On my screen the first version looks a bit too dark and the newer version looks a bit too light...
There is a reason nights are dark...duh!
Unless the purpose of the second version is to sell it to the two girls, there is absolutely no reason to clearly see their faces or what they are wearing. The worst offender of the faux-HDR attempt is visible in the girl's legs, where too much clarity or faux-HDR made them look dirty, as if she just got out of a mud-wrestling competition. The same goes for the walls in the foreground - nothing of interest there, they are best left hidden in the dark of the night, without showing how dirty they are (another faux-HDR victim).
Then look at the sky: the original has a beautiful, deep blue, as blue-hour skies often are. The faux-HDR turned that into a puke-green!?
The mood of the original was the charm of small-town side streets, late evening stroll, dark and mysterious. No need for details, recognizable faces and identifiable clothing.
Sorry, Russ, for being so critical, but that's what friends are for sometimes, to save us from ourselves
