Lucky Motel, Las Vegas [Canon 10D]
(click to see a larger version)
This is the sign for the motel where yesterday's image of the abandoned pool was taken. I love the letter "U" that is hanging askew from the word "Lucky"...in terms of photographic serendipity rich with symbolism, it just doesn't get much better than that! Interestingly, I did not notice that hanging letter at the time I took the shot. It was only much later while sorting images from that trip that I saw it.
It's always fascinating to me what photographers are drawn to and why. In many cases, I expect that we might not even be sure why we're drawn to a particular type of subject, but we just know that we are. I have always been fascinated by grungy, decaying, falling down, abandoned, seedy, peeling, weathered locations that have seen better days. If you proposed a photo walkabout and gave me the choice of a beautiful hike through mountain meadows with rushing streams, wild flowers and old pine forests, or an old boulevard in a questionable neighborhood dotted with several down at the heels motels from the 1950s, I would take the latter without a moment's hesitation.
Don't get me wrong, I love to be out in nature and hike on beautiful mountain trails (indeed, I live in an area where such places are common, quite close and I do go on frequent hikes), but in terms of making photographs, I would find more grist for my creative mill in the beat-up weathered places that time and fortune have passed by.
For those who are wondering, this image has received some custom toning techniques as well as some dodging and burning on certain areas of the sign.