Choosing the best crop

Hi, I am working with a photo I took of Ayles Creek in North Carolina. I am struggling with choosing a crop. I'm wondering if there is too much going on in the widest crop, and I like the details that come out when I segment the image into three tighter crops. But I'd love to get some feedback from other NPN photographers. Here is the wide crop. I'll follow with the tighter ones.
Thanks for your help!
Michele

Here is a crop of the upper right.

Here is the upper left.

And finally, just the rocks on the lower left. What I like about this one is the texture of the water and the rocks.

I'd go with the second Michelle. There's way too much dead space in the water in the first crop, and not enough depth in the third. The comp just seems better in the second. I actually wish the widest one (original) didn't see so split or random, since the individual features are nice.

I'm with David, Michelle. I prefer the second crop because the composition is better balanced.

If the location is within easy reach, you might consider returning and use a longer focal length and/or change in camera position to extract different compositions from the scene. There is a lot of potential, here.

--P

Cropping involves quite a bit of personal preference, but i personally find the original much stronger than any of the crops here. #2 is my least favorite. The original has great diaganol flow from front to back, and depth. The variety in the scene make the cascade original-looking, and places it in context, whereas in the crops they could be from any given stream. The only thing i dont totally love is the bit of space outside the log in the extreme bottom lhc. I might crop some of the bottom (more landsacape orientation) to eliminate that concern, and use the log as a corner anchor.

I like the original the most of those that you've presented. For my tastes, I'd probably go with a 3x2 landscape crop starting in the upper right corner and going down to the top of the log or that lighter coloured rock.

When I view the first two crops, the most dominant feature to me is the log in the lower right corner. I find it very distracting. It creates a triangle in the corner that points out of the frame. The upper left crop is OK, but needs to be closer for it to really work. As stated above, much is this is personal preference.

It is personal preference, as many have already stated, but I'm with Keith on this. The section of log at the bottom is a real distraction to my eye (and I'm not too crazy about the bit of tree trunk in the upper right either). I see a lot of possibilities with the top half of the original post. Crop it to retain only the top half and you've got a pleasing pano, the sliver of trunk notwithstanding. Go even tighter and I think you've got two separate images as represented by the UL and UR quartiles of the original.

Wow, thanks for all the great insights! I can see that there is personal preference involved, but you have made me really think about specific elements in the image and whether they add to or subtract from the overall effect. And you've convinced me that I need to wear my rubber boots and walk out into the stream to avoid those offensive tree trunks! That won't be happening any time soon though, because it is 600 miles away!
~ Michele

I agree with Stan here. I like the original best, 3rd post maybe, 2nd one is my least favorite--those parts of the logs just don't work for me.

I too like the original best, but wonder what cropping the original from the bottom and making a stronger horizontal would look like... Where is this in NC (if you don't mind my asking)

Thanks again. I'll work on a new crop of the original.

Robin - Ayles Creek is in the Black Mountains, NE of Asheville ... Mt. Mitchell is at the southern end of the chain. The entire run of Ayles is on private property, but there are many beautiful creeks like this one in the area.

Thanks for looking.
Michele

Thanks Glen! You made my day. And thanks for describing how you envision an image. It is really helpful. I'm really looking forward to getting back to North Carolina so I can try this shot again.
~Michele