I reluctantly agree about the second shot working better. But I really WANT the first shot to work better.
First thing...I think that the use of appropriate props is sort of cool as a supplement to the book. My problem is that the props completely block the names and titles and such. I agree that the second picture has LESS of that going on. So I'm going with the second picture solely for that reason. In the second picture, you can see more of the title and the authors. I'm fine with props for something like a book. But really...someone's contribution was inportant enough to serve as artwork for the cover. Someone's contributions were worth them being mentioned by name on the cover. Don't cover that stuff up. Put it on the side, or selectively put it on the cover so that it doesn't cover up someone's name or art.
All in all, the point seems to be sort of paying respect to the book (and more importantly, the people who made it happen). I like the idea of props, but they should merely add to the picture and not cover up things.
Secondly, I really WANT to prefer the first one. The low angle and the fairly shallow depth of field sort of gives an epic feeling. It reminds me of the opening sequences to the Star Wars movies. I think that's cool, and I think that's appropriate for a story which seems to be military themed (unless it's just a sad and tragic story, in which case that might be giving the wrong signal). But yeah...the way the first one was shot really makes it feel big and epic. Might be wrong for the book (I have no idea what the book is about), but it looks cool as hell. My problem there is...going with that low angle and shallower depth of field makes it even HARDER to see the cover of the book (especially with the props that were placed on top of it).
Very nice concept, and I like both pictures as mere pictures that exist in a vacuum. The problem is that the POINT of these pictures seems to be done to make it look good, to make me want to read it, etc. It seems like you just really like this book and are trying to express that. Either that, or you're doing advertising work to make customers want to read it. That's the vibe I'm getting. But if that's the case, please do a reshoot where you either use props that can sit on the cover without blocking the names/titles/art, or place the props on the side where they aren't blocking the names/title/art by sitting on the cover.
Overall though...I love the pictures. I just get the vibe that the props are interfering too much with the product. Both pictures are sort of making me think of something like doing a Bacardi picture with props, but where the props block the label to the point where the labelling is unreadable.
