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Today's photo comes from Flickr contributor maxedaperture, of one of the Dupont Starbucks coffee shops. If you look closely you might be able to see the other Starbucks, only .2 miles up Connecticut Avenue.
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The end of the universe is a Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks. -- Lewis Black
love lewis black.
why a picture of a starbucks though? coming tomorrow: a photo of the columbia road burger king! i think most here would rather see things that are intrinsically dc, or, at the very least, visually interesting.
goat boy - i really didn't care if it was a Starbucks or not. What I saw in the picture was the great light inside coupled with the great light outside creating a strangely lit image that I though worked well.
and if someone takes a great image of a burger king in the district tomorrow, then yes it may end up as a photo of the day.
So while you didn't find the image interesting, I did and that's how it ended up as the POTD.
The photo almost looks like a parody (thanks to the Starbucks logo) on Nighthawks, which is kinda neat.
Interesting story about that Starbucks. Years ago, before it became fashionable to waste time in coffee shops with a laptop pretending to be a writer, I found myself in that Starbucks wasting my time with a laptop pretending to be a writer. In walks an attractive, well-manicured businesswoman in a beige skirt, white hose, matching pumps, fumbling with her purse. She was obviously disconcerted about something, constantly mumbling at her purse as if it was withholding some arcane secret and no amount of futzing would get it to talk. She half-spoke her order to the barista, who returned with her drink in a smal ceramic cup and saucer. Still befuddled and talking to herself, she started an argument with the barista about nothing related to coffee, the purse, or anything remotely of this world. (This was in the days before Bluetooth headsets made seeming like a schizophrenic modish.) She turned on her heels and, still mumbling to herself, exited the Starbuck...still holding her ceramic cup and saucer, sipping while she gamboled down Connecticut Avenue and into the afternoon heat.
Well, I thought it was interesting.
bugger off, goat boy.
when i first saw the photo it seemed a little cluttered, but immediately the acute angle of the building emerged, and it's parallel lines converging into horizontal recesses, echoed by cold trees warm lights please me. quite nice, maxedap. alas, a starbucks logo. and second one?
no, i'm no closet-starbucker, their ethics and burnt beans don't appeal to me, and i'm so excited about mcd's impending coffee market intrusion, i'm f'in to buy me some stock, and short some *bux.
Oh, Monkey!!! Could it be???? Was that you wasting time in the Dupont Starbucks with a laptop pretending to be a writer while I was looking for my last shaker of salt?
Wait, isn't the other Dupont Starbucks .2 miles down Connecticut Ave.?
Blackcloud - I didn't mention that one, but they have one that way too.
whatevz. looks like a starbucks promotional shot. that said, i'm eagerly awaiting an exciting lane bryant or orange julius photo later in the week!
monkey - i really thought that story was going to end with, "that same woman would one day become mrs. monkeyrotica."
Oh ho! There are a lot of Starbucks in DC! And they are corporate coffee shillers! Oh the dreary monotony of franchised concepts highlighted on the CITYNAME-ist website!
Vancouver, BC actually does have a Starbucks across a busy intersection from another Starbucks.
"looks like a starbucks promotional shot."
Oh give me a break. It's a neat photo, regardless of whose logo is in the window. I know getting all up in Starbucks' grill for being big, evil and boring is, like, THE thing right now...but it doesn't matter if it's a Starbucks or a Terry's Triumphant Tuba Emporium logo; it's a good photo. Give the anti-corporate monolith thing a rest already.
"Wait, isn't the other Dupont Starbucks .2 miles down Connecticut Ave.?"
No, that's the OTHER other Starbucks.
While the glowing Starbucks logo is a garish intrusion into the shot, it's still a very nicely done photo and I have always loved that building.
In other news, isn't the demonization of Starbucks getting a little old? Yes, they are taking over the world with their over-caffeinated coffee and burnt beans, but still. The only real problem I have with that is it seems now all the independent shops are also burning their beans. I am very much anti bitter coffee.
There is a Starbucks across the street from a Starbucks in DC - there's one in the DC USA Target and one across 14th.
@14thandyou - talk about overreacting. show me where i said word one about starbucks being "big, evil, and boring." besides, everyone knows the cool thing now is to bash people who bash corporate america. good job being an early adopter on that one! bottom line is that to me the photo was not a) representative of dc or b)visually stimulating - just like i said in my original post. RIF.
actually, the angle the picture is showing, it would be impossible to see the other other starbucks at the corner of Connecticut and R, but i think you might be able to make out the Cosi at Connecticut and R.
I got that all beat. In Alexandria, there is a Starbucks in a Giant that is next door to a Starbucks, with a Starbucks across the parking lot in the Safeway.
We are all Starbucks now.
Actually, goat boy, the big thing right now is to act all uppity about people who take issue with people who take potshots at corporate monoliths. So, you win the prize for being *really* ahead of the curve: a grande latte at the Starbucks nearest you. Enjoy!
And I don't know how a photo of one of the most well-known buildings on one of DC's most well-known streets in one of DC's most well-known neighborhoods isn't "uniquely DC", but I guess we all have our standards.
I actually think that particular Starbucks is frequently used as a reference, and when the weather is crappy people often meet there rather than in the Circle. So in that sense it's something of a local landmark. If it was a photograph of an anonymous Starbucks that could be Anywhere, USA you might have a point, but this is obviously the Starbucks in the very cool building in Dupont. Have I mentioned how much I like that building?
I, for one, welcome our new starbucks photo overlords.
I was going to write a rant in response to goat boy's comments but instead I'll just say that I rather like this photo. And while it may not be instantly recognizable as DC that's exactly why I like it, because DC's not just monuments and statues of long dead war heroes.
Nice choice Eric and great shot maxedaperture.
@14 - joke was better when i used it.
in terms of composition, the photo isn't that great. it would be better composed to stretch the frame left/right and include more of the street on the left side of the frame while still observing the rule of thirds. also, i think it does the photo a disservice to have the building face (with the logo) at a 90 angle to the lens. it makes the building look too mirrored. had they stretched the frame then it would look more like a photo that happened to catch a starbucks logo instead of a photo of a starbucks with activity around it, which is what it looks like. i will go enjoy my grande latte enema now.
Esmeralda - Standard operating procedure when you want to ditch someone is to tell them, "We'll meet you at the Starbucks near Dupont." You've now got at least six possible avenues of escape.
And also if the frame was moved left you'd get more of the 42. I love the 42 almost as much as I love that building.
And Monkey, people have tried, but I'm damn hard to shake.
I'll bow to your superior comedic sense, goat boy.
As to your artistic sense, meh. I still like the shot. Perhaps after you finish your latte, you can snap another photo of the building the way God intended.
@monkeyerotica: well told story, but you totally left us hanging! I thought it was gonna end with "she promptly walks over to my table, swipes everything off, and we made out passionately in front of everyone." Either that or "she poured hot coffee all over my head and then kicked me in the balls for no reason." I dunno, maybe my imagination is getting carried away here.
All those Starbucks make that stretch of Connecticut Ave. seem like the recurring backgrounds in those 1970s Hanna Barbera toons. You know, like the ones where Yogi and Boo Boo run past the same two trees every five seconds.
Ah, gone for a week and I almost miss the PotD angst! Almost.
I'm with Eric, and when I saw this shot I didn't immediately think "Hey, it's a Starbucks," I thought "Hey, I know that intersection!" Seemed pretty uniquely DC to me, not to mention the awesome color tones and the nice pattern of the streetlamps on the left.
it's cool these days to make fun of people for explaining about making fun of hipsters making fun of people making fun of corportate chains.
jeez, people, i thought you were cool. guess i was wrong.
yonas - In my mind I was up on my haunches barking like a dog while she beat me with a rolled-up copy of I.D. Magazine (the annual awards issue) for the mess I made on the carpet.
The light is beautiful in this pic. Too bad you couldn't photoshop the starbucks logo out... but like another poster said, the intersection wouldn't have been recognizable that way.
ps. i had a frappacino today and it was delicious.
This was my regular Starbucks for two years. I don't live in DC anymore and this pic made me a little misty-eyed.
Never forget, friends don't let friends drink starbucks.
This is what I consider to be one of the biggest challenges facing urban-based photographers today, or at least something that has been a pain in my butt. Everything looks the same, everywhere you go. There is always a Starbucks or Tower Records or McD's around to ruin your shot. Whether you are in DC, Seattle or Tokyo, the world is visually homogenizing like whoa. Don't get me wrong, I like being able to get coffee without ever having to cross a street, but it can be frustrating. As far as the shot goes... it's alright. The bus kind of throws it off and its a bit cluttered. On the other hand I do enjoy compositions the give you a lot of detail in the foreground, but let the background go really deep. Plus maxedaperture has some other real good shots in his stream.
If anything, the composition of the shot is excellent. All the lines of sight radiate from the Starbucks logo, as if it were some magical sphincter vortex glowing with an inner hemmorhoidal light.
I'm reminded of deep sea lantern fish that attract their prey wth a tantalizing self-luminescent lure, except replace "lure" with "overly roasted beans" and "prey" with "everyone."
What is this Starbucks you speak of?