Everything Old Is New Again

After finishing up my Certificate in Photography from Concordia University, I spent my time trying to refine my skills and keep learning about my camera to enable myself to take the best photographs that I could.  I still didn't really think that my photographs would ever go much further than my computer screen or possibly the walls of my home.  However, this photograph is what led me down the road to where I am today.  Or rather, the photograph you see below is.  Thanks to a very persistent girlfriend, I entered this image in a photography contest for a local magazine, Lambert (http://www.magazinelambert.com/), and it won 2nd Place.  However, since winning that contest, I continued to learn and discovered that the same kind of photograph can be taken a little earlier in the evening, which results in a lighter skyline while keeping the light streaks of the passing cars.  Thus the 2012 re-do that is at the top of this post.  The above photo was taken around 7:30PM using the Canon 24-70mm lens at f/20, ISO 100 for 9sec.  The original photo was taken closer to 10:00PM using the same lens at f/11, ISO 100 for 25sec.  While I still like the original photo below, I also can't help but feel that the above photo is much better as I've retained all of the detail in the foreground of the picture, but the lighter sky allows the buildings to better stand out and it adds a bit more color to the final product.