Bar Stool #5

seastack · January 12, 2010

In a small Eastern Washington city, a young woman serving lunch at the historic cafe, bar, nightclub and sports lounge all rolled into one dreams of getting out and moving on, of a bigger town, bright lights and a decent job.

"All my old friends have left and my new friends are all from bars," she said. "That's only healthy for so long. A lot of them are having issues."

lizzard_nyc · January 12, 2010

Man this set is awesome.
My favorites are #2 and #3.

.

I was in that business for a while, and I agree that you need to get out at some point (unless it's unionized).

Great captures. I don't see her itching to get out though--she looks quite comfortable and settled in--if it's a popular place, I bet the money is great.

I love that you got shots of the restaurant business--#3 really evokes some strong memories for me. Well done.

Qarik · January 12, 2010

the mood is just great.

seastack · January 12, 2010

Thanks

This was an exercise for me to both make a connection and to take as many interesting photos as I could sitting in one spot. Other than the first and the last, all these were taken sitting on the same seat. I want to try this in the funky dockside crabfisherman tavern on the coast. I've got the barstool staked out, three feet from the lit up old juke box with a clear view of the pool table. Tough crowd though, will have to go slow over time, make friends, buy rounds, and maybe pull out the camera when the time is right and the bartender won't throw me out. To be honest, I'm procrastinating. I need a big dude as a friend.

)

bdcolen · January 12, 2010

seastack wrote:

Thanks This was an exercise for me to both make a connection and to take as many interesting photos as I could sitting in one spot. Other than the first and the last, all these were taken sitting on the same seat. I want to try this in the funky dockside crabfisherman tavern on the coast. I've got the barstool staked out, three feet from the lit up old juke box with a clear view of the pool table. Tough crowd though, will have to go slow over time, make friends, buy rounds, and maybe pull out the camera when the time is right and the bartender won't throw me out. To be honest, I'm procrastinating. I need a big dude as a friend. )

Very well done. Your opening shot really lets us know where we are, and it flows from there. If I have any criticism, it's that in the waitressing shot, I'd rather you tried to focus on, and expose for, her, rather than the plates and stuff behind her. I'd also like to see a more interesting portrait of her in the set.

But over all this is a really nice job. Well done!

Patti · January 14, 2010

seastack wrote:

Thanks This was an exercise for me to both make a connection and to take as many interesting photos as I could sitting in one spot. Other than the first and the last, all these were taken sitting on the same seat. I want to try this in the funky dockside crabfisherman tavern on the coast. I've got the barstool staked out, three feet from the lit up old juke box with a clear view of the pool table. Tough crowd though, will have to go slow over time, make friends, buy rounds, and maybe pull out the camera when the time is right and the bartender won't throw me out. To be honest, I'm procrastinating. I need a big dude as a friend. )

re the big dude. I really enjoyed the set and the story it tells, especially #2 & #4.

rutt · January 15, 2010

Yeah, lose this one:

The backfocus just doesn't work and the set is stronger without it. That said, great set.

Patti · January 15, 2010

I like #4 because the blur gives me that sense of urgency that comes with the job during peak times. I remember it well.

Grainbelt · January 17, 2010

Patti wrote:

I like #4 because the blur gives me that sense of urgency that comes with the job during peak times. I remember it well.

Agree, but I think it would work better had the OP panned with her and blurred the background, rather than her.

seastack · January 17, 2010

Thank you for the comments, very interesting. The intention on #4 was to get the motion, and the cook in the background but he moved at just the wrong time

) Yep, should have thrown a pan in the mix, strange that I didn't actually and worked the motion shots more with forward and back focus, etc.

Well, I thought I'd show all 19 photos I took, start to finish in the order taken over a 30 minute period (minus three redundant bracketed shots similar to the first frame). Hope these aren't too large. It's sort of a contact sheet, and I miss those. I used to learn a lot from contact sheets.

I can see here that I should have worked the atmosphere a little more, especially down counter and I guess I just didn't quite get the portrait, although not for lack of trying. Funny, you can see where I made it kind of official and stood up to take a picture of her and everything changed, she became self conscious.

Oh yeah, the burger was good btw, cause you know I was there to eat lunch of course. I just happened to have a camera, and oh, what a cool place, and do you mind, and ... ;-))

Bar Stool #5

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