IN A PERFECT WORLD

nice livingroom :)

An intriguing image and treatment, Dave. This one's special. Warm regards...

It's Starbuck's. Thanks for looking.

I really don't expect too many people to like this, and I'm okay with that. So far I haven't even gotten a 3/3, which really amazes me. Sometimes its fun to just play around.

Very cool image as always. Take care

Thanks. I appreciate that you might enjoy something a little strange such as this. Take care.

David, I like composition, treatment and caption. Ideal place for leisure.

This works for me...it's an intersting shot with the muted sun peeking around the shades and the shadows, great black and white composition, plus, I can feel how nice it would be to put my feet up and read the paper with a nice cup of coffee in this place.

 

Have a good day!

 

Dick

It's actually a Starbuck's. The guy in the chair always comes in and falls asleep. That's what he was doing here. And then there was the other kid, who has this really cool hat and is wearing a plaid scarf around his neck, even though it is very warm. I love these youthful fashion statements.

Thanks. You have brightened my day. Peace

Hey David...here we go with the hats again:-)!

this really is what Starbucks is selling....an idealized world...yeah, that could be my furniture, those could be my windows...now if only they could somehow hide that parking lot in the background, they might just have it right, only nobody would ever leave...Starbucks, today's version of "Hotel California"

Hello David, this one is very good and I like the BW conversion. The composition is also very neat. Congratulations and regards.

P.S: No God neither Jesus in this one, I'm worried, men, are you loosing your faith?

Well, aren't we all looking to buy into that idealized world? Hell yes. It beats reality by a mile.

Thanks for your comment. No, I'm still faithful thematically. God is represented here by the sun pouring in through the windows. That also explains the beatific posture of the seated (and sleeping) apostle. You just have to look a bit deeper under the surface.

cool image as always, I can feel the electrisity

have to be honest here. I think a great image lurks under all that filtering. No accounting for taste but why not get it out. What you've got now is "Made in Taiwan"

Thanks. I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you make a visit to my port.

I understand where you are coming from and I'm very grateful for the honest opinion. I don't think I have the skills to make anything more out of this than what it is. I'm not saying someone else couldn't, but merely that I can't. Yes, those who do not like a lot of schlock on their photos are not going to like it. Understandable. Hey, I don't like ketchup on my hot dogs either. Peace

I like the atmosphere of this shot.... peace in the suburbs. The composition and crop are effective . I am not however fond of you treatment of this time around. Although I seldom use Photoshop for anything more than basic tonal adjustments I have learnt quite a bit and done some rethinking based on my exposure to your way of using PP. I though your approach to blow highlights in Jacks Place was a real eye opener. Rather than trying to recover what was irretrievable you pushed the issue and blew the highlight areas right off the map. I would not have thought to take that approach but it worked brilliantly. I guess I am just trying to say that I am not in that camp you refer to, which takes a dim view of any extreme manipulation, even though I do think a more restrained approach to B&W would be more to my liking here.

Thanks. As with Ton, I really appreciate the critical feedback. As I stated, I don't know any way I could have made this one palatable to you guys. I just don't have the necessary skill. Which means, maybe I should have moved on and left it on the cutting room floor. Thanks for your honesty. That's being a true friend.

I have come to expect the same honesty from you and I thank you for that.

 

The more thought I give to this, the more I come to realize that what makes me uneasy about these weirdly shifted tones in B&W would probably not bother me in the in a colour photo. I suspect that all that time which I spent working in a wet darkroom trying to get the tones in B&W just right is what makes me gasp when I see a heavily processed B&W image. In the end this is perhaps more about prejudices my life experience have nurtured than about your photo. I suck at B&W conversions and your images is pretty underexposed, but I gave it a try and came up with this. Now I am sure someone with more skilll and knowledge in B&W digital ( Ton comes to mind ) could run circles around my attempt but flawed as it is, I still find the normal tones more satisfying. I am not looking to convert you Dave, I just enjoy considering the options :)

Appreciate the effort. I guess the bottom line might be to quit taking images with the sun glaring in your face. It was just that I was there and here is this guy sleeping in the chair, and the windows formed such nice square patterns, blah, blah....

 

I'll confess I still have a certain fondness for the weirdness of my tones, just because I don't think this thing works in any "straight" kind of sense. That's the reason I don't think your version works any better. Well, of course, that's a matter of opinion. Ton would probably prefer the way you did it. And that's okay by me. Thank you for taking the trouble to show me precisely what you were thinking.

David, I came to this one several times, I'm paying attention of what your title syas as well, as I think it is always adding to your photo and to your saying. So I thought of the highlights in this one( blown a bit out)as part of your saying about a very bright " perfect" world, which is not very perfect... seeing the old man sleeping, looking old and tired and lonely vs, the young woman seating with her back to him....As I know your irony, that is what I saw in this one. I think the composition is well done.

 

With the longer life expectancy, old age in many cases is not very perfect. having a warm family is a bonus ;-))

Who woulda thunk evil starbucks would provide a cozy, charming atmosphere like this? Makes it harder to hate the basturds. When I was a young 'un in Portland, Oregon, I used to frequent these nice independent bookstores all over town. It was my favorite activity, and still one of the reasons I think Portland is the best city in the US to live. Now that I live in super bustly San Francisco Bay Area, I don't see independent bookstores anymore, just giant chains like Barnes and Noble. I don't know if I should laugh or cry that these giant faceless franchises have now elbowed out the little guy and did this by copying everything the little guy did well, especially the intimate atmosphere these little guys naturally had.

 

Still, this "intimacy' is about as real as the parts on Pamela Anderson. Used to be fun to walk into Moe's Bookstore on Telegraph in Berkeley and chat with Moe as he rung up books on the register. Used to be fun to chat with chat with Powell at Powell's bookstore on Burnside in Portland. Made you feel you belonged somewhere. I still run this joke sometimes when I walk into Barnes and Noble and ask for Barnes, or into Peete's Coffe and ask for Peete.