I took these shots with the intention of post-processing, it seemed at that time that it would make for decent subjects. I played around a bit with colors, but rendering them as black & white seemed to make them more interesting, especially for the building on water.

For the tram, I was thinking of turning it into a photo that looks like a water-color painting, but I just didn't know how after playing around in Elements and Lightroom (admittedly I just started dabbling with these tools).

For the building on water, it is a straight-on shot but I would love to hear your perspectives (pun intended!) on what else could make the composition more interesting.

Any other feedback would be greatly appreciated as well.

Cheers!

[DeadJohn]

I like the streetcar as is. I like how the upward angle of the road (as you look from left to right) opposes the downward angle of the building rooflines. The cluster of people in the lower left corner adds to the photo. You might try to use the upright feature in Lightroom CC/6 to make the angled building verticals parallel to the left and right edges of the frame; sometimes that looks good, sometimes it doesn't.

The pier building IMO needs more work.

1. It's framed a little too tight. There's a tiny bit of space around the building but not enough. It might look better with more space, or with none. If you cropped, recrop so it's wider. Or, if that's the full shot, crop it so the building spills off the left and right edges.
2. Sky is a bit blown out. The Lightroom highlight slider might be able to lessen that. Use a brush if global adjustment spoils other parts of the image.
3. Try to add contrast/clarity to the building. B&W images often tolerate more aggressive settings than color images.

[realitarian]

Thank you DeadJohn! I see what you mean. I'll edit in the morning and re-post.

[realitarian]

Here's another version. Unfortunately I shot only in JPEG a couple of months (I have become comfortable with RAW since). I think it looks more bleak, I think that's the mood I am going for. Not sure if it was better to keep the full image at the current exposure and use adjustment brush to selectively lower exposure, or lower the exposure on the entire image and selectively up the exposure, if it even matters (I did the former. And now...I just learned how to use the adjustment brush!).

I welcome any other suggestions! Thanks.

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