A pint of bitter please, a photo from West Midlands, England

Photographer's Note

Yesterday I said I was going to try and catch a hunt entry at lunchtime. Whilst having lunch, I thought there couldn't be a better iconic image of my country than the liquid part of it. So, as usual, I didn't get further than the pub.

Thanks Jose for the tip on monochromatic grain last month, which I've used here. The original came out quite sharp, after using an upturned ashtray tripod, but I thoght the grains worked well in this case.

Britain is a decidedly beer drinking country, but more than that, a significant aspect of British society, at leaast for many if not all, is the pub culture. British pubs are quite different from drinking establishments in other countries. In some respects they serve more of the functions of cafes in central Europe, than bars there. Within Britain there are variations around the country, and Irish, Scottish and even Welsh pubs can be distinguished, but the key ingredients are there, mainly serving a social and community function, as well as just being somewhere to drink. Irish pubs seem to be attempted to be duplicted all over the world, but where ever you find them, they are always basically bars which sell Guiness, there's more to a Brtish pub than just the building and the drinks on offer.

The closest establisments that I've found to British pubs outside of the UK have been in the Czech Republic, which has an even stronger beer culture than we do. Especially in the countryside, the pubs there remind me more of the pubs in England when I was growing up. Pubs here have changed to reflect the changing
needs of society, and provide an interesting ethnographic mirror on its changing nature.

elihesamian, Aegean, Kenny10pin, Jeppe, Nottinghill, ChrisJ, Galeota, Puma, pione has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rich (1199) 2004-10-14 4:02

Richard - it's usually a bit early for me but I did enjoy this. The monochromatic grain is nice but I'm not sure about the shirt as the yellow is a bit distracting. Nice note.

Rich

elihesamian (26149) 2004-10-14 4:07

OWW!
Thanks,Richard!
Good use of dark background,with nice graing effect,a fine try,diffrent from you,but it's normaly that you did,because you are"Richard":)
well captured,and light managing is great.

clodreno (0) 2004-10-14 4:32

I like the grain in this image.. Very nice light. I have to confess that I tried very hard to love beer.. visiting breweries everywhere.. Every time I tried I ended up vomiting.. So when in pubs... I have to drink.. Cider. I don't know about pubs in the Czech republic though.

eleparc (24063) 2004-10-14 5:47

quite frankly Richard, sharpnesss, to me, would have worked better than grain (only a matter of personal taste)... also the image looks pretty overexposed or too contrasty .. That's for the tech part. As for the theme itself, it sure does remind me of my younger years when i was working in the UK and having pints of beer at the pub;-)) so yes this is an iconic pic from the UK;-) good choice! i'll have to think about a baguette and a bottle of wine;-)) hihihi! or maybe a frog?? lol

Aegean (2571) 2004-10-14 6:35

The grain here works like in low light photojournalistic shots which is not bad at all in the specific type of image! And also this is a very nice "portrait" type of photography as when the classic rules are broken often are giving very good results as this one. IMHO this shot shows exactly the feeling of the person and of the place! Very well done!

Spoony (3539) 2004-10-14 8:53

It´s an original photo idea. Fine Richard.

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-10-14 8:54

Interesting shot here, I like the way you ahve taken this picture, very good work but a little grainy

centurion (0) 2004-10-14 11:03

Surprisingly, the canadian, australian, or NZ pubs are strongly different as the british are.

Jeppe (18654) 2004-10-14 12:55

Cheers, Skål, Down the hatch, Prost, Salute ... Yes - England (Belgium, Germany ... ) are places with a long and great tradition of beer making and drinking ;-) - I like the bitter as well - and our own breweries have introduced similar types here - I'm not sure the market pretty big - I actually got some rather cheap - (last salesday ;-)

Thanks Richard for a fine photo with pub-atmosphere.

ChrisJ (172378) 2004-10-16 3:52

Composition is great, but I'm not sure about the grain. Did you try despeckling?

Galeota (10352) 2004-10-21 4:35

In my humble opinion, english pubs are the most valuable among the Jewels of the Crown.. This brings me a lot of good souvenirs and reminds me that it is time again to take a week off and go to Britain.

I like the close crop and the use of grain with enhanced contrast. Now..could I have a pint also please?

pione (2031) 2004-10-28 4:06

Ottima foto! Ben rappresentativa di una situazione particolare, vista la bella grana visibile, bello il gesto e il sottobicchiere attaccato, un'immagine adatta alla pubblicità perché semplice ma molto espressiva!