Opinions, C&C please....

[MVW22]

Ok, I reloaded the pics... Can you see them?

Took these last night at my good friend's son's birthday party. I was trying to capture his surprise when he hit the peddle and his car jerked into gear. While I think I got the timing of his surprise, I'm curious as to which photo better captures the moment. The first one I like because it gives the viewer more of a setting (showing the whole car). However, I find his dad's body in the upper left a bit distracting.
The second one is a crop. It seams more simple and to the point, but does it lose effectiveness without showing the whole car????
Also, is it me, or does it seem to have a bit too much contrast...?

Thanks for any/all opinions....

[jiro]

Can't see the images, Mark.

[MVW22]

Thanks, Willie. I need re-read the picture posting thread.... They show up on my screen so I didn't realize they weren't showing. I just used another computer and went this thread and saw that they aren't there. Not sure what's going on here...

[FrankMi]

Hi Mark, I think you are right, the second one zeros in on the subject more effectively. I wonder how it would look in portrait view so that you can see all the way down to the wheels without any other distractions? It might give it more of a sense of movement?

[MVW22]

I think that's a good call, Frank. Is this more along the lines you were thinking? I think that helps....
Thank you!

[FrankMi]

I really like it! As the wheels are turning out of the shot, what if you gave it just a tad more space on the right side to give the wheels someplace to go? Let me know when you'll be putting this into the Mini Competition as there is nothing I could post that would compete with the action and excitement of this shot! LOL!

[MVW22]

Good advice, Frank.... Thanks for the input - that helped a lot!

[tihsgod]

yes the portrait crop is the way to go... looks good. neil