I keep playing with this photo. I know the composition is not strong but sometime it is just a challenge to make the best with what you have. Originally when I shot this I liked the stairs but now they are taking something away. Playing around I came up with a darker version that mutes the impact of the steps some. Before I had kept trying to go lighter and go for some ethereal mist feeling. For some reason I trend to darker shots I sort of like this one darker.
*edit*
I played around with this some more. It is a real slippery slope, fighting to get the luminance I am looking for going back a forth with my monitor to match my expectations in the rest of the world. My goal was to darken up the stair to the point that they are just visible and not as distracting. The middle is more what I was thinking but will have to check my other screens.
What do you think?
Is darker more moody?
I like the darker one more as well, but both are interesting. I love going thru my past images seeing how I could play with them. With your darker image here, what if you did a slight dodge/burn to bring in some highlights just a pinch more? Just a whisper of them.. but keep the darks, dark.
Yes the dark version came out darker than intended, I was not looking to crush the blacks just deepen them significantly. I really struggle with this. My computer monitor is so much different and when i upload and view the images elsewhere they are always darker. I will keep tweaking.
The struggle is real.. I edit on my desktop (with a flat panel from 2008, and is calabrated), looks all great.. Next morning I look at my posts on social media on my laptop... then it's a race to take some back down.. Brightness is the most difficult thing to get right I feel, everyone's device is different just by their very nature of coming from different manufacturers.
I'd think, dodging&burning would give you the desired mood without sacrificing the stairs and details. The stairs are dark enough, and they can take you to a mysterious place.