No picture from the public met the Wednesday night deadline. That leaves me to present one of my own pictures.

What does the picture mean to me?

This picture is quite personal to me. It is this city that had attracted me for more than 4 years. I have become part of the marine ecosystem, scuba diving there weekly, mostly at night, mostly on my own. Sometimes it felt like hell, sometimes like heaven, but often simply like home. I had struck my own gold, photographing and documenting more nudibranch species in this place than anyone else, some even new to the world and science. The public does not only ignore such beauty but Queensland went further, legally protecting it from being explored scientifically and presented to the world. Taking this long exposure shot from the distance brought out the gold that is more foreign to me than my marine home.

Why did I want GPO to comment on this picture?

I like challenges and my photos to be challenged. This is one of my first night scenes of a city skyline. My experience with long exposure is limited. This picture meets a certain standard and I am planning to sell it. Since I am struggling to find much wrong with it, I'd love to hear some feedback and suggestions for improvement/experimentation.

What works for me

+ nice night shot of a city skyline probably rarely photographed from this perspective

+ the gold has come out nicely, artistically building a reference to the Gold Coast city

+ the lights are quite distinctive, the whitish, the blue and red dots radiating like stars add to the artificiality and a contrast to clear and harmonious lines

+ the brightness is almost perfect showing a sky and coastline immersed in a reddish city halo

What doesn't work for me and what could have been done differently

- it is not showing my world but a world that pleases a wide audience

- Q1, the biggest residential building in the Southern hemisphere, the one with the red star at the top, might be too centred. Maybe a bit of a crop on the left would look better.

- a personal disappointment is that the blue Hilton sign can only be read if you know that it was there. Using a quality prime lens might have helped, getting it crispier. It would certainly have been interesting to experiment with different cameras/tripods.

Conclusion

This is certainly quite a stunning picture, especially considering it came out of the camera almost like this. I would love to see it hanging on the wall of certain homes. Since it is not a crop but available in full resolution (5184x3456) this picture will definitely be available as an acrylic print.