Need some advice/opinions. Bean/Cloud Gate in Chicago

I am playing around with this image and have hit the wall. I think it might be missing something, but at the same time think I might be done. So, did I go too far or not far enough in post process.

The contrast is pretty high. So your shadows are quite dark and the sky is blown out. It's overall cool. You might have better starting material if you shot when the light was at a low angle, which it would be if shooting in the morning or late afternoon.

It's hard to answer your question about post-processing without the original for comparison. You can get a shot like this without any post-processing if the conditions are right.

How come you're not in the image?

Pretty good photoshopping to remove yourself from the reflection.

Thanks for the feedback. I actually shot this around 7:30 AM in September. It was a little overcast so the morning sun was hidden. My idea was to get there early so I could hang out and get a shot with nobody in the frame. I WAS in the reflection, but at the angle and distance I was standing, I blended in with the background above the reflection of the ground. I edited any remnants of myself out of the frame.

Cool and contrasty is kind of the look I was going for. I did play around with making everything b&w with the exception of the subject but didn't really care for the look.

The sky does have me in a bind. I am not sure what to do with it. There wasn't much detail in the sky to begin with that morning.

Maybe you want to come back to the location when there are clouds, which will give you much more interesting sky.
There is one thing I don't understand though with this image. There are a few spots where the reflection lines aren't straight, but wavy, like there are some ripples on the water. Are those sculpture imperfections or something else? Maybe warm air raising up or something else?
Another option I would consider here is an HDR. It's fairly contrast composition, so HDR might bring some interesting details. Just don't overcook it.

Aleness wrote in post #16588433
Maybe you want to come back to the location when there are clouds, which will give you much more interesting sky.
There is one thing I don't understand though with this image. There are a few spots where the reflection lines aren't straight, but wavy, like there are some ripples on the water. Are those sculpture imperfections or something else? Maybe warm air raising up or something else?
Another option I would consider here is an HDR. It's fairly contrast composition, so HDR might bring some interesting details. Just don't overcook it.

Aleness, those ripples are really there. On the white building in the area with the windows, that is natural. I took several shots of this at different angles and every shot has that same ripple effect regardless of the angle. It is definitely due to the sculpture, but in respect to the artist I won't call them imperfections because I don't know the story behind them

I am going to post the original in another comment. I purposely made this heavy on the contrast in post process.

Here is the original for comparison purposes. If anyone wants to critique my Photoshop job as well, be my guest.

I removed the garbage can in bottom right, two people bottom left left, reflection of three people right side of reflection, and my reflection way back on the patch of grass on left by white fence. That is me in the red shirt.

Shooting conditions weren't optimal but it was the only day I had with enough time in the AM as I was there for a business trip (non photog trip). So this is my attempt at making something interesting out of something not so good.

Oh, and because the contrast thing keeps getting mentioned, here is what I was going for in post process. Think Sin City meets this image.

You've come up with a great idea and your photoshopping skills are good. You may have tried to save an image in photoshop though, when what you really need to to is shoot it in better light with a better sky... if that's not possible then I'd reduce the contrast and have a crack at putting a sky in.

GlynT wrote in post #16588768
You've come up with a great idea and your photoshopping skills are good. You may have tried to save an image in photoshop though, when what you really need to to is shoot it in better light with a better sky... if that's not possible then I'd reduce the contrast and have a crack at putting a sky in.

Thanks GlynT. You have no idea how bummed I was when the only day I had the time to get out and spend a couple hours shooting in the AM was this grey, overcast sky. I think the general theme I am seeing is better light (totally agree). Well, I had time other days, but not to shoot this without dozens of people crowding the shot. I will try again on my next trip to downtown Chicago. Thanks for the feedback. I might try a different approach to save this image.

Have you thought of converting it to B/W? It might bring up the contrast and give it some drama.

Aleness wrote in post #16589629
Have you thought of converting it to B/W? It might bring up the contrast and give it some drama.

I thought about it. I was actually playing around with keeping it b&w with a heavily desaturated subject but with a hint of color. I am definitely trying for drama and isolation which is why I didn't want anyone in the frame.

If you set image editing to OK we can play around with this too

thedcmule2 wrote in post #16589783
If you set image editing to OK we can play around with this too

Consider it done! Give me a few to figure out how to change that setting

That's one big photo!