Out watching the perseids. Got bored so I caught a star trail w/ large tree in the foreground. Purple on the top left is the inevitable noise from a d70 long exposure; did what I could to get rid of it...

Have you tried the d70 with the long exposure NR turned on?? I had been having pretty good luck getting rid of the "amp glow" with that. I was also out last weekend and shot a 1 hour waited 1 hour for NR and suddenly the amp glow as back big time. I think my problem was not waiting after I had just shot a 20 min. exposure. The amps didn't have a chance to cool down before starting the 1 hour. Were you shooting a long exposure just before you shot this??

It was a LOT worse than it looks here but obvious I worked on it. I only learned recently about the NR feature... so have yet to try that. On top of that yes I was shooting one long exposure after another while hoping for a perseid to streak by... Shot this because I was getting bored with shooting nothing but star trails... :) Thanks for the NR tip; I'll have to try it this weekend!!!!

Nice picture but it have been taken too close from the subject. I would have prefer to seen the all circle of fire.

Great picture!

Amazing shot! I agree with the comment above, I would like to see more of the circle of fire.

I like the double arc as opposed to a full circle. It makes the focal point the detail of the arms behind the fire. Incredible shot.

I like the movement - the energy in this photo. The Scooby Doo waistband went unnoticed until somebody mentioned it. I think it adds a bit of humour to the shot. Overall... a very "dynamic" image. Bravo!

The spiral, coming-in-for-landing effect is terrific. Great idea.

I remember this from WS - Just love it.

This is a great image. Kind of makes me dizzy, but that is fun too.

reminds me of something we find in space

wow, that is really interesting.

Agreed... That's really cool. I wonder what makes the rocks all sparkly like that.

These are the rocks of a groyne at midnight in beach resort Kijkduin, near The Hague. The sparkling is coming from the moonlight on the mussel shells.

I would have liked a bit longer exposure here to bring out a bit more detail. As it is, it's a bit dark. Also, I don't like that bush in the foreground, perhaps a different angle with that omitted would work better.

This shot doesn't really do it for me, but I think it has potential. I think it needs more exposure to bring out more detail and add more colour to the scene. I'm not sure about the street light chopped off at the top too, but that aside the image certainly has potential - i'd maybe have a bit of a play with colour balance and see if you can introduce some varied tones instead of the standard tungsten effect.

I'm with Neil, rotate slightly to the right.
Dark right-side is fine.

Thanks everyone for all the great critiques and suggestions.

This was taken kind of on the fly. I pulled up and saw this guy fishing and I positioned myself in the one place where I could silhouette him against the reflections on the water. The wind was blowing that bush around and there was a light chop in the bay. The fisherman was moving a lot, so I limited my exposures to 10 seconds and I only got to take a couple before he quit for the night. This was the best of the bunch.

Thanks for pointing out the cut off light post. I never really looked up to notice that until a few of you mentioned it. I may try to recreate this another night, since there are often people fishing in this area. I'll take your pointers to heart if I do try it again.

great catch, this shot sounds like it was a pain.

if your bored one night try playing with the crop to level the horizon and maybe recreating the top of the closest lamp post from the next fully shown lamp post would be a feat.

this is a cool shot and i think with these two minor changes it would really improve the composition. :)

Thanks for your comment! I was actually shooting lights on the freeway. I moved the camera in a pattern (sort of like a figure eight) as we drove. I was trying it out for fun, and ended up liking the result.

I love it. The only disappointment is the small bit of green flare in the bottom left. Great Shot!!

I've been trying out your technique for the past week Ashley - how long was your exposure time? I love the vivid colors!

Sher, I am glad you are trying it out. I hope you get the result you are looking for! My exposure time was 30 seconds. I just kept moving the camera the whole time while my husband drove. That is all there is to it!

wow this is amazing! its not too cluttered or repetitive either.. i like it a lot good job!

This is a hard photograph to critique. For what it is, it is a technically fine photograph. The colors in the sky are really nice, and you have captured the light trails from the passing cars well.

However, there is not much to engage the viewer here. The tall street lights and the placement in the frame compete with the light trails for our attention. My first reaction was to question what the focus or subject of the image was. The light trails, the lights, or the sky? All three individual elements hold interest.

I think a different perspective and angle may have helped with that confusion. If the street lights were an important part of the frame, I would have positioned myself closer and used a slight upward angle so the lights towered above everything else. If the light trails from the vehicles was the focus I would have tried to frame them tighter. Perhaps using a landscape orientation.

I totally agree with uncommondepth's suggestion of a landscape orientation. For one, it would capture more of the light trails which I guess are the main element in a long exposure.

I also agree that there are three elements that hold interest here. But I don't think that is a bad thing. Perhaps just a personal thing but I like busy scenes.

I love the extreme sense of motion in this image. I don't think it's too distracting, but rather a nice contrast between the light trails from the cars and the darkening sky.

there's no any 'center' to be concentrated
average highway pic

ahhhh the colors! i'm a sucker for car lasers, tree silhouettes, repitition, and pink skies, which is pretty much what this photo is all about. it's great.

i like this pic very much.

Lovely composition. I love the warm tones that all the lights give. Where were you to get this shot? I would guess Jericho Beach.

Good guess, and thanks! Yes we were at Jericho beach. It was just after the fireworks, which caused the line of haze below the moon and above the city.

Great shot!

For sure one of the coolest (and quality-est) amusement park photos I've ever seen. =) nice work!

Very nice!

wow.