I prefer the second. The haze under the trees is more pronounced and the trees have a little more "life". JMHO.
i think if you had changed your angle, you really could have captured the crepuscular rays. but id choose the second one of the two
Out of these two, I think #2 is my preference. I'm just not sure about the bare trees on the far left and right. They don't seem to add value to me. Something that's interesting to me are some of the tree trunks. You have two that "V" off in opposite directions at nearly the same height and the one in the middle the has three trunks running. That possibly could be worked. Interesting lines to me.
I like number 2 as well.. I like the way the light spreads through the leaves because it's much more accented than the 1st. Either way, both are awesome shots. :thumbup:
The more contrasted version (2) is the better one. But I feel that colour in a frame around a b&w photo does NOT work well at all. (That is just me, of course).
Thanks everyone for the insightful comments! You've all given me ideas for future shots, I was in a MAJOR hurry to get to school and these are basically snapshots. I'll definately go back and work with it more, thanks so much for taking the time to comment =)
I actually like parts of both, On number one the sky and the trees are slightly less exposed. This of course is nicer to look at then pure white. Although the bottom half of #2 is clearly the better photo. Some minor photoshoping would easily make a good photo.