Boats Leaving

[jhuang999]

And here are two shots from the end of the night as the boats made their way back. There was a police helicopter in the sky that turned out like a UFO dragon or snake.

Constructive criticism is appreciated on all the photos to improve my skills. Also, I only had a UV filter. I know that Marko has said that a polarizer is pretty much always a good idea. Any comments on how that would have affected or improved the photos? Also what kind should I get? I have a T2i with a sigma 18-50 F2.8 lens. Hoya UV filter.

Thanks in advance,
Justin

[Mad Aussie]

These are a little bit small on my monitor to give any serious critique I'm afraid but I think the 2nd shot is a better one due to the colours being more natural to the eye.
In terms of exposure it looks like you've got it about right with that 2nd shot, and the sharpness appears to be there as well. That's difficult with long exposures of boat on water as they usually drift around enough to create movement blur.
The police chopper is an interesting addition because of the searchlight beam. That's cool. Although it doesn't look at all as you would have seen it so it depends what you were going for I guess.
Anyhow ... good start to your ph.ca posting :)

[jhuang999]

I can post larger. The chopper was an interesting addition, hard to control where it would be in the shot, but I got some interesting positions. I was lucky that the one cruise ship was anchored fairly well in the shot. Thanks for your response Mad Aussie!