You are off to a fine start with Long Exposures. I wish you had included your camera settings (ISO Shutter Speed and Aperture and if you used a filter which one or ones)

In photo #1 I see two issues that are< at least for me, major. First you clipped the mast tops for the ships and thus they look awkward. Second, I know you are thrilled with the look of the water, but I feel that you have too much of it. The reflection is not clear enough to warrent that much water so I would crop in in about half.

In photo #2 my comments are about the same. In the water I would crop just below the reflections of the posts. They have interesting reflections Then there is the mast issue again. You have beautiful water, but you have a blurred mast which ruins the image. You can't crop it off, and even if you include the whole thing it is still a blurred mess. You have to be careful with your subject when you shoot long exposures.

You could solve this problem by taking one exposure of the water with a slow shutter, then using a fast shutter shoot the same shot again freezing the rocking boats and then blend the two to get the perfect shot. But I would suggest working on one skill at a time.

Try shooting the sky line at night---building don't move, and you will get great reflections in the water.

You are really off to a great start. If you have questions, please feel free to send me a private message. I'll be glad to help.

Larry

Armando, composition in photography could be something very personal although following the rules is the standard. I know that with the long exposure your purpose was to show a silky appearance in the water and indeed you achieved your goal but to me showing more of the sky would have worked much better in these photographs. Selecting the right lens the effect you wanted in the water while showing the sky could have been achieved. The movement showed by the two boats does not help in my opinion in that second shot. That floating debris on the right could have been cloned for a more pleasing photograph.

The exposures are fine in both shots. In my case I would have moved the camera to the left to photograph more of the building in that first shot but that is me.

For the lower / 2nd image, clearly the boats are moving in the water. But, the background elements are not particularly sharp in either image. The pier posts near the center of the top are sharply focused without movement. The similar posts in the middle of the bottom image are not as sharp.

Confirm the VR / similar is turned off for the lens on the next attempt. Look at using a ND filter rather than only small apertures and long shutter durations.

Just handholding the camera & lens (or from the tripod), assure you can take a sharp image from this position with a 'normal' exposure. For the top image, you should have an image at f/14 that all aspects of the image, the near boats, and pier, and the far details of the buildings, should all be in sharp focus. If that is not the case for a 'normal' image, investigate the lens, the camera, and / or the exposure settings. From a tripod, try various combinations for a 'normal' exposure, say f/8 to f/13, and review results. The settings that yield a nice, sharp image in a normal situation should yield a sharp image when adjusted for a long shutter duration.

Finally, consider where you've place the focus point(s). The top image would seem the boat in the center would be where to focus. The bottom image, the pier posts in the center would be the focus. I suggest these because of their 'distance' into the frame, not because of the center position. For an image with a small aperture desiring a deep depth of field, pick an image element about 1/3 into the frame. But, your compositions have only flat water at the 1/3 distance, so I suggested moving back to about 1/2 into the image. Finally, try framing your image so you don't cut off the tops of the masts.