Stars and Cabin in the woods. Please critique!

Would love some critique on my first attempt at night photography! My wife and I stayed at a cabin in the mountains of Virginia this past weekend so I thought it would be a good opportunity to try my hand at night photography.

Both shots taken with 5d mark II and 17-40L at 17mm, f4, 30 seconds, ISO 3200. Processed in LR4

1.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …lilyandsteven/8​182624753/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …lilyandsteven/8​182662738/

Really Like that second one!

Both are nice, but the second really stands out!

Agree with the above. Number 2 is very nice I love the perspective. Only nitpick is that the posts are out of focus. Was it a single shot? If so then you could have actually taken a seperate photo that focuses on the posts and then you can blend them later in photoshop for a true infinite focus shot. Great job!

What is the black shadow behind the posts in shot #2?

Very nice overall.

Very nice! I would be thrilled to say I took those!

I like #2, but the posts look almost like they were superimposed or something, it's odd looking. I would like to see it cropped without the overhang and posts

# 2 is Creative, I think the posts is what make the shot interesting, as it draws the eye upward, unfortunately for the overhang, as the nigh sky is not allowed to continue to edge of frame.

lol...I at first went "wow"...at #2...but the more I looked at it the more "fake" it seemed.
So it just looked funny after that.
it's good idea...but it looks like an an over sized picture tube pasted on the image.
The original image looks really nice though.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! To answer a few questions..these were both single shots, no photoshopping or compositing. I used an LED video light to light the posts and the cabin. The only major thing I did to the 2nd one is paint the exposure down on the posts (which you can see where I was sloppy on the right post, and that's the black shadow that AnkurKumar mentioned). There's definitely nothing fake about it, but I do see how it looks that way.

I really like them both but #2 is better IMO. The exposure is terrific and the scenes are well composed IMO. Landscapes just look better in landscape mode which is the only reason I like #2 more.

Very nice work.