A wow! image... ghostly, arresting, beautiful! More like this please Dave.

Excellent image, to me almost reminiscent of David Hamilton, Sara Moon et al, has that painterly feel, you are obviously very well versed in PS and it shows in this image, will look forward to the next installement, in closing this is a lovely shot.

Well you have out done yourself with this one. Amazing processing. Her expression and all the grime really makes an incredible feeling composition.

To tell you the truth, both the original and this version are fantastic. The composition really helped and the innocent look of the girl make this picture for me. Excellent work!

I think this works beautifully. Initially I thought she was looking through a very grimy window, so the combination of shots wasn't obvious to me at all, which is probably the result you were hoping for. I'd love to see more like this.

nice but not as good as your last portrait...

It scared me ..

I hate this! It scares the crap out of me! Not a slur on your photographic or PP technique, it's just too scary and disturbing to look at for me.

Beautiful! Great work I must say, very exiting. I cannot wait for you to explore this technique further :)

gorgeous! :)
what a awesome portrait

Looks like a still from "Silent Hill". Eerie and rather gripping.

I really like this picture. Its very scary, could be from the movie,the ring 3 orso. And thanks for the link to Mark Regnier, is a very cool site. And gives me a lot of inspiration too. Specially those black and white ones with animals.
( Can't work with people myself, they make me nervous. )

she seemes not only to be lost, but also to be scared and that has directed to her hate.

wow, impressive. i like the original too, i can't decide which one i like more.

the love bite on her neck puts a softer feel on the picture. thanks alot for showing us Mike Regniers work.

I read the title from the rss feed and said to myself, "this is going to be depressing," and sure enough, its a downer! I like to try to deduce from the title what your images will bring. I don't know why, but with this one, I was sort of hoping I had guessed wrong. Now I am wondering if you knew anything about the girl in the portrait to title it that way, or is it simply your perception of her? Great shot btw!

I was looking for a silent photograf for long time, a shot which built on inner silence. I've never found it... until today. With this picture it is proved that a silent picture can be taken only by working on portraits. Excellent, awesome.....

The initial image tells a story all of its own - so I am slightly bemused why you wanted to alter the image in this way however, you have created a totally different feel and thought provoking blend and it works so well. In my humble opinion "One of your best". Great work. Mal

I dunno man, that first paragraph basically says:

"I don't manipulate the composition, but I manipulated the composition."

To each their own, but I like the original shot just fine. The one posted is nice for what it is but it seems less photography to me as it does digital art.

All this and you didn't even clone out that hair going across her nose. For shame, David, haha :-)

This one is so not like your shots =P

since you are talking about "add in anything that isn't there" check this guy's work: http://www.taylorjames.com

it's amazing!! So are your work.

This image is...well...quite special. No words are adequate. Looking forward to future "explorations".

It would be interesting to know whether she knew her picture might be significantly enhanced, and gave permission for that. If so, you could disregard most of my comments below.

I like this as a piece of art. And I think you have done a great job in producing an image with a very specific feel. Well done!

At the same time, I hope nobody ever takes a picture of me and changes so much the impression I might make on someone who hasn't seem me before. The textures originally from the wall, which now can be read as features of her skin, seem to me to add an implication of being poor, unwashed, and/or recovering from injury, which I think wasn't there at all in the original picture. I agree that on a closer look I could interpret this is being a woman looking through a dirty window rather than being dirty herself, but personally I don't see it that way naturally, and my first impression (unwashed/poor/battered) remains with me. I feel uncomfortable with the idea that my first impression of her - which would influence my impression if I saw her in future - doesn't correspond all that well with anything I could ever have observed in reality, at any moment of her life.

I see this as different from just recording (however selectively) what's in front of you. I think in this case the textures are an important part of the feel of the picture, and it seems to me that perhaps this time you really have added something that wasn't there originally. I'm not saying that's wrong in itself (I don't think I know what's right or wrong in this field) but it might not be in line with what you normally intend.

indeed its not the other photographs u posted...but great tones, those eyes green paralize u...the change of tones from face to forehead ...great job...

The image looks really good. Blending this background with the portrait of that girl conveys a 2D felling to the image close to modern painting. I wish you would have taken something even more flat for background, the line going from the forehead to the right end of the picture on the concret part brings back a sense of perspective that is not necessary in my point of view.
Thanks again for an other great picture.

Nice shot indeed and while some purists may say that this is not photography, I think you have done a good job.

I like the post processed one, but for me the original is just as good, if not better. It seems to tell more of a story, a person stopped in time, whilst life goes on around them.

Don't get me wrong, both are fantastic and far superior to anything I could do!

It looks like a terror film, nice job.

I really like it. Somehow reminds me of Silent Hill

Very intense!

i like the unprocessed much more :-) Looks very warm

The original surely hints at a story: the tired eyes, the distant gaze, the tell-tale signs of a recent passionate encounter, but whether it really is this person's story or not we cannot say.
Your consummate use of Photoshop to create an illustration from this image cries out for a book or album title in the top right corner. A different story is told here and, once more, it is left to our imagination to decide what it might be.
For some reason, I am reminded of Steve McCurry's famous 1985 portrait of Sharbat Gula (known as the 'Afghan Girl'). A powerful portrait made all the more powerful by knowledge of the circumstances of the subject. I'm not sure what I'm getting at here, but it's something to do with context...
Nice PS work though.

Nice technique and PP but the motive is just boring. :-)

Dramatic and emotional. Makes me worry and wonder what could have happened to this poor girl.

Well, here is a demostration that photos are an ilusion. No matter the level of interview in the image. There is always the perspective of the photographer, the exposure chosen, etc.
I like this one a lot. There is no time in it. I can imagen a lot of stories from this photo. The way she looks alow us to get inside of her vulnerability. The tones and colors seem to fade out, like her expression on her face. Great.

I'm lookin the original and I can't stop lookin her. Very intrestin girl. The expression in her eyes take all my atention. Different images, different stories, both are for me an imitation and an interpretation of who was there. Never the real person.

Thanks everyone. As this is a style of work I intend to further explore it was good to see this first attempt being well received.

Your going down that spooky road again!

stirring, stunning, quite, lovely....
This is an amazing piece. I really love the technique.