Caffe Latte

Ok, Australians drink FAR better coffee than we do in the US. What are we thinkin'? Hearts were common in the latte...but one place made the white foam into what I swear was a Banksia.

Through much investigative work (i.e., searching my brain and my companion's photos taken at a similar time) I have finally figured out that this was taken in a little cafe in The Strand Arcade in Sydney.

I don't care what they say about the QVB (Queen Victoria Building) in Sydney being "the most beautiful shopping center in the world" (whatever, Mr. Pierre Cardin). It was CHOKED with bodies when I was there. THE STRAND is much better. The shops are more glamorous and unique, the interior more manageable and just as beautiful as the QVB (if not more so), and I'm not sure if this is true, but the shops also seemed more "local" (Louis Cardini has another Australian leather goods shop there, for instance).

Whenever I go shopping here in the US now I just think to myself "It's no Strand Arcade" and wish I was back there in Sydney shopping away and having a caffe latte.

Olympus OM-1
Fuji Superia 400

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    i eaт sтars, zazie., fotograf1v2, Alfredo Belohlavek, and 134 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. the phunktOGraphist (43 months ago | reply)

    nice,warm wintery feeling

  3. La Branĉaro (43 months ago | reply)

    Thanks! Of course, we were in Sydney in their Spring, but it was as exciting as Christmas!!!

  4. Abhishek Gaurav (43 months ago | reply)

    Fabulous... both the coffee... and your composition !

    Seen in my groups

  5. La Branĉaro (43 months ago | reply)

    Thanks so much! I love when things on the table come together and just naturally look like a still life.

  6. fotograf1v2 (43 months ago | reply)

    Great shot J. !
    I loath to mention, "I told you so!" But your admission since discovering it for yourself is honourable. (Only by hearsay and not personal experience, have I heard, via travellers, the general state of American coffee!) We thank our European migrants and Italians in particular, for the general high quality coffees we have here.
    The art of the barista was clearly in evidence here. The myriad of coffee companies here tend to offer training in the art of coffee-making, so that is very much contributing to the higher standards now becoming more widespread across Australia.

  7. Apallalu (42 months ago | reply)

    Amazing. Good composition and coffee.

  8. La Branĉaro (42 months ago | reply)

    Thanks! It is all about framing in these situations since the items are just naturally arranged.

  9. mareina (40 months ago | reply)

    mmmmm i want to drink that. love the lighting in this photograph!

    Delicious capture! You deserve...
    Perfect Pour Coffee
    Seen in Damn! I Wish I'd Drank That!!!

  10. La Branĉaro (40 months ago | reply)

    Thanks so much! It was taken inside a rather dim cafe in The Strand shopping arcade in Sydney.

  11. Lucas Regazzi (38 months ago | reply)

    Hi, I'm an admin for a group called now what, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

  12. Akiazur (37 months ago | reply)

    Lovely! The DOF is very nice. Like the perspective. Nice warm, log burning feeling. Great shot :)

    Have a great day and Happy clicking :).
    Cheers Ruzaika

  13. La Branĉaro (37 months ago | reply)

    Thank you! This was delicious coffee. The whole Strand Arcade gave a wonderful, antique, warm feeling. It's a great place to visit in Sydney.

  14. Kilo 66 (36 months ago | reply)

    I know what you mean about the atmosphere at the Strand. Even when it's bustling it's so much more laid back than QVB; certainly more so than any American mega mall. Sawgrass Mills in Fort Lauderdale, for example, is second as a tourist attraction only to Disney World/Epcot. A slow day sees a quarter million bodies milling about (ouch!) and it's just so frantic, so "I gotta spend all my money before I die!" The Strand is more " 'T'sall right, mate," more in keeping with the vanishing Digger mindset.
    BTW, I admire your ability to turn out such teriffic still-life shots using whatever ambient lighting is available. I like some of these images nearly as much as your marvelous informal portarit of the inquisitve goat at the Austin Zoo.

  15. La Branĉaro (36 months ago | reply)

    I did adore the The Strand so much! It was such a relaxing place, though filled with people. I think I liked the simpler arcade architecture, too. I liked how it was just a straight-shot from front to back without all the turns like in the QVB. Part of the problem, too, might have been that they were doing major work to the QVB when I was there, so that might have bottle-necked some of the traffic.

    Sawgrass Mills does not sound like my kind of place! We're lucky in Austin because we have the Domain, which is a sort of "village" mall, meaning all the stores are lining streets, and their entrances are all outside. It's supposed to feel like a quaint downtown shopping district, not a mall. It's all just chain shops like Tiffany's and Banana Republic, though. I could go anywhere and get that.

    Have you seen my new goat portraits? They're in the Austin Zoo set. I went there a few weeks back and took many new photos of the goats! They're the main reason I go. I'm glad you like my still-life photos, too. Thanks!

  16. Kilo 66 (36 months ago | reply)

    No, I haven't seen the wee beasties since I last viewed them but I'm on my way now!

  17. andrew prickett (33 months ago | reply)

    Do you use the meter in the om-1 or hand meter?

  18. La Branĉaro (33 months ago | reply)

    Well, for a long time now I haven't had either (my first OM-1's light meter is quite spastic and I found it unusable almost immediately, and I've not had cash for a handheld meter because I use everything I have to buy film!). I usually just guess at the exposure, which works best when I'm shooting pro-quality film like 400H. It's latitude really is forgiving. Now I've bought a second OM-1, and it's light meter seems to work perfectly. I'm not sure if its suggestions are accurate, because I've never had one telling me what to do before! I hope they are! I'll see how that works once I get my huge cache of film from Ottawa developed.

  19. This photo was invited and added to the CoffeeMinded group.

  20. This photo was invited and added to the ethereality group.

  21. ıusnɾ@w|©kedf|lm (20 months ago | reply)

    I can't resist this shot and now I am craving for one.
    This is what I call delicious shot, Jesse!

  22. La Branĉaro (20 months ago | reply)

    Thank you so much, Jusni! Looking at this makes me want to go back to Australia so bad :-[ Everything there is so beautiful. So glad to have your kind words here, Jusni. It has made many rounds on Tumblr :-)

  23. Cole Chase Photography (8 months ago | reply)

    Mmmmm, scrumptious! Killer shot too! :-)

  24. La Branĉaro (8 months ago | reply)

    Thanks, Cole! It has been very popular. A website even asked to use it for their "welcome" email that they send to all new members. They cleaned it up, and make it look a lot sharper :-)

  25. This photo was invited and added to the CAPA World group.

  26. This photo was invited and added to the Shooting Film group.

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