Voted Best in Ballard

Photo & Text Copyright 2007 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

In the land of roasted beans-a-plenty, there are coffee shops on nearly every block of Seattle's neighborhood shopping streets. Sometimes two. Sometimes right across the street or a few doors away from each other! Many are great places to savor a delicious cup, some become friendly neighborhood gathering places. Java Bean Coffee House in the Ballard neighborhood is very popular and offers breakfast sandwiches, pannini, and lovely pastries from great local bakeries. They feature only certified Fair Trade, organic, and shade grown coffees. Through the lens what I saw at closing time was a brightly lit storefront with two figures conversing in the shadows outside and an employee cleaning up. I was concentrating on focus, lighting, traffic and headlights flying by between. It wasn't until I saw the shots later that I noticed anything about the figures' facial expressions and their body language. Yikes! We've all lived that scene before, right? A couple days later I was having lunch with someone in a completely different neighborhood and this same couple walked by on the street hand in hand, all smiles. . .nice to know there was a happy resolution to whatever it was.