Two very different edits

[Hartzler]

This is a Jamaican cliff diver (though he had climbed a tree to up the ante) that I photographed at Rick's Cafe. In retrospect, I could have done a better job on exposure (I had set the camera on auto).

But given what I have to work with, I present two quite different edits of this image in the hope of learning whether either is clearly stronger.

[Downtown]

Intresting shot and processing. Of the two I prefer the second.

[btafly]

I prefer the 1st one because it gives the feeling of height, and with your subject being a cliff diver then that is really the one thing you most want to portray in your photograph. Both Excellent edits though I really like the photographs

[sassy_boy]

I prefer the first one because it gives the feeling of height like btafly said. I too have the chance to cliff dive once -- and we also climbed up a tree at the top of the cliff like the one in the photo (but ours maybe significantly lower than that) and this photo reminded me of the feeling I had when I was at the top and preparing to jump. Great shot!

[KansaiGreenie]

Hi Hartzler,

This is hard to choose between the two because they are so different. I think that I like the 2nd one better. I say that because, while the first image is quite dramatic, I'm not sure that I would have known what it was an image of if you hadn't told us. I think that the diver gets lost in the trees. I'm wondering if you might try a crop that was somewhere between the two? One that could still give the impression of height, but also make the diver more obvious.

KG

[Hartzler]

I wanted to thank everyone for the comments. It's given me a better perspective of how these two edits are perceived and what I can think about in terms of trying something in between. Again, thank you! It's so nice to get other points of view, the joy of this forum.

[thefly1985]

Very interesting shot. When I see the two side by side I prefer the first one. However, I think that is only because the second shot opened my eyes to some of the detail in the first.