Empty streets

This shot was somewhat of an accident, but I decided to keep it.  I was playing around with DOF and bokeh, trying to see what kind of stuff I could get.  So basically, I was practicing my camera skills.  I enjoy that quite a bit.  It’s great fun (to me at least) to mess around with settings and try and select shots that just a few short months ago I don’t think I would have even come up with.  I had been shooting some HDR’s (which I normally shoot with an aperture of f/11 to f/22, assuming there is enough light), and then moved on to single frame shots with an aperture around the f/4 setting.  Then, while up on this bridge, I got the idea to combine an aperture of f/4 with an HDR just to see what it looked like.  I knew that if I shot the scene with an aperture of f/22, with everything in focus, I wouldn’t get the result that I was going for.

This is a 6 exposure HDR at f/4 with exposures from -4 to +1.  I was rather interested in the rusted railing, and thought it could look cool in HDR (HDR + rust is always a winner!), especially if I could get the background right.  I think I did.  I liked the tall building back there, as it seemed to add some balance to the composition, and the lines of the sidewalk and street I thought were complimentary.  Plus, I was digging all the clouds.  So, what do you think?  Does it work?