Coimbra dilemma-feedback needed!

[moi]

I managed to 'catch' this dignified lady before she walked out of the frame-in the old, back streets of Coimbra-Central Portugal.
After the 'quick' take, I realised that I liked the long pathway-with the tiny figure at the top left.I also like the way the soft orange colour ,from an item in her left hand , is echoed in the doorway colours up along the left and right sides of the picture.
SO-which picture is better? The first 'whole' picture or the second where I've cropped to focus more on the woman? (I kept the path because I like the texture of the stone) or the third-just the woman?

[wulf]

Definitely the first. Cropping in closer loses the line and colour you note and also expose the fact that the image isn't quite as sharp as it first appears. It is a shame you didn't catch her a step or two earlier and not quite so near the edge of the frame but I think it still works reasonably well.

Wulf

[moi]

Thanks Wulf. I was torn between taking the shot or not-felt a bit intrusive so I nearly missed her altogether.Not allowed to take photos in public here in Riyadh so felt liberated after a few days in Portugal!You're right-the picture is soft.

[summerbreezing]

The first works best for me by a long way. Putting the woman into the context of her environment has much more impact. Could the softness be because you have focussed on the street behind and not the woman? Still a learner myself so not great at the technical stuff. Do like the picture though

[moi]

Hi summerbreezing-yes,I prefer the first, original, shot myself too. I 'just' got her in the shot so you could well be right about where I managed to focus!I asked the question because I do like the 'off-centre' location of the main subjects in photography but wondered if she was 'too far' down the composition for it to really work.
Thanks for replying!

[Jory]

The original is definately the best. Nice work.

[Sandie]

what about this?

[moi]

Tell all Sandie-please!

[Sandie]

I made the back ground layer larger than the picture. I 'dumped' a basic grey down, then I used the clone stamp. I used many different sized brushed so that the concrete wall didn't look like a repeated pattern. Then when cloning the pebbles I used the ones from the left side so that the perspective and size ratio would be about right. It is not perfect, but it only took me about 10 minutes.

[moi]

As a beginner, I can understand some of what you did and will read up on the rest. Many thanks!