Wester Cafe

I had a couple days in Amsterdam last November at the tail end of a European holiday venture.. Shot a few rolls of film and some digital images as well. After reviewing my film shots, this ended up being my favorite of the lot. Can't say why exactly, but I thought I'd toss it up for critique.

 

Shot on B&W film, with my Hasselblad 500CM, 80mm lens. Frontier scan from Blue Moon Camera, only post work was auto-correcting light, levels, & curves in iMac native software.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Interesting shot - I do love film! I think I would consider a tighter crop, same square format, Possibly from the left edge of the grill work on the left and the edge of the handbill in the window on the far right. At the bottom you could spare some of the deep shadow. Just nit picking, I do like it, and it is well worth your time to "polish".

Though the outside light is captured with a good general exposure, the interior, especially the bottom third or so, is muddy. I think exposing to allow a little stronger light outside would have added visual dynamics and better exposed the indoor shadows, though it might also have changed the mood to a place you didn’t want to go. There’s a pensiveness this way but the person isn’t made enough of to give much subject to the suggested pensiveness. The two partial figures feel mistaken. Perhaps if there were a gesture coming from the centered woman I’d be drawn into some sort of expression. Maybe it would help if I felt I was looking outside with her, but I’m left just looking at her back. The candle and decorative iron work in the window against the buildings outside are nice visual touches.

I love the composition! OK I'm biased - I live in NL and I know Amsterdam well. Great photo! I do like the 'brooding silhouette' but I'd also like to compare it with a version in which there was a touch more 'structure' in the darkest shadows.

Hi guys, thanks for taking the time to critique my shot. I admit it's kind of a photo of nothing. It captures the essence of a moment during a holiday abroad reasonably well and thus resonates with me on that level. I wanted to post it straight-up, as shot. I do see that the lower third, basically, is dead or negative space, and have a crop, following Sandy's suggestion

 

 

 

I really don't have any skills with post editing at all, so can't work any special magic with Lightroom or anything... I played a bit with shadows and highlights in the Mac's software, trying to lighten up the interior of the bar, without any satisfaction. I think the image benefits from the crop. It feels like it's more about the (admittedly murky) couple at the table while still conveying the essence of Amsterdam? If anyone wants to make some edits or corrections or anything, please feel free, BTW.

Ludmilla,

 

yes there were some colorful shots from Amsterdam, mostly digital. I did shoot at least one roll of color film there, sadly, I didn't feel too enthusiastic over the results... Of however many film shots, I liked this one for some reason. It seems to capture the essence of the city in November while not being a photo of anything typical. In a place that's been endlessly photographed, I make some effort to capture the feel from different angles and viewpoints. Of course I have photos of bicycles and canals too, but everyone has seen the city from that perspective enough times...

To address Mike's request to see this shot with more interior detail, here is a nearly identical (color) digital shot of the exact scene... I had my camera sitting on a table and as seen, the corner of the table top is visible here.

 

I'm unsure if this qualifies as "street" photography but I admit feeling s sheepish about taking someone's photo without their permission. I felt like I had to sneak these shots, although clearly, I was juggling my cameras about so maybe I was more obvious than stealthy?

 

But you have to know the why to eliminate all the distractions that go against the why.

 

Hi and thanks for contributing, really appreciate it. I've given some thought to why I like this shot- it captures the essence of the city, without being a stereotypical photo of Amsterdam. It has enough elements (buildings, view out the window, etc) to identify it as being in the Netherlands, without giving too much away. While it's not perfect straight out of the camera, I feel like there is s something to work with and actually, I like the cropped version I did eliminating the lower third and closing in side to side a bit. I kind of feel like the shadowy details of the bar's interior add just enough of a suggestion to nail the setting without distraction from the more interesting visual elements.

 

The one thing I'm trying to learn which is especially different with the square format is to frame the shot correctly in camera first. I have a long way to go, but I'm having fun.

Thanks again, Phil!

Going by your own description and feelings about the scene, here's something to consider. I kept the color because of the warmth. Black and white with darker shadows suggest more drama or a film noir take. The romanticism you describe suggests keeping the color which has a lot of possibilities. I liked most of the elements, even the menus which might seem like distractions but, for me, add to the story-telling and narrative. The only thing I got rid of was the parking sign across the street which did bother me. (A quick clone job, nothing I'd call complete!) I'd also use the left window with the nice iron work from the other shot without the partial woman in it. I gave the whole a more twilight feel to add to that romantic atmosphere and separated "in" from "out" a bit more with some color temperature changes.

 

I meant to add that I intentionally kept the window at right because of the reflections and the flare or reflection in the lower left because I like abstract elements adding to the life of a picture.

Nice. The color image better captures the time of day as well, I think. That flare at lower left is reflection off the table top on which my camera was sitting.

 

Thanks much.