Which is better?

[mathgeek]

I was out with a buddy shooting sunset on a lonely highway, and I had an idea. He watched traffic for me so I wasn't going to be roadkill and I took each of the following shots. You'll notice that the focus of each is shifted... one is on the road, one is on the shoes. My question is this:

Which is better?

I know which one I like, but I've noticed my taste in photography tends to not follow conventional wisdom. So I'd like to see what you think.

Option 1:


Option 2:


Clearly the colors and saturation on each or a little different, and I shot both in RAW so they can be equalized. All that being equal, I'd like to know which YOU think is better.

Thanks, in advance!

[NgaiHill]

I think I like the one with the shoes in focus. If one with the road is in focus is a nice shot but would be better without the shoes.
Not sure exactly what message you are trying to convey with this setup but simply by putting the shoes in the scene makes them the subject so it makes more sense to have them in focus.

[kirbinster]

Why not blend them and put the infocus shoes on the focused background.

[MeAgain]

Originally Posted by NgaiHill

I think I like the one with the shoes in focus. If one with the road is in focus is a nice shot but would be better without the shoes.
Not sure exactly what message you are trying to convey with this setup but simply by putting the shoes in the scene makes them the subject so it makes more sense to have them in focus.

What she said

[nicuRNmama]

I like the 1st one with the road focused. The bright light at the end of the road in the second one is distracting. I just like the feel of the first one. I find that I often like the viewpoints others find odd as well. Cool picture.

[GOOFYRUFUS]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

Why not blend them and put the infocus shoes on the focused background.

x2 I think this is an excellent suggestion.

[kcoppock]

Originally Posted by GOOFYRUFUS

x2 I think this is an excellent suggestion.

x3, that's what I was going to suggest as well. I'd like to see how a focus stacked version looked. You can't really do it with these shots since the camera/shoes moved between shots, but I like the idea of an all in focus version.

[Jonbar18]

#2, if you crop out the jeans.

[DivotMaker]

Merging might be a little difficult, since they are not at the same focal length or same exact spot...this might make them look sewn together... (sun position, telephone poles, tennis shoes, brush/shrubs...

With that being said, I like #2 quite a bit.

No offense, but my eyes do not like how wide the jeans are at the base of the picture, nor the two rises in the jeans (center/right knee)..no crude comments needed or intended.

Add a ND from the top down to get some depth in the sky and I like what you have done. At first glance, I wasn't thrilled with the light in the distance...but with the ND suggestion (and the others), I think it could add to the suspense of the image. I simply feel the others are distracting my eye from realizing the reality of the oncoming train (metaphor)

Just my 2 c's (take them for what they are worth.... .0288 euro at todays rate)

[IABoomer]

#2, just the shoes. That point of light at the end of the road I feel draws the viewer into the image more. In #1, the bright sunlight distracts from the road and/or the shoes.