Critiques?

I posted a sloppy, rushed version of this on ESS and decided to try a couple of variations to see what you guys think. In the first one I toned down the sky a bit, cropped a bit off the top and increased the FG contrasts a bit. In the second one below, I've cropped out the sky entirely. Which do you think works better?

Here is the cropped version. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Hi Anish

I like the the first one here the best. The slight crop helps to bring more focus on what really draws me to the image, the illuminated trees. At the same time I still get a taste of the large mountain range in the back and a taste of the total scale.

I'm not sure I would go with the pano crop because the background hints at a much larger scene which my mind wants to see.

I prefer the one without the sky. The sky is not very interesting, and the cropped version is a bit unusual in a good way. The tiny little bit of sky left really works, too.

Both images have their good points, but the pano loses it's sense of place. The first version I can identify as Pine Creek canyon from somewhere near 395. The second while nice has no sense of place and could be anywhere which in of itself is not bad, but it not an image that is so dramatic that it means as much as the one that can bring back a memory of a place visited. So selective highlight darkening would help the first image too, as this was probably taken in the afternoon.

Paul

The 2nd seems too cut off for me, mostly because of the lighter blue triangle hinting at something more. Without that triangle, it might work, but to crop that you'd lose to much of the mountains IMO. So I'll take the one with the sky. I recognize your deliberate choice of letting the cloud fringes blow out, but they do attract too much attention for me that way... so would be tempted to sacrifice reality for a more aesthetic result, IMO. The eye should be going to the trees I think, but the brightness of the clouds/sky is drawing me there instead.

I prefer the one with the sky. I like the diagonal tension between the sunlit trees in the fg and the canyon/sky in the distance. I'd prefer a little more contrast and color in the fg and middle ground just to bring out the nice mottled light along the landscape. Other than that, it works for me. Nice work!

The dappled light is more than great but the scene in general seems to lack stronger points of interest. If you look at Ansels Adams shot of Lone Pine he's got a horse in the spot light with pitch black shadow inbetween that and the mountain back drop fully light from side lighting creating depth just in the mountains alone. The rays are a nice addition but you're lacking a point of interest besides the spot light.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, guys!