Not for politics. Which minaret is better?

[Tight Knot]

Hi all,

Here are 3 Minaret shots of the Al Aqsa Mosque minaret (one of the Mosques built on top of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem), taken at sunrise last week.

No politics please, just photo critique.

C&C please, and which is the better one?

1.

2.

3.

 

[tirediron]

A very subjective and difficult question to answer. I think #1 is the nicest photograph of the three (but the chain-link fence is a bit of a distraction; time to break out the clone tool). #2 has some appeal, but there's way too much dark/black sky at the top. #3 is probably the best minaret shot, unfortunately, this isn't, IMO, the most attractive of minarets...

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[analog.universe]

I like the composition of #3 the best, but I wonder how it would look with some different processing. The sky in #1 draws me right away, but 3 just feels like a stronger photo.... I'd like to see it with a color sky.

 

[Tight Knot]

A very subjective and difficult question to answer. I think #1 is the nicest photograph of the three (but the chain-link fence is a bit of a distraction; time to break out the clone tool). #2 has some appeal, but there's way too much dark/black sky at the top. #3 is probably the best minaret shot, unfortunately, this isn't, IMO, the most attractive of minarets...

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Hi John,
Thanks for the input.
I agree about all of the above. It is not often that I get to see minarets (and don't know which ones are more or less attractive), so when I saw this one at sunrise, it looked perfect.
From what I understand, this is a very famous minaret in Islam (not being Muslim, I have no clue), so I did not want to change anything (like the fence), so that others who know what this one is supposed to look like, would not feel cheated.

 

[Tight Knot]

I like the composition of #3 the best, but I wonder how it would look with some different processing. The sky in #1 draws me right away, but 3 just feels like a stronger photo.... I'd like to see it with a color sky.

Hi analog,
Thanks for the input.
This is basically the color SOOC, as I was trying specifically for a silhoutte shot and underexposed it for that.