The first pass I took when editing this photo I used a much tighter crop, focusing just on the poster in the center. That was what had initially caught my eye, the poster, and the way the woman's hands and head were framed by the windows across the street. The common wisdom is that composition is as much about what you leave out as what you include, hence the tight crop. Still, something about that framing didn't work quite right for me—it just seemed incomplete. When I added back most of the original image, it struck me that not only did I like the couch, the vases, and the additional buildings in the reflection, but I also liked including myself. I like the idea of making the photographer's relationship with the image explicit.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/4, shutter 1/60 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped to 4x5; curves for highlight recovery and contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: The only thing that's bugging me about this one is the way that the neon sign's pull-cord intersects the wine glass on the poster.

I mentioned Boone in Friday's post. As you can see, he was quite a character up-close. Turned out that he was pretty good with that harmonica, as well. I wonder what he's up to right now.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in aperture-priority exposure mode. Aperture f/1.4, shutter 1/1000 sec (0 EV), ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves for highlight recovery; levels to darken blacks and brighten midtones; dodged over the subject; burned over the background.

Thoughts for improvement: I would have liked to be half a step back so as not to clip the brim of his hat off. Also, this probably would have been better stopped down to f/1.8 or f/2.

"The Popculturist Falls to Pieces":

Ever since my son was born, I’ve been increasingly drawn to the cultural elements of my own childhood. I find myself renting old Disney movies or picking up books I haven’t read in decades. I’m sure that same impulse, whatever it is, is what’s driving my latest obsession: Patsy Cline.

Just before I got back to my car on my last photowalk, I heard the sound of a ukulele coming from across the street. I stopped and turned, and saw this guy waiting for the bus. (Oddly, this was actually the second ukulele player I ran into that morning, but that's another story.) He saw me raise the camera to my eye and struck a pose, then shouted something as I started to leave.

We yelled at each other across the street for a minute, but the traffic was just too loud, so I ran across. Turned out that he was trying to give me his email address to send him the photo. I introduced myself. He said his name was Boone, and he told me about his ukulele, which he said he found in a dumpster and fixed up himself. I took a few closer shots, then we shook hands and parted ways.

I sent him the photos the next day, but I never heard back from him.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/8, shutter 1/400 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cropped; exposure +1; levels to brighten highlights and midtones.

Thoughts for improvement: This shot was taken from really far away, so I ended up having to crop out a lot, which, combined with the fact that I underexposed due to being in a hurry, meant a lot of extra noise and softness. I would have liked more contrast and sharpness.

(Excuse the pun. I couldn't help myself.)

Toward the end of my photowalk a couple of weeks ago I passed by a fast-food restaurant. Peeking in through the window, I was struck by the way the light wrapped around this guy—it almost looked like a painting.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/8, shutter 1/400 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened and cropped; curves for exposure adjustment and contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: The outside of the building may be a little hot—I can't quite make up my mind about that. I'm also not sure whether a horizontal crop might work better.

"I want a Toy Story party."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I want a Woody and Buzz party."

"OK, well, maybe when it's your birthday, but is it your birthday today?"

"Yeah."

"No, it's not. It's [your friend's] birthday today."

"Oh."

That was the conversation on Saturday as we drove to Chuck E. Cheese's for Jason's friend's birthday party. Jason has been deep into the Toy Story franchise for several months now. We watch one of those movies or another (or, at least, the first twenty minutes) about every other day, and nearly everywhere we go, Jason has to bring one of his Woody, Jessie, or Buzz Lightyear toys with him.

Now, most likely when you hear "Toy Story party," you imagine Pixar-themed banners and tablecloths, possibly a performer in a Buzz Lightyear costume. But what Jason means when he says that is actually that he wants a Toy Story cake. For him, "party" literally means "cake."

It makes a certain amount of sense when you think about it, since Jason's main exposure to parties has been his friends' birthdays, which have always involved a cake of some sort. Before this weekend, every party he'd ever attended had been at a house or a park, just like a regular playdate. And since playdates usually also involve snacks, the cake would definitely stand out as something unique to parties.

The only thing that really surprises me is that he didn't pick out presents as the identifier of a party. Still, he gets presents at Christmas, and the parties at his day care don't have presents but usually do have cupcakes. I wouldn't have thought that such a young person would be able to make connections like that, but it appears that he has.

So, in Jason's world, if there's a cake, it's a party; if there's no cake, it's not. Though, come to think of it, I'm not so sure that's wrong.

I mentioned this on Monday, but Jason really loved that bus. He kept trying to climb in during the middle of other kids' rides, and even after I made him quit doing that, he still hung around and peeked in the window.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: curves for highlight recovery and contrast.

Thoughts for improvement: I'm pretty happy with this one, actually.

Chuck E. Cheese's has changed a bit over the twenty-odd years since I last went there—there's no more ball pit, for example—but one thing that's still the same is the skee-ball. I was hoping that Jason would have fun with that game, but it ended up being a little discouraging for him, as he wasn't strong enough to roll the ball all the way up to the target. Later on I saw a bunch of his toddler friends walking up the ramp and putting the balls right into the holes, but by that time Jason had already moved on to greener pastures.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; retouched a dust spot; dodged over Jason's head and shirt.

Thoughts for improvement: I'd like to have gotten a bit better angle, to get the whole target in the frame.

I don't really know why the folks at Chuck E. Cheese's thought that putting a grinning Chuck E in the back of this bus wasn't creepy. Is it? I'll let you be the judge of that. In any event, Jason didn't mind (or even notice, really), whatever it might look like in this picture. Actually, this was his favorite ride. All in all, it was a pretty successful first trip to Chuck E. Cheese's, the occasion for which was a friend's birthday party.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/1.8, shutter 1/125 sec, ISO 800. Post-processing in Aperture 3: straightened; curves for highlight recovery; dodged over the interior of the bus; levels to brighten midtones; edge sharpening.

Thoughts for improvement: I'd like to have included the "C" in "Chuck E. Cheese School."

As I was walking down University Ave. on Sunday morning, I happened to look up and noticed the sun reflecting off the windows of this building, shining through the fog. It was such a dramatic scene, I had to stop and look at it for a few minutes before I even lifted the camera to my eye.

Technical info: Shot with a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, in manual exposure mode. Aperture f/4, shutter 1/2500 sec, ISO 200. Post-processing in Aperture 3: cloned out a dust spot; cropped; levels to brighten highlights, darken midtones and shadows.

Thoughts for improvement: I don't know, I actually love this shot. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments.