Belle's Cafe

A really quick grab at Belle's Cafe, a Caribbean style restaurant in East Hampton, NY (at the

airport). This is Didi and I think she runs the place. Color balance was a chore because of the

highly saturated palette. The scene is pretty cluttered so I'm interested to know if you think

the shot works or not.

I Love this photo . Great colors

Hi Patricia, IMHO I don't think it works. Not because of the background clutter but because I don't think you caught her personality. I don't know how to say what I mean but it sort of looks like you caught her mid point in something. She doesn't seem to be interacting with her environment, if that makes any sense. I either want to see her interacting with the camera or her environment. There doesn't seem to be any animation. I hope this makes sense. I like the rich colors in the scene and the common items included in the deli as it adds atmosphere.

 

Don

colors work very well. i like it very much as a candid, like the use of cafe stuff to frame her. her expression, it could be better, but hey, customers are coming in!

Quite an interesting shot, and its not the cluttering but it is that she doesn`t look into the camera what disturbs me. Do you have another one from her with her eyes fixing the viewer ?

 

Regards;

 

Carsten

I love this shot - most definitely the colors (with the thin green border!) and the clutter and the ketchup and such, but also, I like her expression and lack of eye contact. As is (not to totally judge her from this one photo), I know her. She who, indeed, does not make eye contact, who appears friendly, yet is pre-occupied and distant, but, due to her job, must be somewhat engaged and conversational. I've met her before, at diners, offices, and other busy public places. Great capture.

Thanks Amy. Like you, I was not bothered by the lack of direct eye contact ... it was a quick, candid shot, but we are a distinct minority, in that regard.

 

Attached is the full frame shot without any corrections. You can see how hurried the shot really was, and how horrific the mixed lighting was as well.

 

Didi actually liked the shot, so I have an invitation to return and really shoot from the "inside" of this little but well known cafe. I'll do it better the second time around :)

thanks for posting the original. very good work processing it, its great fun to pull something special out of the murky darkness of a shot like this, isn't it? in the real world, where candids reveal more than a studio shot can ever get across, you work wtih what you've got. this is a really fine rendering, particuarly when you have just a moment to get out in the real world. its not about us, the photographers, its about the life around us. really enjoyable effor facilitating our viewing of a slice of that life.

I like this portrait very much. It is very interesting to see Belle in her environment. I like the square format as well as all the details, bottles and plates and all the objects that surround her. This is really full of life. The lack of eye contact makes the picture even more spontaneous and natural, real and unaffected. I like your treatment of colours very much too even though my personal taste would lead me to warmer tones. Patricia, thank you very very much again for your kind comment and technical advice.

But I won't stop at the WOW, as many do (myself included).

WOW because of the reframing decided by you.

WOW because of the awesome postprocessing work.

WOW because the color palette is perfectly balanced.

And a great final WOW because of your decission to share with us the original contact sheet!