I like this very much. It's a compelling portrait. I like the placement of the woman. It would look very different without the line around her shoulder, hard to say better or worse but it would be a very different portrait, with more emphasis on her face and neck. I like it as it is, it makes a change from the more conventional set-up. For me the tones work very well.
I guess the question is--would you have burned in the background if it had been darker in the first place, or did you particularly want this halo effect? I find it kind of surreal and interesting, and works for me in a kind of quirky way, even if it wasn't part of your original intention.
I don't know if you wanted the texture of the background to be visible or not, but I've found the best cure for an unwanted wrinkly background is a wider shooting aperture, which will throw the wrinkles out of focus.
I have just had a look at the burned and unburned pictures. I think your burned picture, is brilliant by comparison.
I also think that we should remember that we are looking at a scanned picture and my very limited scanning (recently bought Aldi cheap scanner) has told me that you nearly always get a contrast lift when you scan a B&W print.
I think your original print, would have a much better halo around Elena.
Mick.
A fine portrait of a beautifull model, I like the quality of this photo.
Shame about the outline of the burned in background, its not too obtrusive so I wont say any more about it.
Nice photo, well done.