Nighttime in S. Cali

[GB1]

Don't believe I've posted this one for critique yet. Taken from Coronado of downtown San Diego. Comments?

G

[chilliefalls]

Nice!!!! I love night shots. Great color balance too.

[armando_m]

Unusual composition, seems the main subject are the palm tree trunks, with a gorgeous background ...

[Adamo]

Greg, I'm not sure about this one. The background is great as Armando said, but I don't know if the trees are working for me. Is that a person between them? I think it would work if the entire tree was visible. By the way, we are running out of time, let's set something up.

[GB1]

Thanks all for your comments. This one is indeed a little different: I think I was going for a hint of the background but w/ a dominant feeling of palm trees, though when shooting I try a lot of different things. Sometimes I try stuff simply because it's unconventional. Matt, not sure if there was an issue with the tops of the trees (don't remember), but I probably didn't want to step back that far. And yes, there were people walking around there that night (I believe you were there!!!). I am trying to think of somewhere to shoot - any ideas on your end? A downtown shoot w/ all the buildings is an option.

G

[treehuggrr]

i love the texture of the bark and i think a macro shot would be sweet! for some reason it never occurred to me that trees like this would actually grow in the same place as grass... they just always made me think of beaches.

[llewpics]

I usually do not read other posts before I put my own critique in, so sorry if some of it is repetitive. The two trees are a little overbearing to me - they sort of take a little from the downtown in the background. Also - the back lights are bluish while the front are yellowish - I would try a selective white balance to get them both to be bluish ...I think this may be quite interesting ...

[GB1]

Treehugger, Lewpics - Thanks for the late-breaking comments. My personal opin is that this one's definitely a puzzler, with the two trees as the subject (sorta) and the eye-catching city behind them. I think it causes a bit of confusion as to what to look at. LP, I could be wrong, but seems like there's two different types of lighting here (different temperatures) fore and aft, so not sure how one would/could use a WB setting that neutralizes both, but .. perhaps in post processing i can do something here. I favor the background color, as that odd yellow-orange color is pretty, well, odd. Can't remember what light they had there that caused this, but probably some type of sodium lighting. The trees are definitely over-bearing btw Maybe this makes it a very unusual image - confusing, but interesting too. TH, I get the feeling that these trees will grow just about anywhere as long as the temperature's on the warm side (I've seen them in the desert, on the beaches, in the sticks..). The idea for a macro shot may be a good one if the lighting can create some texture.

Thanks again for your comments!

G