Cropping Dilemma

[Mohain]

I've been struggling a little with the crop of this shot:
1.

I wanted more river than sky but feel the current crop might be slightly too water dominant. Although the high contrast reflections in the water foreground are part of the shot and not a processing error I felt they were to distracting and have retouched some of them out (I know the cloning needs improvement). I think this helps make the water less dominating, somehow?
2.

On another forum it was suggested that it was cropped more panormaic like this:
3.

I liked it at first but now i'm not sure. It looks a little too much 'postcard' if you know what I mean? Not really what I'm after.

Here is the orignal, totally uncropped.
4.

Please feel free to crop away!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Mohain

 

[LaFoto]

Hang on ... there's something I don't quite get: I am studying these photos and see a good many reflections in the very first shown here, the larger one of the four. Mostly so IN the wave very near us, i.e. quite close to the bottom, the darker wave which has some very outlined reflections in your first version.

However you say that the fourth of the four photos shown here is the original. Now I compare the reflections in the lefthand bottom corner with those in the first photo and feel the first is not cropped at all, either, for the same pattern of reflections (with some imagination you could read the letters PWD into them, just so you know which ones I mean - maybe?????? in the bottom left corner) is seen in the very same place there, too. BUT, the photo that you say is the original does NOT have the very marked, very outlined reflections in the wave!

So now I am a bit confused :scratch: ... if those reflections were not there originally, why are they there in the larger photo (the first of the series)?

And if you don't like them, and the first is not original ... did you ADD them?
And if so, why?

And now you no longer like them and think about a crop?
And Photo 4 and Photo 2 look identical to me ... or I have looked too long and too hard by now and can no longer see....)
I am profoundly confused here.

(And just to say: I much, much, much prefer the original crop - version I dare not say for I don't know which is which - to the pano crop).

 

[Mohain]

Haha, I didn't think it was that confusing

No.1 is my original crop, with high contrast reflections in the water (which I didn't add). I think the reflections are distracting so I've cloned them out.

No. 2 is same crop as no. 1 but with the reflections cloned out.

No. 3 is a new crop.

no. 4 is totally uncropped but still with reflections cloned out.

Cheers,

Mohain

 

[LaFoto]

Ah! :idea:

And now at last I see again (had looked too long and hard earlier on!)--- you cropped a bit of black sky, didn't you?

Well, to tell you the truth: I like the uncropped version best (cool black part in sky) and don't even mind the clearly outlined reflections.

But then, with a well made HDR like this one, I am easy to please .

 

[The_Traveler]

I like the first one - of course the theme from Jaws needs to be playing for complete effect.

 

[gmarquez]

I like #1 the best, like the crop and composition as is.