9sec. Golden Gate Night Exposure

[Southern Composition]

Good Afternoon! This is my first time posting in the critiques section of the forums but please do not go easy on me! I can only improve what I know about so bring it on!

I took this image this past Monday around midnight at the Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point, just north of the bridge. I used a tripod, remote trigger, and bulb setting. No flash was used or any light other than what the city and bridge provided. I left the shutter open for about 9 seconds, I have another image with the shutter open for 13 seconds but that was pretty bright. This image has not been edited what-so-ever and is straight out of the camera. This is my first attempt at a long exposure and I don't take alot of night images to begin with.

I used my Nikon D5000 with its 55-200mm lens. I really don't have the slightest clue if this is a good image, has potential after processing, or if I am just jaded. Any and all critiques are much appreciated!
9 Second Exposure:


Just for comparison 13 Second Exposure (I would love to be able to put the stars from this image into the 9second exp. image but am not so sure how to go about it- I have Elements and Picasa for editing software)

[amitkhanna84]

It would help a lot if you have more Exif here...or if it linked to flickr where we can find exif

I had tried something similar a few weeks back.
See GG@night - a set on Flickr
and the exif in those photos.

Even I don't have too much clue if my photos are decent or how we can improve shots like these... but you can definitely get a better view of the bridge from where I was. View number 5 as described here Golden Gate Grand Tour: Six Spectacular Views of and from the Golden Gate Bridge - Golden Gate Bridge - Epinions.com

[Laurenbiz]

Well, the second picture is really crooked, and does look too bright to me!

The 9 second exposure seems to be exposed still a tad bit too long. I say too long because I don't care for the big glow that you see with the street lights on the right of the photo. I would have tried a 5-6 second exposure to see if the lights simply looked yellow without that big glow. But the the bridge may appear too dark in a 5 or 6 sec. exposure.

Which brings me to my next thought...what was your ISO and aperture here? You did not mention those in your EXIF info. Those will play a big part, too, so we should know those for a better critique!

:-)

[Slyanius]

The few bright objects at the bottom of the first picture is painfully distracting. Perhaps you might consider cropping them out.

[Southern Composition]

Laurenbiz- thanks for the critique! You are right, the second image is very crooked. I do not intend to use the second image, it was only posted because I wasn't sure about how I would try and get the stars (which are prominent in the second image) to pop more in the first image (they are there, but just barely). I was pretty unhappy with the brightness and huge light-orbs in the second image, but for some reason the orbs in the first photo appeal to me & I haven't quite figured out why...
I had first tried a 4 second exposure and it was fairly dark. My intent with the image was to capture both the bridge and the long light reflections on the water and the lower exposures did not give me much reflection. I wish I hadn't deleted it now!

My Aperture was set on auto and it was taken at f/5, as for the ISO I really have no clue- ISO is the one thing I overlook much too often- I have taken maybe a handful of night images & never really messed with the ISO in daylight.

Sylanius- - Thanks for the crop advise! I enjoyed seeing the small Quater telescope in the left but you are right, the other bright objects on the right detract from the image more than the telescope adds to it. So maybe a tighter crop like this:
]

[Cmoon]

If you want to create the stars you could always brush them in with a small diameter brush. I would vary the color in them to include white and some shades of gray. I agree that the 9 sec exposure might be a tad too long. Otherwise I think its great composition after the crop!