Way outside my comfort zone. C & C please

[Shanghai Steve]

Hello all.
I live quite near Wenshui Rd subway stn, which is at the centre of an impressive engineering feat very much like Spaghetti Junction. Unfortunately, it seems very difficult to capture it as it is just so big. I did not use a tripod, so that's mistake number one. I did not have a wide angle lens, mistake number 2. The light, which had been searing for 3 days straight, turned into a grey mush as soon as I arrived! So, all in all, it was...challenging. I spent about 3/4 of an hour wandering around and got very few shots I liked. Composition was the problem- my unfamiliarity with architectural photography and my inability to capture the scale of the structures I was photographing. This is what I got and I am not happy about it.

1.


2.


3.


On a more positive note, I got these this week.

4.


Taken through a window, hence a small reflection at the bottom of the top third.

5.


I've been taking No.5 again and again for a long time but I think I am happy with this one.

When something is right in front of me, that's fine. I know what to do, but what do you do when something is all around you?

6.

[Donald]

I think this is an excellent image. Great composition. For me it really captures good lines, great shapes and good tonal variation and the subject matter holds the attention.

In the first of this set, I 'saw' a square image. Crop from the bottom to get rid of a lot of the foliage (I don't think the image needs all that's there) and make it into a 1:1 ration (square) image. I like the result.

[Wavelength]

Very nice set of images.....

[Manfred M]

Steve - the reason #3 works so well is that you have provided the viewers with something front and centre = the cars, motorcycles and buses that immediately let them understand the scale of this structure. Some of your other shots have hints (person in the background, plants, etc.) but none work as well as what you have done in this image.

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Geoff F]

I wonder if the first image would look better with a 4 x 5 ratio crop which lost a bit from the bottom? Maybe it is better in colour without such a dark foreground?

The second is OK except for that bit of out of focus foliage in the bottom right corner.

All the others look good to me.

[mknittle]

Scrolling through your images #3 stopped me in my tracks. for the previously mentioned reasons it is by far the best. nice work Steve.

[Shanghai Steve]

Well, I don't feel too bad now. Forty five minutes work for one good image? I can live with that!
I took one other which I thought was better than #3, which has massive scale, but I could not use the aperture required to bring enough depth to the shot without raising the ISO too high for my comfort so it ended up flat and even if I'd had a tripod with me, I couldn't have used it as I was required to take it actually on the highway. I'll wait for the sun to burn and get out there again when I can.
At the same time, I'll try to compose a square image at that spot mentioned. One sharpening problem I had was bringing out the strong lines of the engineering while maintaining some definition of the people, but I think I just about managed to deal with it.
Thank you very much for all your comments. You have given me hope.