Grand Canyon Crop Composition

I am working on a set of 9 photos to fill a wall frame that holds nine 4x6 photos as a Christmas gift. One of the photos is this below image of the Grand Canyon. I have to crop the canvas in order to fit it into the 4x6 aspect ratio and would like to get some feedback on the composition of the various crops.

Which crop do you prefer and why? Do you think I should create a crop that's in between these crops? Thank you for your feedback!

Crop 1, maximum foreground:

Definitely #1.

The rock on the right is a little too big to me in #1. I would go for #3. It's true that the horizon bisects the image, but the trees that frame it on the sides moderate that.

Nice shot. I don't say this often, but I would pump up the saturation of the canyon a little and/or increase the contrast.
The crops are OK IMO, except I'd like to see a little less of the framing trees.

I think the important thing is not to have a strong horizon line cut the image in half across the middle. I've also seen lots of skies before and they are rarely interesting anymore.

Did you visit the GC to see the sky and some trees? Crop in more and use dehaze in Lightroom CC if you have it

I don't like any of them, its hard to even see a difference. The framing of the canyon is a good idea, but I'd crop so the trees are on the very outside of the picture on both sides, giving more emphasis to the canyon.

#2 is my choice.

patrick j wrote in post #17816470
I don't like any of them, its hard to even see a difference. The framing of the canyon is a good idea, but I'd crop so the trees are on the very outside of the picture on both sides, giving more emphasis to the canyon.

+1. This is more important than placement of the horizon

1, but with PhotosGuy's suggestions for processing and for cropping closer for less "frame".

#3 for sure... It gives me that feeling of actually standing there and looking out into the massive canyon. And the sky looks amazing.

I appreciate everyone's feedback. Thank you all for your input. My girlfriend got impatient with me constantly editing photos, so for her cousin's gift we printed number 1. But I am taking all the tips and pointers given in this thread and I am working on a edit for myself now. So even though the consequent changes didn't make into his print, I am working on making changes based on the advice you all have given me for my own print.

Moving forward with this image, I am experimenting with other crops that reduce the framing of the trees and emphasizes the canyon more, as that seems to be the number 1 piece of feedback. For the canyon's color I had put a warming filter on it (to adjust the color cast), using a layer mask to prevent it from affecting the sky or trees. I think I had used that same mask to increase the saturation, but based on feedback I may punch that up even more. I had used an inversion of that mask to put a cooling filter on the sky which increased the blue of the sky, but my girlfriend disliked the look of that. And I'll look at slight global contrast increase.

Quick question, this is at least the second time someone has suggested dehaze on one of my images. I don't have Lightroom, I am working with Photoshop Master Collection CS3, so I have PS CS3 and all the other products in the suite. Is there something I can do with these tools that approximates or replicates the dehaze functionality?

Thank you all again, I really appreciate the help.

Maybe this: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=1119795

givtu wrote in post #13480113
Assuming a high-res file to start, duplicate the layer in Photoshop, desaturate, then High Pass @ 50-70, set blending mode of the layer to soft light, adjust opacity.

Or these:
Is there any good PP for removing haze?


what causes the blue haze and how to prevent it?

Awesome. Thank you very much PhotosGuy!