first time shooting (C&C definitely welcomed)

Both shots were taken at 11:30 PM last night. I see everyone's photos and they look amazing. Mine, I don't know. Does location also play a big role in seeing / capturing interstellar clouds? Also, I manually focused to infinity.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nnsm​jw

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nDWV​qp

Location and light pollution can have a big effect on your photos. That said, you did not give us any information on the photos. Single frame, stacked, exposure, etc. I do notice some elongated stars in the photo. Were you using a mount or a tripod. What lens? Also, focusing on infinity my not be appropriate. Use live view at 10X.

I was using a tripod with a 24L lens. I left all the exif data for everyone to look at.

I also used the camera's wifi / iphone app, so I wouldn't be touching the camera.