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10/05/2005 07:52:43 PM · #1
I stopped voting on Coffee shop until..

Until I get some guidance. Folks help me. I didn’t enter this challenge so I think it is fair to get something off my chest. Why is it that people do not follow the challenges? "Take a photo that represents something you would find in a coffee shop. Let your imagination run wild." OK so why am I looking at dawns with pears, rock bands and scenic shots are these in coffee shops somewhere else in the world I don’t know about? Also from what I see the only thing I would find in a coffee SHOP is coffee.

Did anyone look past the first word? How about forks, spoons, little old ladies, waiters, waitresses pie, eggs, milk salt and pepper stop me if I repeat anything, ice cream, cheese cake, steak, bacon, knives, spoons get it or do I have to go on? I did find one Fork.

Now don’t go and post that there was a cake there, admit it, people took the challenge and just took pictures of coffee. Am I supposed to mark all of these non coffee shop pictures with a 1 because they didn’t follow the challenge? Well that’s why I stopped even looking at them. Talk about not getting outside of the box, this is so bland I am going to start drinking decaffeinated. Sorry to all of you who took some really cool pictures of coffee in your house deck and otherwise, thank the people with no creativity who buried you in their blandness.

Remember this is me talking Mr. Tact. The Nude II Challenge rings a bell? Oh well if you talk this as an offensive comment, it only means you might be one of the sunset pictures I am talking about, if you find this tactful and complementary then you are in worse shape then me and need to go take a pill and lay down. If however you seem to catch some of the humor and frustration I am feeling and could lend me a few words to help me vote, please feel free to comment or contact me.

Nude II 167/167 
10/05/2005 07:56:55 PM · #2
I agree with you...The only challenge here is to my patience. Boring beans everywhere!
10/05/2005 08:00:33 PM · #3
10/05/2005 08:00:49 PM · #4
my photo has everything that you can find in a coffee shop... and has a title that matches... but i sm getting a 4.4 so far... .. well Doesnt matter if you have what the challenge is about it seems...

10/05/2005 08:00:55 PM · #5
Whatever happened to the days when coffee shops were interesting and cool place to be?
10/05/2005 08:17:44 PM · #6
I dunno, there's nothing wrong with simple either. Some people like complex shots, others like simpler shots. Some people like abstract, others like the obvious. Just because a shot isn't "outside the box" doesn't make it wrong. Just because a shot is "outside the box" doesn't make it art either.

But I will agree that if you're going to do a simple shot or more of a standard shot, do it well. Put some thought and effort into it. Time for another Dead Poets quote. :)

HOPKINS
"The cat sat on the mat."

KEATING
"Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. Yours is
the first poem to ever have a negative
score on the Pritchard scale. We're not
laughing at you, we're laughing near
you. I don't mind that your poem had a
simple theme. Sometimes the most
beautiful poetry can be about simple
things, like a cat, or a flower or rain.
You see, poetry can come from anything
with the stuff of revelation in it. Just
don't let your poems be ordinary. Now,
who's next?"

I think photography is the same way. Sometimes the simplicty of a shot is it's strength. There's nothing wrong with being direct and shooting coffee beans or a cup of coffee if its done well. The problem is when its simply ordinary and boring.

10/05/2005 08:21:56 PM · #7
To be honest, I see only one, maybe two, entries that I would think don't meet this challenge, which is pretty low compared to most.

My friend's rock back played a coffee shop in New Jersey frequently.

-Terry

Message edited by author 2005-10-05 20:22:41.
10/05/2005 08:25:31 PM · #8
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

My friend's rock back played a coffee shop in New Jersey frequently.-Terry


Excellent!
10/05/2005 08:28:24 PM · #9
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

My friend's rock back played a coffee shop in New Jersey frequently.


No kiddin? They hit the big time, eh? :)

Q: "How do you get to the coffee shop?"
A: "Practice, practice, practice."

Message edited by author 2005-10-05 20:30:27.
10/05/2005 08:31:59 PM · #10
My photo was taken in a coffee shop which has been in continuous operation at the same location since 1954, if that makes you feel better. What I photographed has probably been there nearly as long.
10/05/2005 08:32:02 PM · #11
there certainly are lots of beans!

here's my approach to voting on this challenge:
if i can see it in a coffee shop or coffee house, i count it. that includes environments, tables, forks, beans (!), bands, waitresses, barristas, you name it. there have been three or four pix that i simply could not view as meeting the challenge theme, no matter how far i stretched it. (i mean, there are some neat pix, but why are they being submitted for this particular challenge? i've always wondered about that...)

then, those beans and coffee cups. i have to agree with ttreit's post. beans and cups can be really captivating, or they can be dull as a cup of decaf at work. doing the shot well is the key, but there's a lot of boring and ordinary to go through on our way to doing shots well.

what would be helpful for me is to receive comments on why my shots are boring and ordinary, and how i could make them better. that's where i'm coming from...and what i try to do with my own votes/comments.

so if what you see is ordinary and uninspired, help me out ('cuz at this point you don't know which one is mine)...tell me why, and tell me what could make it better! : )
10/05/2005 08:33:51 PM · #12
Originally posted by micknewton:

Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

My friend's rock back played a coffee shop in New Jersey frequently.


No kiddin? They hit the big time, eh? :)

The manager swore he make them a STARbucks
10/05/2005 08:44:31 PM · #13
Yeah the problem is that most people, myself included, tend to comment on our top and bottom shots. There's just too many in the middle and sometimes it's hard to come up with a helpful comment. Sometimes I look at a picture and go "uh...its boring" but can't think of anything helpful to say other than "maybe try a different subject or different time of day?" So commenting on the middle shots takes a lot of effort, which makes even less people do it.

Originally posted by tpoc:

there certainly are lots of beans!

here's my approach to voting on this challenge:
if i can see it in a coffee shop or coffee house, i count it. that includes environments, tables, forks, beans (!), bands, waitresses, barristas, you name it. there have been three or four pix that i simply could not view as meeting the challenge theme, no matter how far i stretched it. (i mean, there are some neat pix, but why are they being submitted for this particular challenge? i've always wondered about that...)

then, those beans and coffee cups. i have to agree with ttreit's post. beans and cups can be really captivating, or they can be dull as a cup of decaf at work. doing the shot well is the key, but there's a lot of boring and ordinary to go through on our way to doing shots well.

what would be helpful for me is to receive comments on why my shots are boring and ordinary, and how i could make them better. that's where i'm coming from...and what i try to do with my own votes/comments.

so if what you see is ordinary and uninspired, help me out ('cuz at this point you don't know which one is mine)...tell me why, and tell me what could make it better! : )

10/05/2005 08:47:09 PM · #14
My guidance is go back and vote me high, I totally followed the theme of the challenge and did so without even being in a coffee shop. And my photo does not include a poodle during sunset.

Needless to say, I find your post quite un-offensive and accurate :)

10/05/2005 08:52:38 PM · #15
Originally posted by tpoc:


so if what you see is ordinary and uninspired, help me out ('cuz at this point you don't know which one is mine)...tell me why, and tell me what could make it better! : )


Hello Jeannel,

First thank you for understanding where I am coming from. I will not comment directly on any one shot, I will comment on one of mine I didn't enter as you can see from what I wrote about it.

This was an impromptu shot and it captures many interesting things about a coffee shop. I will not pat myself on the back but I do love it. Friendship, old age, food comfort warmth, you add the rest. That is what I was looking for.

I guess when I see a challenge the first thing that comes to mind I get rid of. I start to think of something not directly related to coffee that I could find in a coffee shop. Am I wrong for doing that? I don't think so.

Thanks again Jeannel
10/05/2005 08:55:11 PM · #16
Originally posted by Picture This:

My guidance is go back and vote me high, I totally followed the theme of the challenge and did so without even being in a coffee shop. And my photo does not include a poodle during sunset.

Needless to say, I find your post quite un-offensive and accurate :)


OMG someone else gets it, sounds like a coup d'état!
10/05/2005 09:09:36 PM · #17
Great shot MPRPRO!! Love it! Anyway I didn't enter either and I OWN a Coffee shop.. maybe that's why I couldn't let my imagination run wild :(
I'm dissapointed in myself, but just didn't want to enter medeocrity... again.
10/05/2005 09:14:10 PM · #18
I know a lot of bands who play in coffee shops and coffee shops have a lot of scenic shots on the walls (in some anyways). ETC ETC. When your imagination runs wild you get the connection. Sounds like some people have their imaginations chained up in the back yard :-)

(kidding...sorta...)
10/05/2005 09:14:50 PM · #19
Another thing I realize is that "Coffee Shop" is perceived differently from region to region. When I hear coffee shop, I think of a place with an espresso machine whose sole purpose to exist is sell coffee.

A LOT of people have pictures in what I'd call a Diner. Cup of coffee, breakfast, read the paper - sort of places. This explains the "rob a coffee shop?" part of Pulp Fiction a lot better :-)

"Garcon means boy"
10/05/2005 09:26:50 PM · #20
I didn't enter this competition, nor have I voted on it. I would also like to say for the most part I agree with this post. The only thing I would have to disagree with is the band theory. Honestly, when I think of coffee shops, a band is probably the first thing that pops in my head. Maybe it's just around here? But at a junior college I went to there were two coffee houses in town, one had a regular band on thursdays, and the other had open mic night on monday. Then I went on to a bigger town with even more coffee houses, and even more bands. I think it's mostly a college town kind of thing though.
10/05/2005 09:54:56 PM · #21
ibkc - just to be the Devil's advocate- I don't think Coffee SHOP and Coffee HOUSE are the same thing. I think of beatniks with brown cigarettes and berets listening to music ahead of its time while snapping their fingers and drinking espresso in a coffee HOUSE, whereas I think of a cardboard crust lemon meringue pie with a white ceramic mug of strong from sitting on the burner too long coffee in a coffee shop. That's just me.

But I will agree that that was an extremely mediocre set of images overall. I gave one ten which I really loved. Most everything else was ho hum.
10/05/2005 10:44:30 PM · #22
Jutilda, there was a huge discussion in several threads on this specific deliniation and how people will interpret the challenge. I'm right there with you...but for the purposes of this challenge i'm willing to blur my definition into a coffee shop/house/diner experience, just because there are so many different interpretations. (but of course, our interpretation is the right one! ; )

MPRPRO, i LOVE that picture! those women are utterly charming. since i don't know which pic was yours, i'll have to check back after and let you know which one i liked better...

i am thrilled to see some discussion about commenting on mediocre pix. i find myself doing the same thing...commenting on the tops and tails, but ignoring the in-between. that's why i'm going to comment on them all! ha ha!! (meant as more of an eroll flynn swashbuckler laugh...)

cheers to all. now go post a comment on my mediocre photo, please!
: )
10/05/2005 10:48:02 PM · #23
Yes, I even tried to drum up some more support here, but I didn't do a very good job, lol. :)

Originally posted by tpoc:

i am thrilled to see some discussion about commenting on mediocre pix. i find myself doing the same thing...commenting on the tops and tails, but ignoring the in-between. that's why i'm going to comment on them all! ha ha!! (meant as more of an eroll flynn swashbuckler laugh...)

cheers to all. now go post a comment on my mediocre photo, please!
: )

10/06/2005 04:33:31 AM · #24
Here is one I thought may do badly, just like most of my other entries lately.

Does this represent a coffee shop. It is where I go for coffee on a regular basis, and it's good, cheap and very friendly.
10/06/2005 05:05:01 AM · #25
Originally posted by p2jvr:

Here is one I thought may do badly, just like most of my other entries lately.

Does this represent a coffee shop. It is where I go for coffee on a regular basis, and it's good, cheap and very friendly.


that almost looks like an attempt of a "far shot" at the challenge, but its a good thing the words "Cafe" are visible, so YES it fits the challenge to me.
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