Hi Paul,
My B&W journey was very recently kicked off and to be honest, my involvement on this site is what opened my mind to B&W, so, now I tend to do a B&W conversion on most images just to see how it comes across and that helps me to recognize what will work and what won’t before taking the shot (if I’m in a B&W artistic mood).
The B&W image does align with the WWII era because these buildings were built in the early 1920s and I’m sure WWII was heavy on their minds at the time it was going on.
This is a shot from Stockholm, Sweden, and Sweden was a neutral country at the time but the invasion of Norway and Denmark had these folks very nervous.
I agree that the colors could stand a boost in contrast and maybe even a touch more saturation.
I’m right there with you about the mystery of “What’s around the corner?” 
Hi Dennis,
I agree, there is a sense of mystery in this, especially the B&W version. The missing people! That’s really what this image was all about (still is). I wanted to find a street where you would expect to see a lot of people walking around, riding their bicycles, talking with each other, etc., but I wanted to find a street that was empty (if I could), and I wanted the image to represent the people that are missing in my life. My father and mother is at the top of that list but also, I had an average of 30 employees for more than 30 years while I was in business, but now that I’m retired, those people are no longer around. Even my kids live in different states now so my kids and grandkids are missing for the most part, in fact, one of my sons and his family now live in Japan and will be there for the next three years (USAF).
I still see my kids and grandkids, but only when the planets are aligned just right.
Hi Larry,
I agree with your thoughts on the colors, it’s easier to go light and hope that others like yourself will weigh in on the matter, so thanks for that!
I like the crop that you did, I agree that there is too much brightness up there!
Thanks for the example edit, too!
I’m just curious here, are you a doctor?, more specifically, are you a member of the organization “Doctors Without Borders”? 
OK, that was kind of lame, but not completely.
Seriously though, borders are somewhat subjective, some like em’, some don’t.
Hi Kerry,
I completely understand why you would think that I didn’t wait for something to happen as Sam Abell talks about (thanks for the video BTW, I had not seen that before so it was a treat for me and it was worth the time to view it).
Sweden is where my father was from, he migrated to the US in 1925, sadly he passed away in 1966 when I was only 6 years old and I wanted to explore Sweden for some kind of connection to my father.
This image was taken in Stockholm, I set out to find a street that was from the 1925 era .
These buildings were constructed in the early 1920s.
When I first found this street there were several people walking, riding bicycles, standing and talking to each other but the street pavers, the buildings, the curve, the colors, everything looked so enticing to me, I wanted a shot of “This”.
I hung around for awhile and noticed that the people were slowly migrating into their homes and to other streets, etc. so I set up my gear, composed the shot and waited, and waited…until finally there was only one young lady that had just locked her bicycle up to the railing, she noticed me and asked what I was trying to get, she asked if I was shooting a street scene for an architectural magazine or something like that, I briefly explained my intent (as other people came into the scene 
) and to my surprise she asked the others to step out of the street so I could get the shot I was after.
I had to wait for more than an hour to get this.
I should mention that this image isn’t about sadness, it’s about a happy memory, I can’t take a photograph of a memory so the next best thing is to take a photograph of something that will evoke a specific memory.
My father knew he was going to die and since I was so young, he wanted to spend as much time with me as he could, he was hoping that I would have specific memories of him (according to my mother).
He would set me on a stump at the end of a field that he was cultivating and every time he turned the tractor at an end row, he would smile at wave at me and that memory is still vivid to this day.
I know that Sam talks about waiting for many hours, even days in some cases but I had my wife to consider, she was very understanding and patient, and she is a good photographer herself, she knows nothing about the settings but she can crank out a great composition with amazing ease, she asks me to handle the settings for her, then she’s good to go
You and the video by Sam made me think of a specific shot, but one from Oslo, Norway where I composed the shot and waited for something to happen again, but this time it was waiting for someone to enter the scene rather waiting for everyone to exit the scene
I’ll post that one soon, maybe this evening. I’d love to get your thoughts on that one as well.
Kerry, thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts on insight (and the video)!
There’s no way you could have known that the message in this was about the missing people, the normal interpretation is that I didn’t wait for that element that makes it truly special as you said.
To be honest, this image was meant to be private, just for me, but I wondered how it would come across for others.
Hi Diane,
Normally I would agree with the empty FG, but the emptiness is part of the message in this image.
Yeah, I never watched the guy’s show but I do remember those crazy commercials that repeated every 15 to 30 minutes! Argh!!
A big thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions! They are much appreciated!
