this is a picture from this weekend, it was the first time I tried to take pictures at night. I think I could have done better with a tripod though, but let me know what you think.
As a night photographer I really don't know what to say about it. My first thought is that it's over-exposed. But then you said it was handheld so I know it couldn't of been too long of an exposure. Then I saw the lines in the background. Which tells me you adjusted the brightness / contrast or did some dodging or something to get it that bright. (i.e. tried to get to brighten stuff that is just plain to dark to work with)
My point? I think you're right and would do better with a tripod. I don't even take daytime shots without a (tri/mono)pod.. nothing worse than getting home and seeing you didn't get the clarity you hoped for.
it was a 1sec exposure, I had the aperture open as far as I could, so Im guessing this is the reason for the over exposure look, I'll go out again and play around some more with it, should I speed up the shutter also? or was it just the aperture that was giving it that bright look?