Post Processing Night Time Exposure

Oh yeah...#3 does it for me. Well done!

No 3 is superb, much nicer without that distracting foreground in shots 1 & 2 - well done!

Between the first two images i chose number 2 but when you posted them cropped i prefer number one haha!

I think the #1 image would be the better one to crop if possible as I like the glow on the horizon and sky also the three lamps on the lower road and the tail lights in the right lane seem to pull you into the image more effectivly.They are all good . So of these three it will have to be #3

From the lit pathway and on (part of photo above path), I like the first shot. However, I don't like how dark the wall appears in the foreground. Perhaps add a layer mask adjustment to brighten the foreground but leave everything else dark. I love the dark sky and contrast with the lights!

So far as I am concerned, the primary issue is the lighting. I would like to see the same or similar scene with a better balance between the ambient light areas and the incandescent light areas. I believe the scene has gone too dark to get the best picture available of this scene. A much better combination of lights and dark would be obtained with a twilight scene where the ambient light is in balance with the artificial light.
In other words, a picture taken earlier in the evening.

Although this has nothing to do with your question about exposure, I just realized that there are brake lights on both sides of the road in the first set. What's up with that?

Thanks for the great input and advice everybody! I really appreciate it.

wizcreations wrote in post #10130674
Although this has nothing to do with your question about exposure, I just realized that there are brake lights on both sides of the road in the first set. What's up with that?

There is actually four sections of highway on this bridge. You are seeing brake lights on the two sections on the right hand side - one for through traffic and one for local, there are two additional sections on the left for oncoming traffic going into Maryland.

Alright so I've taken all the advice about cropping and composition and come up with these...

Still not sure on which exposure method to use, so chime in on who likes which best. I think I'm reading that the majority like the strong contrast versions (which would be #5 here)...

#5

Rhilton4u wrote in post #10131017
There is actually four sections of highway on this bridge. You are seeing brake lights on the two sections on the right hand side - one for through traffic and one for local, there are two additional sections on the left for oncoming traffic going into Maryland.

Ah, okay. I thought that that was another walkway.