I shot this image of an old depot in my hometown. It's currently under renovation. Image was shot at night using RAW and bracketting 3 exposures in 2 stop increments. I increased the dynamic range in Photoshop using layers and masks. I'm new at night photography but certainly got the bug and want to learn more. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Revolver:

I really enjoy night photography so I appreciate your attempt here. A couple of things I see that are nit-picky so take them for what they are: I would crop out the lower right concrete curb, it doesn't add anything to your image; some detail is lost inside the over hang at the left side but that is hard to control; and just for my information, center left is what appears to be a mural or some image that has a completely different lighting scheme than the rest of the photo-what is this?

I do like your shot and hope you continue working with night photograpy. It is great fun with spectacular results.

CF

Center left are the lights from the new transit center. This is in the middle of town, so there are going to background lights, I suppose.

Wow, I like this. I really like the angle. The only thing I see that bothers me are the blown out lights on the far right of the building. These type of light poles give me headaches when I want to shot at night. The best thing is to try an avoid them or hide them behind something. But this has a very stong composition. Dead on exposure too. I like the orange/yellow glow of the rocks in the foreground...
Greg

I'd like to see more angles of this building, I agree with CF on the lower right curb, it doesnt belong, either hide it with a different angle, crop, or clone it out.

The mural should be blocked (IMO) for this type of shot, and could be a subject by itself.

The telephone lines on the right on a sky like this, I wouldnt worry about when shooting the original shot if they cant be avoided, they should be relatively simple to clone out ;)

I love the lines of the building and tracks and the lighting is gorgeous.

All I was going to say has been said, except

I would dodge the new centre so that it doesnt stand out as much. I wouold also crop about a half inch from the left to get rid of a part of what looks like a wall/building.

Nicely done.

Roger

PS I don't mind the telephone wires and pole.

Thanks everybody for the comments. This depot is right in the middle of town with a modern well-lit transit center built next to it. My back was against a fence when I composed this photo and this spot provided for the strongest composition. Any other spot would have revealled even more of the modern transit station's lights and limited the compostion because of lack of working space behind me. Plus it's not the nicest part of town to be working alone at night.

Darkening the lights on left center is an option I'll try. Too much though may darken that whole side, where I already have lost detail. The curb in the bottom right is part of the old depot and I'm keeping it. Cloning in more stones just adds dead space down there and cropping it out hurts the compostion, imho. Thanks again for the comments. Lots to think about as I reprocess this image and work on future ones.

Revolver,

I like your attitude in keeping those elements of the photo that you like. In the end, does it make you happy? Are you having fun with photography?

CF

That is a great shot... I could spend hours photographing old buildings like that. I like how the reflection on the rails draw you to the depot. I was going to ask you what that was in the background but you already answered my question. I think that is the only thing that really takes away from the picture in my opinion. Thanks for sharing!

I am inexperienced in Photoshop Elements 3, and even if I knew how to use layers, I wouldn't have any suggestions. Forget all the technical stuff. The color is good, the composition is good, and the viewer feels "pulled" into the picture. If this was hanging in a gallery, people would STOP & LOOK. That is the real test of a photo. I love it! Good job!