STARBUCK'S

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The ribbons in here hair hint at the girl within. Technically, a real tour de force, David; the balancing of the tones and the lighting attests to your photographic and processing skills. For some reason, I find the lamps very attractive, too.

Before I comment on this eccentric scene, is this a stranger or a loved one?

I was standing in line waiting to order my latte when I spied this woman at the counter waiting to pick up her drink. As you can easily see, she is a bit different from the average. My D200 was hanging around my neck, and not wishing to have my neck rung by an irate subject, I simply turned it on and took a couple of snaps with the camera hanging on my stomach. I knew it was going to be a tough go because of the strong back light. But I knew I wanted to capture those Buck Rogers glasses and the pink bows in the hair. It could have been better, but sometimes you go with what you got.

 

Jack, I liked those lights too. There was another twin to the orange light at the center top, but to leave it in I would have to leave in too much material that did not add to the image, so out it went with the crop.

A modern day 50's scene...terrific pp..hard to take a shot directly facing a window...Marjorie

Thank God she's just a stranger. The shawl and "Fly" sunglasses already scream that she has an eccentric personality, but those pink girlie bows push the needle into the red area. As a porcupine has its quills, women past adolescence with hairbows and teddy bears seem to indicate "stay away."

Vibrant colors and strong composition that captures the mood well. Best regards.

you just explain and justify with this image why it's worth carrying a camera at anytime...subject and compositions pop evreywhere sometimes...a wonderful people image with a mixture of classic and excentricity that I find very appealing...it's this balance of ordinary and original that is the sucees of lots of image...just like cooking...too classic it's boring and too excentric can be nauseating while the right balance is fascinating....

Very well caught David, you have a great ability for finding these type of shots and getting out alive!

Dave;

 

This is such a strong composition. Really interesting how everything in the scene except the two people is either composed of 90 degree angles or rounded curves. The girl with the bows is so magnetic that it took me a few seconds to register the head on the other side of the frame. The combination of the light and the arrangement of the elements makes this an inviting place to browse around and the more I browse the more I find to like about this. It is an oddly compelling scene.

 

I got a chuckle out of reading your approach to taking the shot, usually the wildly eccentric ones are harmless, I know since I married one, but still why flirt with danger.

Marjorie: The woman is out of the fifties. The prices are twenty first century.

 

Jeff: You disappointed me. You didn't want to jump right in there not knowing if that was my sis. Ah, the diplomat.

 

Jayanti: Thanks for your visit. Glad to have your appreciation.

 

Laurent: I almost always have a camera with me. If not the big brick D200, then my little Nikon S600. The latter is always in its holster on my belt. On this day we were in Monterey on the Cannery Row, and I had to kill a couple of hours as the wife was shopping and the kids and grandkids had gone to the aquarium. So I just wandered aimlessly, and the last five posts are the result.

 

Drew: Thanks. I like to say these shots find me.

 

Gord: She may have been harmless, but this little gal looked pretty tough, and I could just see the exchange now. Her--What the blank you takin' a pitcher of wise guy? Me--Why you, of course, you ditzy looking pink bow tied weirdly attired lady. Result, Nikon 18-200 lens ingested by me as the onlookers view the scene in slack jawed wonder. No thanks, I'll take the cowards way.

 

I hadn't really thought too much about the other elements of the image. My attention was captured entirely by the lady.

I liked this one so much that I did not want to read the previous comments...The main attraction for me was the woman with the pink scarf and funny ribbons

in that functional surrounding... ( you many times have the skills to see the homour in a given scene.....) it is so well ballanced with the in/out light ( window/bulbs). I really like it a lot. the other man's head looks part of the coffee tools....;;))

My first year in college, a friend asked me and a couple buddies to visit her parents' farm in the middle of Missouri. I had grown up in farm country and had detassled corn every year as a teen to earn money for school clothes, but I had never hung around a real-live farm with pigs and cows and chickens and all sorts of incredible, edible critters. After a rousing afternoon in which I learned how to castrate piglets, the family decided to have a barbecue in honor of their green guests. My illusion of beef floating down from heaven pre-wrapped and unrecognizable from its source had died that day. I sat at the dinner table, a huge platter of meat in front of me, and thought of all the cows and pigs with liquid brown eyes, staring at me, pleading for mercy. (I was young and dramatic and had more empathy then).

 

 

To lighten my tension, I cracked a joke. I said loudly, "Do you write the names of the animals on the freezer paper when you stuff 'em into the fridge? I mean, do you say to yourself, 'Mmmm. I'm going to eat Marge tonight."

 

 

Silence.

 

 

My friend turned to me and said anxiously, "My mom's name is Marge."

 

 

Stares.

 

 

Especially her dad, a Baptist deacon.

 

 

Lesson learned.

"Behind every good cup of coffee there is a barista and a good story" Looks like you captured both! What a great shot. I love looking at your images and the discussions they provoke. Great image, great comments. Best, Leslie

Thanks. That woman looked like one interesting character.

Great story. Looks like if you leave your present occupation, you could easily transition into a writer or a fine art photographer. Of course, you might not make quite as much money...

Thanks for looking and the very nice comment. I'm enjoying your images too. Have a great holiday and I wish you a super 2009.

A very interesting character indeed! As in Cannery Row/Steinbeck (one of my favorite authors). Full of interesting characters .....how appropriate! Have a wonderful holiday and all the best in the year to come.:)

 

Leslie

This image remind me, the cultural cacophony we liv in. Very good documentary image.

 

Cheers; Bela

Thanks so much for checking me out here.

An image like this demands some contemplation. I know this site celebrates not so much the ability of the photographer to see things, but of him to see images. I have succumbed to that temptation of always looking for images. But, and I say this with the utmost sincerity, there is that part of you it takes away, that part that approaches this world like a kid in a candy store, with a sort of Leo Frank or Edward Hopper or Bob Dylan fascination with studying things as they are, fascinated by their oddities, their imperfections, their essence. This is such an image that succeeds on the strength of its normalness, its banality, if you will, yet an image that is every bit as authentic and compelling as a baby's smile.