Homeward Bound.

[John 2]

She probably wasn't but "Going around the corner to the Shop" doesn't sound quite as romantic.

[mugge]

I love the composition.
Cheers Ole

[Stagecoach]

Now that's what I call street photography

Great composition, subject and presentation.

[lovelife65]

Fantastic photograph!
Just beautiful.
Really great work.

[rpcrowe]

I love it! It has a Charles Dickens look about it!

[Manfred M]

All we still need is a heavy fog rolling in and we have a real cliff-hanger in the making.

Good use of showing the back of a person to direct the viewer's eyes into the scene. It works very well here as it gives the image a human touch and a sense of scale. Nicely done!

[Shadowman]

Good one, like a moment out of time.

[wilgk]

Really nice work.

[FootLoose]

Good use of perspective and lighting to create a narrative, John. It's very evocative.

[Evertking]

This is awesome.

[billtils]

+1 to all the above.

[John 2]

Thanks all for the comments. It was taken in Lancaster, a city that I find myself wandering around with a camera more and more.

[DanK]

John,

I think this is a wonderful composition. However, unlike the others, I do have a suggestion.

It looks overprocessed to me, and the shadows are compressed. The combination makes it look unnatural to me, and it also causes the person to blend into the wall on her right. Just pulling up the shadows a tad makes her more visible. I don't know what else you did, and it is very hard to tell with images posted online because they are so low resolution, but it looks "crunchy." This can arise from oversharpening or high levels of local contrast (clarity or structure), and the effect is boosted by high contrast.

Just my two cents. This is really a great composition, so I think it would be worth comparing some alternative processing.

Dan

[John 2]

Thanks Dan. I will give it a try because this is destined to become a competition print. The Shadows/ Highlights tool in photoshop will do all you suggest. Although if I'm honest, I don't see the same degree of compression on my monitor as you describe. It could be the upload that has caused some slight modification. Thanks again. Is this more what you had in mind (I really want to retain that feeling of evening drawing on):

[DanK]

Hi John,

This is definitely in the direction I was thinking of. I might lighten her more, but using a local adjustment so as not to alter the mood of the setting more. I would also try backing off some of the other editing in order to get a more subtle appearance. This is a great image, so if it were mine, I would consider it well worth experimenting with a number of different editing strategies.

Good luck in the competition.

dan

[rudi]

Hi John,

I have looked to this great shot/processing a number off times....
Iff going for an evening shot, I would probably keep the darker vignette as in the original.
I think i would lighten only the person a bit, so she/he gets more attention...
My first idea was also to reduce the contrast/sharpening in the bricks a bit, so they ask for a little less attenstion. But on the other hand they are a great guide for the eye to..........
Hope this make sense....
Just my 2 cents from a viewers point off view...

[royent]

John
I think that the nearest lamp looks too bright in the lightened image
I prefer the original
Sorry Roy

[shreds]

John,

Prefer the original 'evening' shot. Far more evocative. Too much lightening and it reduces the impact of the location.

[NorthernFocus]

I really like this shot, John. I do prefer the second version. Nicely seen, captured, and processed. Well done.

[John 2]

Thanks all for the additional comments. I need to think some more about the processing but I already recognise the I have blown out the lamp (pun intended but the comment meant) . That will definitely receive further attention.