You Don't Say

I like your shots, they look interesting and authentic, which is something I can appreciate. For some reason however I'm not quite sure about the story you want to convey in a couple of them... This is one such example to me. Would you mind explaining what you had in mind when taking this shot and what you were focusing on/want the viewer to focus on?

Depending on the answer it could be great as it is, or perhaps there's some room for alternate edits...

It's great in B&W, but I think some tones get lost a little bit... Here's a quick (cropped) attempt at managing different areas in a way I interpreted the importance of them in the image:

Of course that might be way off, so I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts/Intentions!

I played around a bit with cropping - including one similar to the one you posted. My concern in the one you posted was it made the image look flat by making the open space behind the men in the bar take up an oversized portion of the image. It also took away the door frames that give the image the illusion of depth. That is to me coping closer flattens the perspective of the image. It also crops away the door way and places the man on the left too far to the edge of the frame. I left the door frames in on both side to give perspective and depth. That crop also gives the illusion that the men are blocking the door when in fact they are outside of the bar and not blocking the door and they could not enjoy their cigars in doors.

Ybor is the old Cuban area of Tampa. It was the home of cigar makers where Cubans immigrants wrapped cigars. Today it is a historic district that comes alive at night. While the large cigar operations have given way to condos, restaurants, nightclubs, etc., it is still the home of many small cigar shops where one can witness the art of rolling a cigar.

With the indoor smoking bans in FL, most of the bars have outdoor areas where a fine cigar can be enjoyed by those that want. That is usually accompanied with conversation and large qualities of adult beverages. It is a party atmosphere where the locals interact with the tourist and those that come to document the interaction.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that - very interesting to know!