Jeg syntes dette var et stilig utsiktsbilde, du skapte noe mere enn en vanlig bilde som bare er tatt over et rekkverk. Fin skarphet og jeg syntes du har en veldig god dybde i bildet pga figurene.

Mvh
Knut

en fin måte å presentere Paris og dens voktere på. likte bildet veldig godt. enig ang. skarphet og dybde som knut over her nevner.

hilsen kirsti

Flott og annerledes. Har tilbrakt noen timer på cafeen i første veikryss.

Not an unknown motif - but this doesn't mean anything.
Since it is an image with a kind of dramatic appeal to it - a similar presentation makes sense - so, I have much more sympathy for your 2.Version.
I downloaded the image and did some quick changes - because I wanted to see if it would work - the whole image in S/H - increased the mid-tone contrast - layer of the sky with quite heavy pushed levels to work out the formation and patterns of the cloud - and got an image with a quite strong working main-subject- but embedded in the whole scene.
It is of course a question of taste etc. - but whatever presentation you prefer - I think the main-subject needs more strength in order to stay clear against the busy background.
Since the background is important for the image - I felt the easiest solution would be to work in S/H - and us the impression of the ''guards'' under the dark sky - to symbolize their position better.
Just a few thoughts around it.