Shadow and light

[armand]

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[Bruce Cox]

This #2 I would crop.  But looking at the thumbnails afterward, I think, as in your posting, it helps to have the first more innocuous photo hovering over it.

[francois]

I like them both but photo #2 is a bit better (in the original or cropped version) for me. Plenty of triangular shapes and the lush foliage give a very pleasant result.

[PeterAit]

I like these! Very good composition, making art out of what might be considered an "ordinary" subject.

[armand]

Thank you for the comments!
I saw the image while on a car guided tour and I knew I needed more time with it.

I went back and forth on how I should crop the second one. I kept it like that because the dark shadow on the foreground leaf is that of the background leaf and I liked to have the 3 elements together; it's true the dark right upper corner doesn't add much (and I tried different positions) but I felt it's a compromise worth making.

[DF1]

I wouldn't crop either of them. Your original take on these images works.