cypress Tree Lakeside

Please look at the exif data on this on and let me know how you would have shot this. This is a cypress tree along the northshore of Lake Ponchartraine, just north of new orleans. In the far background is the causeway with cars running along it. I know I screwed this up but I have another chance tonight. thanks

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/30060171@N03/8​169438032/

I think you should determine first what you want the primary subject of the picture to be. Is it going to be a picture of a tree, or a picture of the causeway? If it is of the tree, you have a couple of choices, enough light to 'see' the tree, or use it as a dark shape against a twilight sky. Depending on your choice, some foreground fill might work, or a composite to provide a brighter background plus the moving light streaks. Then you need to think about composition. The lone tree in the center really grabs your eye, and the boat dock on the left and trees on the right end up as distractions. The viewer ends up jumping back and forth from element to element, not 'flowing' through the scene.

If the 'subject' is the lights on the causeway, you may have a real problem. It ends up being pretty much as you have now,... one long sliver of light splitting the picture into two halves. It is so far away there isn't much of interest to see. In that case, the dark shape of the tree is more of an obstruction rather than an element to draw the attention of the viewer to the causeway.

I think the area has the potential for a good picture, but you need to decide in your mind what you want the result to be before selecting the spot from which to shoot.

my EXIF plugin doesn't show any data

here's the exif dataCamera Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Exposure 30
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 24 mm
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash Off, Did not fire
X-Resolution 72 dpi
Y-Resolution 72 dpi
Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3.6 (Macintosh)
Date and Time (Modified) 2012:11:08 20:03:48
Exposure Program Manual
Date and Time (Original) 2012:11:08 20:24:08
Date and Time (Digitized) 2012:11:08 20:24:08
Max Aperture Value 4.0
Subject Distance 11.9 m
Metering Mode Multi-segment
Sub Sec Time Original 15
Sub Sec Time Digitized 15
Focal Plane X-Resolution 3849.211789 dpi
Focal Plane Y-Resolution 3908.141962 dpi
Custom Rendered Normal
Exposure Mode Manual
White Balance Auto
Scene Capture Type Standard
Serial Number 3021502850
Lens Info 24-105mm f/?
Lens Model EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Compression JPEG (old-style)
Coded Character Set UTF8
Date Created 2012:11:08
Time Created 20:24:08
Digital Creation Date 2012:11:08
Digital Creation Time 20:24:08
Viewing Conditions Illuminant Type D50
Measurement Observer CIE 1931
Measurement Flare 0.999%
Measurement Illuminant D65
XMPToolkit Adobe XMP Core 5.3-c007 1.136881, 2010/06/10-18:11:35
Lens EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM