I love it. Interesting note is that when I was reading your text, only about the top two thirds of the image were visible and I was very intrigued. It seemed to really capture the "film noire" mood you are after. When I scrolled down to see the entire image, I ended up preferring the image with the bottom third not visible. So much of the bottom is just black that, in my view, it puts the image out of balance in a way. Either way, I think the photo feels very "film noire" which is what you were trying for. Success!
Erich

I must apologize for being AWOL for a time. The truth is that I was getting caught in a bit of a rut and needed to take a little break from This forum and Linda's Creative post processing section. I just finished reading the very interesting thread about AI and what we should do about it. I find it an interesting topic, but won't go down that rabbit hole here. Instead I'm going to post a phot of a flower that was taken during a "table Top" photography evening at our local club. Everyone brought in a soft box or something along that order with some props. Members then set up their images using the lights and props that were available. I ended up shooting a roll of film using my delightful Nikon F5 and some Kentmere black and white film. I think it is a pretty good image and I like that it was done with a fairly old camera and some fairly old technology. It is interesting to note, however, that I scanned the negatives and then made some alterations in Lightroom. So even though it is an image that started out on film, it is hard not to see the final image as anything but a digital-analog hybrid image. That, in turn, is only a baby step away from more aggressive AI.

(Download)

The solution was to crop so that it was more of a portrait orientation. Ended up with a 3rd place. I'm pretty pleased with that. Thanks for the input.
Erich

I decided that the horizon would stay. I did, however, crop the empty area on the right of the frame which made the whole thing a vertical orientation. That helped take the emphasis off the horizon. I ended up with 3rd place in the Salon group which is the highest in our club. Thanks for your input.
Erich

So many folks took wonderful photos of this temple; but I thought I would try a bit of an abstract approach. Thank you for looking and commenting.
Erich

Sorry for the late response. I thought it was fun to experiment; and I also like the way the images came out. Thanks.

I would not say perfected; but I'm getting a bit better at it. I don' t like that the top of the dome is slightly cut off. Even in the zoom blur, you can tell that is a mistake. So, your idea of a tighter crop might work out. Then lots of things would be cut off; but they would not come across as a mistake, just a photographer's choice. HMMMM? Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to try it.
Erich

I did a lot of "traditional" myself; but in the end, could not help myself. lol
Erich

Thank you. Tripods are not allowed here so I had to rest the camera on a ledge. Glad you enjoyed the effect.
Erich

No problem, I got your meaning.
Erich

appreciated.
Erich

Thank you.

I only mentioned the assumed judge's response because that is the type of comments we get often. Doesn't mean I'm inclined to change my photo because of it. Linda's idea is intriguing; but I don't think I'm going to go with a vertical on this one. Thanks for the input.
Erich

That's interesting. In the original, there was more space on the left; but it was the same as you see and I thought it was too much negative space. That is why I went with a more square aspect. I'll go back and look at some other cropping ideas. Thanks for the valuable input.
Erich

Iconoclast are some of my favorite people.....although I don't trust many of them. lol Thanks for the input. Glad you liked the photo.
Erich