Annie and I have just come down to Bisbee for the night. We checked into the Cooper Queen Hotel late this afternoon, had a good meal nearby tonight. Standing in front of the hotel, we lean against each other, in that comfortable way that lovers often do.
"Mind if we go for a walk and I shoot a bit?" I say.
"Not at all," Annie replies, with a bit of a come hither look in her eyes.
I grab my camera and tripod and we walk up Brewery Gulch, past the Stock Exchange Bar and closed shops filled with bad hippie art. I used to make bad hippie art. Great on the details, bad on the big picture. Comes from smoking too much dope, I think. We walk a good ways up the gulch until we are out of the bars and into the houses. After a few houses, we turn around and head back toward Downtown Bisbee.
We come down Brewery Gulch a different way, past the old Bisbee jail, and I spy this great alley.
"Wow, this is great. I wonder if I can pull off a spiral in there?" I say.
"That'd be great if you could," Annie says.
"I think I'll give it a try," I say.
Camera on tripod. Shutter set. Lens focused. Open the shutter.
I walk into the narrow alley and paint a flame spiral with my Zippo lighter. Then I walk out of the alley and spontaneously give Annie a very large kiss. She grabs a hold of me, and kisses me back, very deeply. Time passes. We break the kiss and I go and close the shutter.
"Now, that was fun," I say.
"Yes it was," she says.
I advance the film, open the shutter and repeat my light painting with my Zippo. I also repeat the long wet deep kissing with Annie. We take about another two exposures. Seems like the length of the exposures are getting longer and longer. After exposure #4, I say to Annie.
"Let's head up to the room."
"Sounds good to me," she says.
I pack up the camera and tripod. I wonder how long I had the shutter open for those exposures, I think to myself. Hmm. Funny, I think with a smile on my face. I don't really care that much.
Annie weaves her arm around my elbow and pulls me close to her, as we walk up the hill to the Copper Queen Hotel.