Manhattan

Updated September 2, 2016: AND THE WINNER IS …

Okay, votes have been cast and the choice made. And interestingly, while “Travel Weary” received an actual vote (thanks, Joe 😊) and a few nods in the comments, my final choice came from the write-in titles, of which there were many. I don’t know if you were all able to see what those were, but for fun here they are: Inside the Oyster, Belly of the Beast, On Arrival, Destination, Our Rush, Every Which Way, An Old Tradition, Oyster Bar, To the Oyster Bar, Oyster Bar Restaurant, Follow the Tile, Oyster Rush, Activity, The World is Your Oyster.

What did I choose? Belly of the Beast captured the fancy of both me and my hubby, though those not familiar with Grand Central would likely not get the reference. In the end, it came down to Oyster Rush and Every Which Way. I really liked the feel of Every Which Way, but it left out any reference to the Oyster Bar. In the end, drumroll please, I chose Patti’s suggestion of “Oyster Rush.” Thanks, Patti!

Thanks so much to all for participating. It is so true that we each see things differently and this made it fun to learn what you all “saw” in this photo. (FYI, I chose a different title for the color image. I won’t spoil the surprise, but if you’re interested in learning about that, pop on over via the Visual Venturing link below.)

Oyster Bar Restaurant, Grand Central Station, New York City

I’ve never had too much of a problem coming up with a title for a post. For some reason, this one has baffled me. I’ve always believed that if I can’t title an image, then my vision for it wasn’t clear, and therefore, neither will it be for the viewer. So I hesitated posting this one. Trouble is, I really like it. The reason for shooting was to capture the famous Oyster Bar Restaurant in the basement of Grand Central. It was a challenge as tripods aren’t allowed and the light is very low. Handholding with high ISO was the only way to go.

I loved the hustle and bustle of the area, but what caught my attention was the lone woman, head down, pulling her suitcase, making her way to the restaurant. That was the focus of my attention. As fate would have it, when I pushed the shutter, the young man entered the right of the frame – I love his motion. And in the color version, he’s wearing a blue shirt, which works together with the blue sweater the woman is wearing.

With that backstory, I then began to think about titles for this B&W post. (For the color version, “Blue” was the first idea I had, but when I asked my husband to look at the photo, he didn’t see that; he saw, instead, the woman, who was in fact the reason behind the photo. Obviously color is not an option here.) “To the Bar?” “Travel Weary?” “By One’s Lonesome?” After pondering this for far too long, I finally decided, hey, why don’t I ask all of you.

What makes this even more interesting is that I chose to post this photo in color on my own blog. If you’re up for it, head on over to Visual Venturing and see it. You’ll find a slightly different poll, with the inclusion of “blue” for a choice.

So, chime in and let me know if any of my titles appeal to you. Or perhaps you have a better idea. I’ll hold the poll open for one week and whatever title comes out on top is the one I’ll change the title to (unless I like someone’s “other” idea the best). It will be interesting to see if the top choices for both end up being the same or different. So have some fun and I thank you in advance for your input!

For more photos from New York City and beyond, visit VisualVenturing.com.