The Power of Cropping

"Manhattan Skyline"

These photos really taught me the power of being a total observer. By this I mean that I should have seen the hand in the first photo with the light from the phone. The picture would have been perfect otherwise and perhaps with a simple crop it can be now too- I'll upload that in the next entry. The first photo has a darker sky (better use of aperture settings) than that of the second which really makes the bright lights from the buildings of the city the emphasis of the photo- exactly what I was going for. In the second photo, the sky is not as dark so the buildings don't "pop out" as much as they should in being the focal point, because of this they almost look "glazed" over and the photo is not as crsip. 

Secondly, the second photo doesn't make use of the darkness of the water for contrast as well as the first photo does and therefore the reflection of the lights is not as vibrant, and not as impressive. In reviewing the two I believe that I must have shot the first, noticed the hand and immediately shot the second without readjusting, a mistake I WILL NOT make in the future.