I took this hand held while walking around my home city of Durham NC. This is the tallest building in the city. It was built a few years ago. I was going for one of those black and white images people do of tall buildings or just architecture in general. I'm sure you've all seen them. I could have gotten fancy and set up my tripod and done a long exposure. But honestly, I don't feel super safe doing that in downtown Durham even during the day. Which is a shame. I tried faking a long exposure but it was more work than I was willing to put into it. I also just kind of like the way it looks with normal clouds.
Nice work, Kyle. You certainly aren't in a rut! This is a great image in the genre you describe. I don't think a long exposure would make it better; quite the contrary. It's a contemporary cliché, although it has its place and I have my little stash of ND filters, only used in specific situations.
I think the drama and wide range of tones, especially the deep shadows, work well here to give the classic look I think you were after helped by the toning.
I think your high-contrast monochrome images have tended to be amongst your best over time. This one stands out, and is even more appealing to me than your recent colour image. Keep doin' what you're doin'!
Thanks for the kind words Chris! I do like doing these high-contrast type of black and white images. I think they just have a nice look to them. Honestly, it's one of the only reasons I don't mind shooting mid day sometimes. Mid day shots just seem to work out well for these black and white type images.