Night time and long exposure with statues

[CoAMarcus]

Hey guys, this is my first critique post, so please be gentle! ;-)

Well, I read it said to only put up one picture in the post, so I will put up the post-processing one, which all I did was correct the levels and contrast and apply a poster edge filter which I changed the thickness of the lines and a few other minute details. I know that poster edges and art filters are a quick and cheap way to make a crappy shot look okay, and that is why I did it. ;-)



Here is the original in link form: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2327/...7b517b0b_b.jpg .

This was taken with a Digital Rebel XTi, a Canon 10-22mm lens at 10mm, f/5.6, and 30 second exposure at ISO 400 (I think. I was playing around with different ISO's, and I forget which this one was...).

I was just wondering how I should compose this better. Specifically, should I change any settings on my camera, my angle of shot, change my inclusion/exclusion of the tree on the left? Basically, any critique is greatly appreciated, and I would be eternally grateful. Thanks a lot!

[Murtasma]

Can you please change the displayed image to only 600px wide I believe this would be the medium resolution on Flickr's site.

[Nicole]

Resized your picture to Flickr's medium size per the forum rules

[CoAMarcus]

Ahhhh, I'm sorry. Looks like a moderator did it for me. My bad! I am at work and the monitor I am using is 1920 x 1200, so I put up the size that fit right on my screen.

Edit: Also, just to let you know why those statues are so messed up and broken, it is because we had a really bad wind storm and a tree fell on them. It decapitated one, and de-armed the other. I think it gives it kind of a creepy/surreal look to them.

[Sela]

I love your composition of the statues and the sillouette of the trees, my main suggestion would be maybe to try taking the picture at twilight rather than at night proper, I find that makes for better "night" shots.