Abandoned Building

The printing (or is it the scanning) is too dark for my taste. I can't tell if this is a daylight or nighttime exposure. I assume daylight as the clouds are not "smooth". Also, the title is a bit confusing - the concept of a ghost town would to me imply abandonment, but the intact power pole, wires and transformer suggests something still in use, despite the ruined condition of the house.

Have to agree with the above. Also, the whole thing is a bit 'tilted', which is disturbing. Do not despair - just work on it some more, and it will get better.

Thanks for the ideas on how to better this print, I did just change the title. I think that the scan is a little darker then the original, but the original could probably benefit from a decreased print time as well. I suppose I really should dodge the part of the print right around the railroad crossing sign in an attempt to regain some lost shadow detail, though if I print the entire piece for less time than I might not need to. Again, thank you both for the advice, I'm always looking to improve!

Edit to my last message:

When I look at the OP in sufficient light I actually can see that it is a bit lighter and the shadow detail is recovered for the most part. Sorry for the confusing posts, I really must learn not to evaluate a print in the shadows by my computer. I am glad that I changed the title though, It was VERY messy. Thanks all!

If you want more hints on how to improve the print, consider the tonal values. The areas of the print that are the lightest are around the left, right, and bottom edges. That steals attention from the main subject matter, which I suspect is neither of those three areas.
Toy with the idea of making your main exposure with a filter such as a Grade 1 or 0. Dodge the center where the buildings are with a coin taped to a piece of steel wire. Move the coin in a circle.
With the grade 1 filter in place burn in left, right, and bottom edges to much darker values.
Finally zap the whole print with a grade 4 or 5 filter at the end, and burn in the sky with the high grade filter. This way you will gain contrast and definition in the print, as well as detail in the highlights, while you change the visual center of focus and stop the eye from wandering to the edges of the print.

Play around with the different filters until you get it right, but in my opinion it's imperative that the eye is led to the subject matter within the frame, so make the center lighter, and the edges darker, and generate some real impact in the print by balancing the high contrast filter against the low contrast one.

Thanks Thomas, after hearing your description on how to bring this print into its prime I really wish I had immediate access to a darkroom. So I'm going to save this post and hopefully reprint this when the school year starts. Thank you for the great advice!

Joe