Kaldi is a fantastic coffee house across from the South Pasadena Public Library. (Petrea over at Pasadena Daily Photo has a wonderful shot from the inside looking out.) The coffee is strong, the employees are friendly and the music is always eclectic and interesting. I find something irresistibly French New Wave about the place … like Truffaut and Godard should be sitting out front smoking and arguing about who will edit Cahiers du Cinéma…
Or maybe just hanging out with these guys.
19 comments:
Well, with a decent espresso (for coffee lovers) and some of the old issues of the Cahiers, it would be a treat!
Blogtrotter
I've been goign back thru your pics - wonderful. Have you read Denise Hamilton's LA Eve Diamond books? Niona revoir's 'Southland' is one of my very favourite "LA Noir" books.
Good to see there's a real coffee shop, with proper espresso! (Starbucks recently closed most of their Australian shops because they made a huge loss - they couldn;t compete with the established coffee culture here, based on strong espresso. People didn't want sweetened lukewarm milk with syrup purporting to be coffee!)
My main beef with coffee in the US is it is usually lukewarm. I put it down to the propensity for litigation if someone gets burned.
Wrap yourself in love from Sydney
Sydney Daily Photo
Looks like a popular place. Great job with the black and white.
Perfect shot. Two of the guys are enjoying each other's company, the other one staring at his cell phone, our national obsession. Glad to see a small coffee house making it in your neighborhood. I think those are the best too.
Awesome stuff. B&W makes their shirts jump right out of the image. I love it.
Hi everyone!
GMG, my favorite is strongest of strong espresso dumped into a coffee cup with a big of half and half. I guess I just think no coffee is strong enough on its own, but I still like it creamy. Mmmmmm...
Sally, it's so nice to see you here! I've really been enjoying your archives. You know, the greater Los Angeles area has a lot of local coffee houses -- which is nice to see considering every corner has a Starbucks. I agree with you that the coffee is often lukewarm.
I haven't read the books you mentioned but others have recommended them. I may have to put one to the top of my reading pile. I'm in a noirish mood lately.
Keith, VIrginia and Ben, thanks for the nice words! I love black and white stuff. My photographic background years ago was B&W 35mm film photography, so I'm still learning how digital is different. (It really is different!) I still think in terms of photojournalism and getting the actual shot in the camera. So, I resist excessive editing except as a sort of computer darkroom for adjusting contrast and exposure. But I am sure I could have gotten more of the contrast I wanted if I really played around with it in Photoshop. All I did here was push up the contrast.
I'm looking forward to shooting more black and white images. I still haven't figured out if it is better to shoot in the B&W monochrome camera mode or to shoot in color and edit it. WHat do you guys do?
Had to give up coffee but still love cafes. Pastry anyone? Great composition in bnw.
Pensacola Daily Photo
Lauire, a shot of one of my fav subjects.
However, for me something is missing. From the shot alone, it's not pulling me in to go ck it out.
Instead, it's pulling me down below to read your always attention-holding narrative!
thanks for stopping by!
i'll join you, looks like my kind of place, love the photo very much.
Lauire, thanks so much for your visit and comment. You have a beautiful blog too.
This cafe really looks fantastic. We have two types of cafes in Iran: Traditional cafes which families and tourists often go there and modern coffee shops for young couples. I am now thinking of taking some photos of our traditional cafes. I am sure it must be interesting for you. In our traditional cafes, there are beds where people sit on them and drink tea (coffee is not a common drink in Iran, tea is popular).
I'm a sucker for any kind of diagonal line in a shot and that guy leaning in his chair does it perfectly. Nice composition my dear. (don't you love me critiquing the photo and not commenting on the subject? ) UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
You did a great job capturing the relaxed mood of the two guys in the photo! They really do look so at ease with each other!
Ooh, I'm a bit late. Caught in the Midwest typhoons! But I would be remiss if I didn't comment on this of all images.
I also like the languid, echoed arms of the three men at left--how they dangle in their nonchalance. Nice triangle.
Thank you for the generous mention, too.
it looks like an good place to talk sit and relax.
i like it, great shot
No problem, Petrea! I'll take excuse to look through your blog archives.
Meead, welcome. Also welcome to Jazzy and Marlow. Thanks for the nice words.
PJ, you had to give up coffee and I had to give up pastries. We could save money together on a continental breakfast... :-)
Thanks Jude. I a sucker for diagonal lines too.
Kelly and Mike, thank you!
You guys are great.
I appreciate the diagonal line, the obvious conversation sharing. A good cuppajo. But I am to wonder if the guy lying down while sitting could get up.
Blogger issues have prevented me from leaving comments. Back now though. French New Wave, Truffaut, strong black coffee, and b&w. My kind of image.
I think this building used to be a bank. Interestingly, at one time it was the photo studio of a woman named Pam. I can't think of her last name, but I took a photography class from her there and learned to develop black and white film!
The only problem is that they do not allow PAYING customers to use the restroom. STUPIDEST thing a COFFEE place can do. And they charge too much for refills, which you cannot have because they won't let you use the restroom. Bad business move. I hate the place.
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