Steak ‘n Shake table and chairs no. 1

I’ve been having a good time playing with an iPhone photograph I took of tables and chairs at a Steak ‘n Shake in Goodland, Kansas. (I certainly took a lot more iPhone pix on my trip than I remembered having done.) Above is the version I like best. It’s highly cropped, with a watercolor filter applied, vibrance ramped up, blue ramped up. My favorites among the photographs I take tend to be those that look most like abstract paintings or that are clearly influenced by abstract painting. Applying a filter can, on rare occasions, turn an image into something more interesting. It also can, on rare occasions, save an image that is not sharp enough to work as a conventional photograph and make it worthwhile.

Here are two crops without the watercolor filter, and below those, the original photograph. I’m interested in feedback, so vote for your favorite if you’re so inclined. As a bonus, here’s a video of Lucinda Williams singing “Am I Too Blue.”

Steak ‘n Shake table and chairs no. 3

Steak ‘n Shake table and chairs no. 2

Steak ‘n Shake table and chairs, original shot