Beginner Trying to find composition

[Oldbones]

Was out early yesterday, first sea fishing trip this year, thinking I should have taken my DSLR but only had a phone.
Still, I would like a bit of critique on this pic.
Early morning, under a street lamp looking out to sea.
The only thing I have done is applied a little bit of straightening, which was simple to do in basic edit software.
What I did notice after I got home was the reflection of the breakwater lights on to the surface, and then the yellow glow from the street light above me reflecting on the the rod.
Now I realize the low light can produce some dramatic scenes.
So what would you do with this pic, is there too much sky etc.
I am happy with it, just starting to notice things more as I learn to think about photography.

 

[skullfunkerry]

I really like it. There's a nice leading line with the wall, the reflections are nice and the overall colours are very pleasing. I wouldn't change the composition at all for this one
(and there are a lot of people on here (me included tbh) who will be very pleased that you straightened the horizon!)

 

[Suvv]

Nice moody shot but for me there is too much sky, I would have probobly gone for a horizontal format keeping the bottom of your shot and just clearing the top of the rods.
However that is irrelevant because it's your picture and it should be what pleases you or your intended audience, whoever they are.

One thing you can do is make up two L shaped pieces of card which you can hold up to form a rectangular aperture, change the size and orientation of the card aperture to see what you like best. I know that you can do it through the viewfinder but the cards make you "see" the scene differently.
You can do this at home on pictures you have already taken to get different ideas, if you do it outside before taking shots you may wonder that people will consider you wierd, don't wonder though because they definitely will consider you wierd

 

[Phil V]

I suppose the main thing is that you’ve managed to capture the image you set out to.

And whilst I could critique it to death, that’s not the important thing.

Can you say what it is that you liked about the scene, and what you like about the image you’ve produced.

Or maybe what you’d do differently next time

 

[Oldbones]

I suppose the main thing is that you’ve managed to capture the image you set out to.

And whilst I could critique it to death, that’s not the important thing.

Can you say what it is that you liked about the scene, and what you like about the image you’ve produced.

Or maybe what you’d do differently next time

Now that I have looked at it 100 times, and I have captured an image.
What do I like, well its dawn and the changing from dark to light, I thought that would be good from an anglers standpoint.
Also in the foreground lines leading towards the far away breakwater where the reflection of the lights are striking the water.
The street lights reflecting on to the rods
The black silhouette of the cliffs on the right hand side which is in the far distance.
At the horizon the sea meets the sky, two totally different materials but looking almost like they could be the same thing.
I do like it, as I was really enjoying my morning and the calm cool weather was a joy.
What would I have done differently,
Well I would have used my DSLR and not a phone,
I would have moved back a bit and to the right, perhaps standing on the wall, but that's a risk so I could capture the street lamp and more of the breakwater lights reflection on the water.
Try to capture less sky and more foreground water.

 

[LeeRatters]

Crop it square or 4:5 to cut the excess sky out

 

[Phil V]

Well I would have used my DSLR and not a phone,

I’m not sure that’s any more than gear snobbery, there’s nothing in your next statement that would have been improved with the use of a camera.
Not a criticism, just trying to get you to think about your image.

I would have moved back a bit and to the right, perhaps standing on the wall, but that's a risk so I could capture the street lamp and more of the breakwater lights reflection on the water.
Try to capture less sky and more foreground water.

Some of these cancel each other out
If you’d stood on the wall you’d have lost the wall from the image, and that’s the strongest visual element.
Just narrowing your view of the sky from where you were to lessen the sky would have messed up the bottom half.

If there’s a takeaway at this point; it’s to shoot all those other angles and see what works.

The dangers are that you either repeat ‘what you like’ and never improve, or that you strive for perfection and are either never satisfied or you just don’t take the picture because it’s not ‘perfect’

 

[Oldbones]

Thanks for your comments.
I only commented on using a dslr, simply because I thought it would have taken a better pic and it would have perhaps taught me to actually use it.
Its an old second hand Nikon from about ten years ago..
The wall rises sharply just beyond the far away rod, so I might have caught it. But standing on the wall, hmmm, a straight drop of about 30 feet to rocks or sea on my right hand side.
So I will try again soon.
But I could go down on to the beach below and try that, catch the fore ground from a different angle and more of the far off breakwater and its lights.
I will be going back so there's every chance that I will post a different version soon.

 

[Sangoma]

I like the picture, and only as you ask what would I have done....

I would like the right hand rod more to the left (about where the tools are), going more towards the corner of the frame, and the camera angle lower, to see less sky and maybe see the reel, also the tools on the wall don't look natural, either angled about 45 deg clockwise or more random