A Few More

[Tuna]

...from the diners I visited last weekend. As Chunk surmised in my previous post - either a series a la Gary (probably not - but not a bad thought...) or I was just hungry (more likely).

Both seemed to require a panoramic style presentation...

Yes or no to these two?

Tuna

[jar_e]

Awesome pictures Tuna! I love these shots. My critique on the first photo is the glare of the lights on the glass wall. On the second, I love the narrow, tight crop of this, but unfortunately, the blurry/unfocused is just too distracting for me.

Great shots though and great potential,

Jared

[schrackman]

The second one is a cute snapshot, but the first one is GREAT! Love the b/w treatment (was it a digital conversion or film?). That one could be in a food or diner magazine, IMO.

[Tuna]

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Apparently it is easy to distinguish between the hurried snapshot capture and the better conceived and composed shot. I must have looked pretty strange to the other patrons as I moved about, leaning and ducking to get the best perspective and angle on the first shot. Yes, the second one was a quick snapshot and it ended up a bit soft - but seemed to have all the elements of a diner (waitress, menus, coffe cup, spoon and classic salt, pepper and sugar containers) so I thought it worth posting.

schrackman, both images shot with a D70 and Nikon 12-24mm lens - first one converted to B&W in Photoshop.

Tuna

[Paul.S.]

I realy enjoy the first one. However the second one doesn't work for me, main focus point for me becomes the distortion on the girls forehead and it just removes the appeal of the action shot.

cheers..

P.

[Seb]

...from the diners I visited last weekend. As Chunk surmised in my previous post - either a series a la Gary (probably not - but not a bad thought...) or I was just hungry (more likely).

Both seemed to require a panoramic style presentation...

Yes or no to these two?

Tuna

Hello Tuna,

Your first shot as a great visual impact. It is an excellent composition. I think that you should crop the leg at the extreme left of the frame but that's just a small issue on an otherwise remarkable picture.

As for your second shot, the distortion (which appeared marginal at best on your recent shots with the 12-24mm lense) is quite obvious. I must admit that I am partial to your model and you managed to get interesting elements together but I am not sure that the crop and the distortion works for me.

On a side note I'd like to say that I appreciate the way you convert your recent pictures with the D70 to b&w. I am not too sure how to explain it but they have both an analog and a digital feel to them. The end result is quite striking and unusual.

Seb

[mtbbrian]

Great Photo Tuna! The first one that is...
There is a lot of great stuff going on!
You have great repitition in the chairs and the pattern on the floor.
Great placement of the couple.
I think this is one of the best photographs I have seen from you in a long time!
Thanks for sharring it here!!
Brian

[LeeIs]

The first one is beautiful. I also I agree with the suggestion of cropping out the leg on the left but I would go even further & crop out the fifth stool as well. Leaving behind two stools that are occupied & two that are empty.

[EmbeddedMatt]

The first could benefit from half a degree of counterclockwise rotation. I measured three different horizontal lines and it confirmed my first impression that everything is sliding just a touch to the right.

[Tuna]

Thanks to all for your very kind words and critique.

EmbeddedMatt - thanks for the heads-up on the slant!!! I've straightened things up a bit and re-posted.

I agree with everyone on the second pic - not worth it...

Seb - I am always concerned as to how my images will appear on everyone else's monitors. I'm glad it looks good on yours - maybe you regularly calibrate? However, I know that monitor differences are akin to those instances when we see all those TV's at the electronics store and the differences in picture quality...I guess that's one pitfall of seeing images on the web instead of a hardcopy.

As for the suggestion that a crop on the left side might look better - I originally tried that and rejected it. I like the leg and newspaper adding another dimension to the image - maybe a bit of balance, maybe just a little bit of tension. As for the fifth chair - I definitely feel it is necessary. The cropped version, to me, is too pure or cosmetic. Also, all the lines in the image are important, to me. And a crop would upset the balance of the spreading rays of flourescent lighting reflected in the glass - that some find distracting but I found to be fascinating.

Despite my strong feelings, I've been wrong many times before...do some still think that a crop would be better??

Thanks again.

Tuna

[chrisrobbins]

When I first first looked at this photo, my first thought was that a crop of the fifth stool would help. I played with it a little bit and now think you are right. I think I like it better the way it is. Either way, this is another great shot!

Chris

[Seb]

Despite my strong feelings, I've been wrong many times before...do some still think that a crop would be better??
Tuna

Though one. The thing is that I love the fifth chair, how it is located at angle and the newspaper. My only concern is about the leg itself.

As for your question. I don't calibrate at all (yet). I am on an Apple system with my lcd monitor set at a (Mac typical) gamma value of 1.8 I will get a spyder and its software to do things right next spring.

regards

Seb

[gahspidy]

Tuna, These both are very good, and a series on Diners is worth series consideration. I like the first shot alot for all the reasons already mentioned by others, but I also like the second one very much and would not change a thing. The blur is actually working here for me. It shows the action and hustle going on in the diner. Her expression is good and the whole composition is working well. As I think back to your other diner shot, and these two. . I think a series would be well served

[jar_e]

As I think back to your other diner shot, and these two. . I think a series would be well served

Nice pun!

Sorry it's late

[jar_e]

Congratulations on the stick Tuna. And a sticky always means the featured photo! Congrats!