How I did it -

Our community has a small cafe in our clubhouse. The photography study group runs a contest every 4 months to choose 10 photographs to hang on the walls. Everyone in the community is encouraged to enter images. the 10 selected images are blown up to 20" x 30" and placed into frames that were supplied by the decorator when he designed the cafe. The community loves the rotating display which makes the cafe seem new again every 4 months. This image of the community entrance decorated for the holidays was chosen for the next exhibit. I used a tripod and stood by the side of the entrance while cars passed through the front gate. ISO 100, f 18 and a very slow shutter speed, 7.1 sec. This was shot with a borrowed Nikon D40 since my Nikon D300 has been in the repair shop since November waiting for parts from Japan.

COMMENTS:

Kenneth Deitcher, MD, FPSA	Very nicely done night image. The street light on the far right is very distracting. It does match the two other lights on the left. You could utilize these if you added a star effect or used a star filter on your lens.
Elaine Icklan	I can see why the community is pleased with your image. Your composition has taken advantage of the catlike streaks which are very interesting. I would try to open up the shadows in the foreground a little more to provide more strength to the image.
Barbara Mallon	Nice photo, I love the building and the lighting on it. There is too much space on the right. I would crop from the right so that the right edge of the window lines up with the center of the image. You may need to darken the car lights. This way the building is more the center of interest.
Tony Tam	Two comments. 1. It is not clear and sharp enough. it is same opinion as for Carolyn's night shot. I think the audience would like to see a clear night view. 2. On my monitor most part of the image is too dark, I would increase the brightness a little bit to see more details.
Carolyn Schlueter	I want to get hungry at this Cafe Adrien! While you have captured a very beautiful scene, I think you would be amazed at the difference if you were to shoot it in the golden 'blue' hour after sunset to get that gorgeous blue sky with the contrasting yellow lighting. It would really rock! I would also tone down the two spotlights on the roof and also the one on the right.
Tom McCreary	Congratulations on having your image selected. You did a nice job of capturing the building. The moving car light add some interest, and then the white area at the top makes it look dramatic. You could have added a simple border or "stroke" around the image so that it does not seem to be just floating on the webpage. Sorry to hear about your D300, hope that they find the parts to fix it soon.

Member Bio

Adrienne Bergen - Biography I grow up in the world of photography and photo finishing. My parents owned a small camera shop in NYC underneath the Audobon Ballroom (the spot where Malcom X was shot). They sold cameras and accessories, film and just about everything connected. In the back we processed film using a rocker with baskets that passed the prints from wash to wash and a huge belt dryer. From the time I was tall enough to reach I was placing prints on the canvas belt to dry. We took everything home to NJ where the entire family sorted and bagged them for the customers. My mom and I did hand coloring with Q-tips when requested. After college I married (to a man whose father was an award winning amateur photographer), practiced as a pediatric physical therapist and had two sons. I used photography to teach about the work I did but rarely for pleasure. My son became interested and we built him a darkroom in the basement and I became interested in processing my own prints. My boys were active in sports and I began taking pictures of them at play. My husband and I retired to Florida in 2002 and I joined him in the summers at a children's summer camp in MASS where he had worked for almost 20 years. I graduated from taking some camp photographs on the weekends using black and white film, to being the full time photographer using a digital camera and mounting the pictures on the internet each night for parents to see. I shoot about 40,000 images during the 7 week season. You can see my work at www.camplenox.com. I took my first photography class in 2009 and continue to work with that instructor in Delray Beach, Florida. I am working hard to move beyond my sports photography and images of children to take more artistic and better planned out images. I also love taking pictures of our grandchildren. I use PS Elements and Topaz Adjust to tweak my images. I use a Nikon D300 for most of my work but also own a Lumix point and shoot camera.