Unsatisfying

[Rookie10]

Took this shot recently at night in the backyard of a industrial building. There are several concerns I got about the picture:

1. The colors are a little disturbing, and I´m not sure wether it would look better in B&W or not.

2. I´m not certain about the angle I took the shot in, since the rods seem to point to the right side of the picture.

3. There´s the problem of the sharpness: The rods on the left side seem blurry, but I don´t think it´s the aperture setting I took it in?!?!

I don´t think it´s a totally uninteresting motive, but the way I shot it makes it look...well see for yourself. I´d be really glad if someone could give me a few tips on how to do it better, because I think I´ll go back there and give it another try. By the way: The light source was artificial and and the light came from the upper left...

Exif Data:

Nikon D90
AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED
Aperture: f/11
ISO Speed: ISO 640
Shutter Speed: 2.5s
Focal Length: 105mm
Different Exposure Fusion! (+/- 2; 3 Exposures)

[RecurrentNerve]

It already looks black and white, or rather monochrome, but certainly try it in B&W. First thing that needs doing is straightening it slightly, the pipes aren't quite vertical. I would also try cropping off the empty space at the top of the image a little. Sharpen and perhaps a slight vignette in PP and I think it will be a better shot.

[dcclark]

A shot like this (in my mind, at least) is all about geometry. The lines, shadows, and the sharp corners all really matter -- they need to be straight and parallel. So I second RecurrentNerve: straighten it! I also agree about the empty space. Effectively, you're not using that space, and it sort of "pulls" at my eye, saying "you can escape over here".

Finally, 2.5 seconds is a long exposure. That could account for a bit of blur, also. Was it at night?

[Rookie10]

Yeah...it was at night. Otherwise I wouldn´t have chosen such a long exposure either. And about the empty space...your probably both right. But thing was i couldn´t get the whole picture filled with the rods, because there was some other stuff lying around, which would have been on the picture as well...

[EOBeav]

I don't think it's a bad thing that you have a slight blur here. I think it's an interesting idea, and maybe the only way to improve on it compositionally would be to have something not related to your pattern, perhaps on the short side of the shot. I can see those bars being a leading line to something else. If all else fails, you have a nice cell phone company advertisement here. :-)