Which sky to please average viewer?

I took these on two separate days... Looking for an unbiased eye... I have my favorite, but I'm putting together a calendar of some of my recent shots from Ireland and I'm wondering what you guys think the average person would like the best -

Heavy clouds? Or light clouds?
And why?!

Anything else I should change? I could lighten up the water in the heavy clould one where the clouds were casting a shadow...
And/or I could saturate the sky and lighten up the castle a bit in the light clouds one...

Thanks in advance!

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#1 for me. I prefer the sky and there's less shadow on the building. Nice landscape.

I like the water in the first, but I like the castle in the second. I definately prefer the shadow on the castle, compared to the first shot.

As for the clouds, and the general shot, I think I prefer the first shot, but I definately prefer the castle in the second.... I haven't really been that helpful ...

#1 for me.

i like #2 initially i liked 1 but the jmore i looked i liked #2 it is seren and calming, easy on the eyes looks like the sun is about to set =)

I'm about as average as you get and I prefer #1 by a wide margin.

Hands down #2 is clearly the winner in my book.

The first looks flat and one-dimensional with not much in the way of interesting tonality. The second really has a very nice sense of depth, drawing you into the distance from the darker foreground to the lighter background hues. The fact that the ligtht is hitting it from the left also rivets your attention more. Thanks for sharing.

OK - now that I've posted I read what everybody else wrote.....looks like I'm going against the grain here. I suspect that another reason why I like #2 Dave is because it's similar to the way I shoot some of my landscapes . - Stu.

If you mention average, then #2.

because...

it's a typical picture-perfect postcard sky. I'd expect it on one of the postcards at a giftshop rack if there was a visitor center for that castle.

is that the castle home between cliffs of moher and doolin, county clare?

I prefer #1. I like the color of the stone and the water. If you darkened the sky a bit, it's great.

#2 for me.. is more calm.

Hah... It's a split at 4 vs. 4...

Not making my choice any easier, but I guess that makes me feel better and justify why I couldn't make up my mind!

Thanks for all the input...

I hope to hear more...

I vote for #1

#1 but it's just a little too blue on the horizon for me.

I'd love to go there!

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote in post #9195030
#1 but it's just a little too blue on the horizon for me.

I'd love to go there!

Yeah, the clouds were casting a dark shadow... I'll probably go in and lighten that up...