An eye on the Gate

[mtoc]

When you have visitors you go back to places that you know already thinking nothing new is waiting for you. Yesterday I had the pleasant surprise of being wrong one more time. Golden Gate still has something to say after many years.
With that said, I feel something is off in this picture but I'm not sure what it is. Can you help?

 

[Raddy]

For me, the bridge distracts from the graffiti and there's not enough of the bridge to be the main focus. I think the same picture without the bridge visible would look better (which I realize might not be possible).

EDIT: I think even composing it or cropping it so the main cable on the left isn't slicing through the window would help.

 

[waday]

I love the contrast between the internal structure with graffiti against the iconic bridge in the background.

Positive things stand out to me: I like the colors, both those in the foreground and the time of day in the background.

Some things that seem off-balance to me.

• The crop is a little off balance to me. The background is this tiny sliver in the overall photo.
• I'd almost expect there to be a little more symmetry. The eye is way up in the top left, while there's a bit of negative space to the top right and right of the photo.
• Is there an added vignette? If so, it looks a little too heavy to me. If not, I would personally try to remove some of the vignetting, if possible.

One thing that I would do would be to crop this to 16:9, crop out some of the top and right of the photo (don't cut the eye), and try to position the opening in the concrete to the center.

I'd give you an example, but your preferences are set to "no editing".