Lunchtime at ChaCha's

Comments/suggestions welcome.

A restaurant this empty at lunch time may be in trouble :>)

 

I like the image--nice feel--but there's something about the tablecloth which, very vaguely, just doesn't seem 'right'.

Thanks Dave. This is a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, where I used to have lunch a couple times a week. It had a little waterfall in the middle of the restaurant and all these colorful chairs strewn about. This was taken in a side room before the lunch crowd appeared. I'm not sure what disturbs you about the tablecloth, apart from its inexactitude. Perhaps the color, which is reflected from the chairs? Anyhow, thanks for stopping by.

The PS work enhances the picture, I think, though I'd sure like to take a peek at the original for comparison. But again, the clarity of your vision is what comes across strongest. Being able to see the creative possibilities in even the most mundane of scenes is a talent the seperates the artist from the the guy who wanders around with a camera looking for pretty pictures.

Jeff, Pay no attention--it's just my weirdness. Tablecloths sometimes do that.

Funny thing is, there could be rats and roaches scurrying around the floor and I'd be focused on the way the tablecloth drapes :>)

 

Bottom line: this is a very nice image.

A great final result , Jeff. I like it and for me, it's more than enough. ;-)

Fantastic composition.Great work Jeff.Warm regards.Janusz.

This morning I keep bumping into these great images full of really superb colors. This is my third in a row. Unlike Mr. McRitchie, I'm willing to take this image as is and be most content with it. Don't want to see the original. I love the processing and the feel of this one. I think what Dave might have been referring to is the way the tablecloth appears to be more chiseled out of some solid substance rather than fluid like the cloth we know it is. To me that's part of the charm here. Very fine work.

Only the cowboys are missing!Ha!

I admire your skills.Not sure at all how you did it.

But I like it.

The entire image looks to have been dipped in concrete and then spray painted. Weird and wonderful piece of PP art. The table top looks like a vacuous hole in the universe and as such, is my favourite part of this charming scene.

Beautiful work, Jeff!

You are creating a meeting point between photography and painting. The assortment of colors from the chairs and the flowers by the windows is what makes this composition "alive". I think this is creatively executed.

Excellent rendition,Jeff. I thought I am viewing a painting by a Great Master.

Looks who's becoming a digital master now!I'd say a great use of the effect(edge?). Very cool Jeff.

This is beautifully artistic. The colors, the composition, the forms are all there. I do know what David is saying about the tablecloth. It almost seems like one is trying for an optical illusion. It doesn't quite fit on the table correctly. The lines are off. This can also be part of the charm of the image. Great job. You are definitely leaving the relm of standard "picture taking."

Very cool!!

Jeff, I'm gonna have to plagerize you; This is Super Duper Cool! The treatment of colors is so tantelizing, its like a fiesta! The bottoms of the windows at the top of the frame adds an interesting component to this scene. That table cloth, man! I don't know if there was a breeze at the time you took this but that table cloth looks like its blowing in it!

 

Kirk

I guess you can take anything normal and turn it in to a original piece of art. I have to admit that i havent been paying my attention a lot for a shots like this because i have had my head in the abstract mud for a long time. Recently i have been enjoying your photos very much because they have opened my eyes to see something else. Thanks for that.

Ps. After i view this kind of images for a couple of months, i might have something real to say about them :) But this i can say that the post process fits well for those colours and the athmosphere. Well done.

very good ps.work and colors..congrats

Perfect composition, colors, and lighting. Though they are absent, one gets the feel of the laughter, wine, and conversation of what is to come.

I read the comments up to this point, and see the merits in both, but this is not a literal representation of the scene, in other words, not a "pretty picture" as Jack says. It is more a pinterly interpretation of a visual reality, one that can either please or displease the photo purist. Seen for what it is, it has obvious strengths, the least of which is not the wonderful depth of field, the almost Matise-like arrangement of the chairs, like dancers doing a ritual with locked arms around a table, and the pastel-like colors that date to Henri's pre-Fauve days. For me, though, I think the yellow chair on the lower right somewhat drags my eye off the image, and is a bit of an unwelcome attraction. I know we have had these left-right orientation conversations ad nauseum, but on this occasion, I am sticking to my guns.

 

 

Great artistic treatment, Jeff. I do like emmanuel's color boost and detect just a tiny correction to the tilt. I'm undecided about the left/right thing. Anyway- good eye, great PP skills. Cheers -

Jack: Appreciated! The original wasn't much to look at. Believe me.

 

 

Dave: I think the rats moved the tablecloth.

 

 

Artur: I'm always glad when you like a color photo. Thanks.

 

 

Janusz: Warm regards in return.

 

 

David: The tablecloth wasn't perfect. Neither was the restaurant. Hence, the charm. The original shot wasn't much different, much more muted in color and softer in feel. Truth be told, it was an old shot and a rather boring one at that. Thanks for liking this rendition.

 

 

PhoS: You, too, seem to be experimenting. I like it.

 

 

Gordon: I'm so glad you like this--even that black hole of a white tablecloth.

 

 

Ruud: Thanks.

 

 

Adan: My goal was to have a bit of a watercolor feel without being too obvious. Thanks for your comment.

 

 

A.K.: Your comment proves that I was viewed by a great master.

 

 

Joseph T: Digital Schmigital. Another foot of snow.

 

 

Margaret: I find that perfect shots have no staying power. Plus, I'm too lazy to go rearranging things just for a photo. I don't even pick up my socks.

 

 

Jeanne: Cool of you to comment.

 

 

Kirk: Thanks. I think the little flower boxes are my favorite part. The wind wasn't blowing; the tablecloth was just hastily thrown on. Always glad to see your comment.

 

 

Tero: Your abstractions blow this shot out of the water, and I'm perpetually jealous.

 

 

Mehmet: Thanks!

 

 

Donna: There was a lot of laughter and conversation at this restaurant, but many more margaritas than wine. ChaCha's prided itself in serving hundreds of different margaritas, including a hot margarita that wasn't half bad.

 

 

Emmanuel: Funny that you'd mention Matisse. I was thumbing through an art book with his work the night prior to posting this. Perhaps I was channeling the old master? Thanks for the suggestion on reversing the shot.

 

 

Alberta: If there was a tilt to the photo, blame the margaritas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice composition Jeff.

Your treatment looks more like a graphical image, the lines of the table cloth, are a bit rigid to my taste ,Jeff. The composition and crop are nicely done( aside from a tiny CCW tilt). The color pallete is nice and vivid.I like the window decorated with the flowers, as well as the light and soft shadow under the table.I like your experimenting skills to find more paths of creation.!