All in all..

[Lorey]

you're just another brick in the wall.

http://www.lmbphotos.com/web_postings/utPC280002.jpg

[Marko]

Lovely concept Lorey.
Not crazy about the exposure or the PP though. There are joints in the brick that are nearly clipped. The top left bricks are stealing the show, that shadow is nearly washed out...and yet, "...the show must go ooooooooooooooooooooon...." :)
(I'm guessing 10 minutes of pp (burn joints, increase contrast on shadowed man by a good 50-60% and increase contrast overall ) could make this sing much louder.

[Bambi]

I quite like it. I think, with Marko's suggestions I would love it.

[Lorey]

Thanks Bambi and Marko! Well I'm much slower in PS than you, Marko. It was a bit more than 10 minutes and I'm still not sure I correctly caught your vision... but maybe somewhere along this line? Feel free to tweak it to your liken's if it's not exactly what you had in mind.

http://www.lmbphotos.com/web_postings/PC280002-2.jpg

[asnow]

I quite like now. In the first post I have to admit I didn't even catch the shadow. Just thought of it as a picture of a brick wall. Now that the shadow stands out it is cool.

[Hillbillygirl]

Really like the concept here Lorey, and that second edit works sooooo much better.

[Marko]

This edit is much stronger!

[Lorey]

Thanks to all for the comments. I appreciate your time to look and comment.

Personally I much prefer my original version. I like the wider variety of exposure levels that the second one lacks. And the slight vagueness of the shadow, as to exhibit man being a mere vague shadow, is more expressed in the original. The second one looks a bit generic, dull and overly posed and generates less thought than the original. Overall, IMO the original has a bit more 'artsy' feel to it than the second one. No matter how little it may fall into an artistic realm it just seems to be more so than the second.

Thank you all, again!

[aubintbay]

I like this. The 2nd is better for me but I just like the whole idea here. Nice.

[Lorey]

Thank you aubintbay. I appreciate the comments.

[Runmonty]

Lorey I like this shot and understand your preference for the first shot. I also get what the others are saying about the clipped highlights.

If you were feeling adventurous, this may be a good candidate for using luminosity masks so you only end up selectively adjusting only the highlights without affecting the whole image. Just a thought .?