gaute_solheim1

When I started looking at this picture, my first question was why the ship looked so morphed and twisted, which specific detail that created this illusion. For me I identified it as the line in the water caused by the shadow of the ship next to the bulb, which in my mind was pictured as the waterline and making me "see" a different shape than the real one. After I had identified what was "the missing line" I started to look for it.
The picture has two very distinct phases for me. The first one when I was seeing the twisted hull with a cartoon like quality in the picture, and the second when I lost the totality of the picture because my eyes would always seek to the area where the missing waterline should have been. I wish that the real waterline could be seen if you looked for it. Then I would still have that cartoon like impression at first glance, but also a subtle line telling me where the waterline was, giving me the luxury of switching between two versions of the picture.

Chang; thanks for the link. I still see two airplanes, and now guess they were heading for Cologne-Bonn airport. In my opinion it is a better photo with two airplanes than with five stars without trails in a constellation I do not recognize (being no expert). I may be mistaken, but airplanes was my first thought when I saw the picture, and for me that gave the picture an extra dimension. Visually they are not credible to me as stars. To me they are visually credible only as strobes on two airplanes.
I think that there is an interesting point in the divergence between us: If the light points in the upper right part only works for those who perceive them as strobes, and these are a tiny minority, should you then remove them in order to create a better picture for the large majority who are looking at stars? I would say yes, plane spotters like me would not miss what they did not see. I still would have found the picture very interesting and well executed.

The path of the strobes from the two airplanes in the upper right corner adds an extra ounce of the same feeling I get from the rest of the picture. They look like they are going to meet in one point. Those who worry about stars lacking trails may now rest. I agree with the comment about the bright part to the right.