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Well... mine didn't make the cut, and they mailed it back to me yesterday. But as a final bit of closure, I thought I'd post it here for C&C.

I took this shot early one morning on a public holiday Monday, hoping to catch the early morning light just prior to the streetlamps being turned off. My vantage point was a part in the centre traffic strip/island of the Pacific Highway at Gordon, where for a brief moment, every day commuters heading south get a view of the Sydney skyline as the road dips and turns and the trees on either side of the road clear.

I have my own criticisms in terms of its suitability, but I'd very much welcome anyone's comments!

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61147501@N00/1318044945/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1259/1318044945_9a80f08883.jpg" width="500" height="333" alt="The Drive Home" /></a>

for a larger view:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1259/1318044945_9a80f08883_b.jpg

I quite like it. As a portrait of Sydney I think it works well. The lack of traffic does seem odd

That's the Pymbie!!!! I watched us lose the last World Cup in there with my Rugby club...

While the lack of traffic is odd for that spot, you'd never have been able to shoot from there when it was busy!

I like it a lot, and it gives a good feel of what it's like there in the morning.

I feel like the city in the background needs to be highlighted more, but I'm not sure how to achieve it. If I remember corrctly, if you went further up the hill you'd be shooting down the road and the city would be central, but I'm not sure what the side of the street would be like then. Aside from that I like the lines of the road, and the corner at the bottom of the hill slipping away suites the subdued mood nicely. Another element that would be lost from the higher vantage point. Perhaps a version when it is darker, a few hours earlier, would bring out the city more as the building lights would stand out on the background?

You know, the more I look at it, the less I agree with myself about the lack of the city 'poping' but it still distracts me a tad. Perhaps a crop just to the right of the first telegraph pole? Easier than shooting it at 4am!

I've always thought of taking a city shot from the place further up the hill on the city side of the road, it's either a hall or funeral place or something, with a great view from the carpark but never got there. Moved across town now so a bit of a trek for me!!

BT*ist
It's a fine image but I think the reason it wasn't selected is because it would not translate well at a very large size. It would be hard to hold the blacks and opening the shadows up would introduce heaps of noise. I'm worried that my own image will also lose its quality at a very large size because it was slightly underexposed and it is a concern to me that I am not able to see the final print before the exhibition. If I could and I was not happy with it then I would pull it from the exhibition. My concern now is that it enlarges like crap and will have my name on it. I guess that's the risk with these comps. Make sure you enter again next year....never give up!

Thanks for the feedback! My own view was that the large areas of darkness were a concern, and additionally it lacked a single item of interest that stood out. I mean, yes car headlights - but then there's the city in the backgroud, the shops in the middle ground, the streetlamps in general, the curving road to the foreground... it looks quite good in your hand when you're looking at an A4-sized print... but hanging in a shady location and swaying in a gentle breeze? I can see its limitations

I've placed a widescreen crop of it on redbubble and will see if that gets any feedback. Thanks for the crop tip, Dawesy, I'll give that a go too! As for traffic - I definitely would have liked to have gotten a shot that included congestion in both directions, however it is quite a narrow traffic island and it was quite disconcerting having traffic pass so close by to me when taking it!! Definitely looking to continue to enter these sort of Comps...