Stairway to…

Lille, last weekend – f/5.0, 1/800 sec
It looks like the shot might have been better if centered a bit more on the left to balance the framing. What do you think?
Incidentally, this photo proves that blue skies can be seen in Lille, even in winter after the snow storm, when it’s so cold outside that you better keep your hands inside your pockets as long as possible for fear of freezing your fingers to death. Which is what kind of what happened to my own fingers (I’m typing this with my nose and it’s far from easy).
Update: As suggested in the comments, here’s a black and white version of the shot with a different crop. What do you think?
Update #2: Massimo sent his own version of the shot:

How lucky I am to have all those wonderful readers!
This photo was published on February 28, 2005 with the following tags: Architecture, Pentax Optio 330RS.
Comments
I think you’re right. Maybe if you cropped the shot it would do the trick. All the same, it’s nice to see a blue sky!
And here’s a tip for cold fingers. Take some hot soup in a flask when you go out and invest in some fingerless gloves with a flap over bit to protect your fingertips. Works for me
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I agree, a little to the left with more space to the right would perhaps have been ideal, but still, it’s very nice
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luminouslens on March 1, 2005 (#3)
Ah hah, is this the corner shot you were talking about? I like it. It’s very nice and crisp, and the blue sky really makes the building stand out. I like how you’ve framed it here and don’t have any thoughts that you should have done it differently.
VISUAL FIELD on March 1, 2005 (#4)
I like this, and would also be interested to see the structure on top of the building in closeup
By the way the Baltimore photo group’s assignment this week was water, in case you want to give that one a try. Your utensil images were great!
With that blue sky, if you have Photoshop, try the “channel mixer trick”. Set monochromatic and high positive value or red and negative for blue. You will get a very dark sky with white clouds, and the building should stand out in a very dramatic way. Give it a try…
I agree about the composition (I would have perhaps moved right to show the windows a bit more) but it’s still a nice shot. I like the way the sun hit the clouds.
It’s a lot better with the crop!
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luminouslens on March 13, 2005 (#8)
Great conversion. You managed to keep all of the detail in the building and the sky as well. I prefer the color version, but I think this is a good black and white as well. I also like the reframing, with less empty space on the right.
Looks great! The conversion really emphasizes the details in the the building and the structure above, while the crop added flow that the original was missing too.
