I do have a few other shots of this with the trees balanced either side but the trees were naturally “awkward” so it meant either having the jetty to the left which didn’t feel right, or the jetty at an angle which I didn’t like as much as the final image either.

Tim, the park I was at isn’t somewhere you want to be when the sun has gone down, especially when you’re carrying photography gear.

Lori, thanks for the positive feedback, it’s really appreciated :)

Far be it from me to critique too strongly, but I’d invite you to consider a bunch of questions as things I look for:

• what is/are the focal point(s)?
• does it convey what it felt like to stand there? say something about the place?
• is the lighting nice?
• does it make its point simply, or does it contain unwanted elements (clutter)? Never mind the scene, look *at* the viewfinder rather than through it: now does the composition have something interesting in key spots such as thirds, centre or corners?
• does it convey distance/depth? Remember & recite the landscapie’s motto “near, mid, far” before hitting the shutter.
• does the composition play-off elements against each other, either spatially (something-versus-negative-space) or conceptually (eg unlikely juxtapositions)?

Your shot scores favourably on several of these, good overall; I did feel a little out of whack with the sense of distance and the way the focal point seemed to be some dull tree in shadow in the middle while the foreground has the bright sunlight but it does convey both the cold blue and warm golden sunlight.

Why did you stop before sunset?

For this image, I would maybe have taken a step back to get a bit more of the tunnel feeling, and I don’t like how the right side edge doesn’t have as much as the left. But stepping back a few steps would fix that…

As far as color, tone etc are concerned, that’s just something you’re going to have to develop on your own. This shot might look GREAT as a contrasty B&W though!

=Matt=

It is sure an awesome photo. As you asked for opinions, I think that you could have given more attention to the sky and a little bit less to the trees. Everything else looks awesome to me, specially the lighting. :D

Congratz on this photo xD