Of the two Learmount this is the nicer of the two. IMHO I’d crop off some the trees at the top. It don’t add anything to the overall image, in fact I find my eye drifting up to the trees when the main subject is the flowing water. The water is nicely framed with the rock and long grass at the bottom.
I agree that the moving water is the strongest part of this image. Perhaps tilting the camaera downwards from a slightly higher position would have allowed you to focus more attention on it.
I actually like the background aj..(I know..I usually do like stuff that others don’t..can’t help it..:wink: )
I think it gives the whole shot a greater sense of depth..and the boulder in the foreground makes it very clear where the main focus is to my eye. The trees lead my eye from the stream to the back of the picture and I don’t find this off putting at all. Overall I think it is a beautiful shot..very lush if I can use that word..and I prefer the first one of the two.