how would you crop this shot?

[Nasturtium]

I love the contented look on this restaurant owner's face. But I'm unsure how to crop this shot that I took Thursday.

If I crop it with him on the right I lose the cool symmetry.

If I crop it with him smack dab in the middle the restaurant name is cut in half on the awnings.

Help!

[Cupcake]

I would crop like this:

[0lBaldy]

My version:

[crazyfly1]

I know it doesn't fit into the rule of thirds but...

[CathyH]

Hi
without looking I did it much like olbaldy.
nice pic.

[Nasturtium]

Cupcake-Yeah, I think we have to forget the rules on this one.
OldBaldy-That's pretty much where I wound up too. But I just don't think it's as powerful as...
Crazyfly1-Yes! Bingo! Just get rid of the street market by copying the left side. I couldn't figure out how to do this without making the name on the awning reversed.
CathH-Copycat, lol. I think if we follow the rules this is what we end up with but I really like the symmetry in the original even though it's against the 'rules', it somehow conveys the equanimity I wanted.

[crazyfly1]

Glad you like it. I used 3 different selections jumped to thier own layer and flipped. One was the awning. I selected and used the whole awning just for the purpose of switching to difference mode and aligning the layers. I masked out all but a very small portion of the awning once it was lined. I used another selection to do the wall and another to do the bottom where the drain spout is. I cloned the fence from the one next to it and same with the bricks. Only thing that was kind of tuff was the reflection in the window.

[Algarve Images]

I would have done the same as Olbaldy, time permitting then crazyfly's rendition is very good, personally i would have lost the extra drainpipe making it tougher to see the clone...
regards,
Gary...

[PixFixGuy]

I hate to say this but is it possible to do it over again? What is the point of that shot? Is it the chef or the restaurant? To me that chef looks quite indifferent to the whole thing. I know I'm late to this, I just happened to trip over it but without a message or something you are trying to say about that man, his work, his place and so on, cropping, retouching and other manipulations will not help. Those things are there to enhance. I feel that the message is missing. I wish I could be of more help.
Arnie