I prefer the first one. I think the pebbles add colour and texture tot he shot and the angle the shot is taken from makes the image a whole lot more interesting than the first one.I would crop out some of the sky as there is nothing really interesting going on there and you want the viewers eye drawn to what is in focus which is why you have chosen the DOF you have used.
Thanks for the constructive feedback folks…very much appreciated!
…I just held the camera close to the ground Isabella for safety
…the tilting is a good point Pixelle, i’ll adjust and take a look
…agreed on the crop markst33