short sheepskin gray boots. The boots surprised me. She had prepared for a much cooler morning and now carried her puffy jacket in the above-seasonal 60° F sunny weather, coffee container in hand and earbuds plugged in. Her dog had a healthy stride. They headed down the walkway and then through the overpass where a fence mesh screen added a patterned coverup to the winsome twosome and a yellow cab below them flashed its vivid color.

A New Yorker wearing cuddly boots in spring like weather was my unexpected image target, exhibiting a momentary glimpse of a fashionably dressed dog walker in light and shadow intricate patterns. For the budget conscious, this lens performs well and is a pleasure to carry.

Images were shot with the Olympus E-M5 Mark II and the Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6mm lens in Shutter Priority mode; the dog walker at 82mm with an exposure of 1/320 sec at f/7.1 and ISO 400, and the twosome behind the fence at 150mm with an exposure of 1/320 at f/5.6 and ISO400