GBarrington

I'm not 100% certain that I LIKE this photo, but I am impressed with the fact that you saw this photo opportunity.  It beats the heck out of the same old, same old we've been seeing lately.  You get points for vision!

However, I wish it weren't cropped so tight.  I like seeing the subject in its environment.  We know what the Rex Diner looks like, but we don't see its relationship with the street.  Is this a tourist area? A place for urban professionals?  It doesn't seem like a working class place.  There is so much more to know about the Rex diner!

My comments aside, it is still a very good photo.

I knew full well that I would get flare. But it seemed approprate, that whole

garden had a 'middle-earth' feel to it. I didn't think it needed too much reality.

A wonderful B&W conversion!  Full of depth and detail.  It is both delicate and robust at the same time.

I think I would have done some editing to make the young woman's eye appear a little more prominent. Perhaps lighten the white of her eye up a little.  

At first I thought she was looking down at her feet and I thought how much better it would be if she were looking at the camera.  Only then did I realize she was looking at the camera.

I'm not sure I feel the same contempt for that street that you do.  Alton is one of the most visually interesting places in the midwestern USA.  I doubt that it is intentionally staged for the benefit of others.  But the entire city seems willing to experiment with visual elements.

No need to apologize, least of all, to me!  We all have to work with what is possible, sometimes our wishes don't cont true!  You have nothing to be ashamed of, it's a good photo!