I Spy.

[stamper]

Under surveillance.....not only from me.

[shawnino]

I like it.
Nice use of the railing.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

The slants of the railing and of the building edges really help a lot. They wrap around the figure and the surveillance camera so nicely.

[sdwilsonsct]

I like the geometry of the buildings. Everything else is a bonus. Good catch.

[RSL]

The composition is excellent, Stamper. The leading lines down to the woman make the picture, and the railing confines her. I know you like heavy blacks, but backing off a bit on the clipping would improve an already fine shot.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... backing off a bit on the clipping would improve an already fine shot.

+1

I wouldn't mind blocked shadows in the buildings, but girl would benefit by being separated from it.

[BernardLanguillier]

Nice!

Is that street photography btw?

Cheers,
Bernard

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

It is stairs photography 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

It is stairs photography 

[stamper]

The girl is/was black. I have just opened the file in PS and a Threshold layer. There is a tiny amount of pixels clipped in the girl and most are in the 5 pixel range. The problem about raising the blacks is it quickly turns a muddy grey. I feel that dodging the whites in the girl compensates. I am happy the way it looks on my monitor which is calibrated. However everyone is entitled to their opinion. Thanks for the feedback.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

The girl is/was black....

She must have undergone the same skin treatment as Michael Jackson then 

...There is a tiny amount of pixels clipped in the girl...

Hmmm...

[RSL]

She must have undergone the same skin treatment as Michael Jackson then 

Hmmm...

Looks as if there was a backfire and the clipper got clipped.

[stamper]

She must have undergone the same skin treatment as Michael Jackson then 

Hmmm...

Slobodan I have access to the TIFF and you don't. The conversion to Jpeg makes a difference. To make it plain so you understand the girl is wearing black clothes. There isn't any detail to lighten and I notice you didn't try to lighten it. In other members images that are posted I see you invariably make the same comment. I don't know if it is a sincere belief on your part or a nitpick. As Russ pointed out I like to have blacks that are clipped or nearly clipped. A conscious decision on my part that most photographers probably share with regards to B&W. I am happy with it. BTW I see a racial slur on a dead person that isn't imo appropriate.

[Bruce Cox]

Did you "dodge" the whites on the girl brighter?  If so, I suggest that heightens the audience's interest in the rest of her [other than a general desire for...].  If you let her fade into the doorway more it might work out.

I don't know why people feel they need to doctor up photographs.

[stamper]

I did dodge the whites to add contrast to her. I knew I couldn't lighten the darker areas so dodging the light areas is something I like doing.

[Chris Calohan]

I do believe there is more separation between the girl and the buildings but as I just discovered oh so badly, the internet compression of blacks in jpegs is just terrible. You might want to try this method rather than dodge and burn tools which are so pixel disruptive.

Use your quick select tool and select the whole of the girl, sans the left and right edges of her arms. make a Curves adjustment layer and change the blend mode to "Screen." You can do several things with this mask. You can feather the selection, lower the opacity, or paint on the mask to darken or lighten certain areas. I use this method frequently.

I did this on your image but as you can see, the internet still wants to clip the blacks to the point of oblivion.

[stamper]

Chris what you have done is commendable but as you point out the blacks are still black and as I pointed the black part hasn't any detail - imo - to recover. The girl is in the shade so if there was a chance of lightening her then realism has to be considered?

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

IMHO, Chris's version makes a better "reportorial" image, but loses the atmosphere of the original, in which the woman seems a bit furtive, which is why the spy camera is watching her.

I suspect it looks just fine in a print.

I say this as one who normally obsesses over shadow detail, but I can fully accept Stamper's stylistic intent.

[seamus finn]

Stamper's original is fine with me - and a splendid shot it is. If the woman is wearing deep black clothes, there's no point in trying to lighten the tone just for the sake of screwing around in PS or Lightroom. It is what it is.

[William Walker]

Stamper's original is fine with me - and a splendid shot it is. If the woman is wearing deep black clothes, there's no point in trying to lighten the tone just for the sake of screwing around in PS or Lightroom. It is what it is.

Agreed!