Night Photography Assignment 3: City Lights (abstract)

So I have been battling a really rotten cold this week. I haven't been up to taking many photos. On Sunday, I realized I hadn't taken any additional photos than the daily 365 shots I always do. I had to force myself to go out Sunday night to go and capture some night photos. I should have worked on the weekly Gizmodo shooting challenge too, but I felt that the night photography was more important. Last week at our class, I asked for some assignment ideas. The themes I got were interesting but nothing struck a chord with me. When I left my house on Sunday night, I still wasn't sure what I was going to shoot. I went down the street and tried some long traffic exposures (which I may post later) but felt I wasn't getting anywhere. I decided to head to my parent's house where they have a nice city lights view. I shot some long exposures of the LA basin that were rather boring. I decided to switch to my zoom lens and try some "zoom exposures:" During a long exposure, I zoom in and out on the lens creating an interesting effect. These photos were better so I decided to go with "city lights" for the assignment. I even tried a new technique in which I start the shot vertically, zoom in and out, then turn the camera horizontally, and zoom again. Although I like the wiggly light lines caused by my unsteady hand, I would love to be able to zoom so smoothly that lines are straighter. Oh well, perhaps I can find some kind of tutorial on how to build a "smooth zoomer." Here are my better shots this week:

45 second exposure, f/22, 300mm-75mm, ISO 100
31 second exposure, f/22, 75mm-300mm, ISO 100
24 second exposure, f/22, 300mm-75mm, ISO 100