Well, does anyone have advice or criticism on the photo?

I think the sky is too white (especially between the buildings) and the buildings (Grand Central Terminal on the left) are too dark. Try it on a cloudless day with a nice blue sky and set up a reflector or strobe to light the eagle.

The buildings on the far right are distracting. It makes the subject of the photo look like it's the ESB and not GC. Center GC more and have the ESB off to the far right this time. This will also help for the lighting contrast Bezalel99 correctly points out. Nice idea though.

The lightbulbs on the bottom on the photo are driving me nuts.

In addition to what everyone else was saying about the lighting.... Im confused about the composition. Is the eagle the focus (but its too dark) or the Chrysler building (its tilting).
I put the picture in Photoshop and rotated it a little bit clockwise so the Chrysler building is straight up. It just looks more stable to me that way, instead of the buildings on the right falling over.

Depend what you're going for, RebP. Fisheye lens, maybe?

Yes, it's a wide-angle. I wasn't looking for a stable photo or to focus only on the eagle.
Thanks guys.

Was that shot in the 20mm range?

To be honest with you, I'm not really sure.
I'm just getting started in photography. I was hoping to get some coaching here.
This is the camera I'm using: Canon Eos 20d

What kind of lens were you using?

Most likely 50mm.

Not a bad camera to start out with.

You should just know the type of shot you are going for there (tall building from below toward the sky) is not trivial at all.

Another tip is to take it about 20 minutes before sunset so the sky won't be white and there will be less glare. If you do - you should set it on a tripod and slow the shutter speed down.

How's this one?

wow.

too bad the the OP image is no longer available, i wanted to see what the criticism was all about. this one is an awesome shot, great composition (thought I would maybe place the skyscraper more to the left for symmetry).

What's the subject? If it's that tall building the shot would work better portrait. You could crop out the left part of the picture and you'll see what I mean.

Does every composition need to have a fixed subject, which then governs what the presentation must be?

I like the image a lot.

No. But the vast majority of photos you will see in your life will have one... for a reason.

If you want to pretend this is an art class - fine. Then, Bezalel what does this abstract composition represent to you? What is its meaning?

My point was that I don't necessarily think something has to have a meaning to be appealing.

But if you feel otherwise, I suggest that the theme of the image is that no matter how powerful man thinks he is, with his skyscrapers reaching toward Heaven like the Tower of Babel, man's imprint upon the Earth is still far from supreme. We recognize this by seeing that the buildings only take up 1/3 of the frame, with Nature (representing HaShem's handywork alone) taking up 2/3 of the frame. Furthermore, even in the 1/3 of the frame representing man's handywork, the mirrored building reflects the sky and reminds us that we are created in HaShem's image, and that our accomplishments are only possible because He has allowed them, and that we remain under His dominion, and that our mighty buildings could tomorrow just be empty sky.

Indeed. This is clearly what the photographer had in mind.

Right; so I think it's perfect as a landscape. Indeed, if it were shot as a portrait, or if the left side of the landscape were cut, it would change the leitmotiv entirely.

Good job, Reb.

Thanks Bezalel. I liked your little torahele up there.

Thanks everyone else for the constructive criticism and compliments. Keep em coming.

That "tall building" is the ESB.

Nice photo. I think the reason it's so striking is because it's difficult to get so much sky in a NY photo taken from street level.