The Last Bloom of Youth

[David Eckels]

Would like your reaction to the two different crops. I think I prefer version 1 because it becomes more about the flower blossom and the bottle is distracting in version 2, although I like it almost as well. If my intention is to emphasize that blossom, which do you prefer and why?
Thanks for the comments.

[William Walker]

Hi David

I find the bottle distracting in both versions.
To me, it is all about the flower, so I would only show the flower. Perhaps pull it out of the bottle a bit more then take only the flower. If you were to merely crop the bottle out I think the stem would be to short.

William

[Johnny_Johnson]

If you were to merely crop the bottle out I think the stem would be to short.

But even that looks better to me than having the top of the bottle show.

Later,
Johnny

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

David,

... If my intention is to emphasize that blossom...

David, my friend, I do not give a damn (rhetorically only, of course) what your intention was... your second image is simply exquisite! And for all the wrong reasons (wrong from the standpoint of your intentions, that is). You (and others) call the bottle distracting (meaning attracting too much interest, against your intentions), I call it attractive, a valuable visual and metaphorical counterbalance to the flowers. It glows bright yellow-green, full of life, in total juxtaposition to the dying flowers. In the first image, everything seems dead, the flowers and the subdued green bottle. #2 is life where you do not expect it (dead sand) and death where you do not want it (flowers).

[Jeremy Roussak]

I entirely agree with Slobodan on this. The bottle in #1 is distracting because there's not enough of it. In #2, it's truly a part of the scene and it just works.

[horizon police] It would be even better if the water level didn't slope down to the left. [/horizon police]

Jeremy

[David Eckels]

Interesting take gents, I can fix the horizon, officer! My dad picked that one as well. I was focused  on the blossom, live an dead, not really thinking about the bottle.