Eye Contact or Candid ??

My wife wants to hang one of these pics on the wall in our house. I love the 1st shot with the great eye contact of the goat..........and our nephew. She prefers the 2nd photo of them starring & smiling at the goats.

What does everyone here think is a better shot??

Thanks, and all C&C is welcome. Thanks to everyone in advance, it is much appreciated

I like #2. The youngster is so absorbed with the goats and the goats are paying so much more attention to the people. The lady's amusement is delightful in that one, too. Finally, the person in the background (upper right corner) is much less noticeable in #2.

Both are great shots but the second just wins it for me.

Another vote for #2, much nicer overall - everything fits together much cleaner

I love the eye contact from both species in #1 but I agree with the sentiments above regarding the moment. I'd print and hang #2.

#2, the focus is much sharper in this one, and the emotion is priceless

#2 is great, I would try to clone out the arm of the woman in the background. The one coming out of your wife's head.

I like the 2nd one, but you have some major ghosting going on in both of them.

#2 for my vote.

#2 also for me!

Both are nice. The goat looking into the camera is great but the second picture shows more of the interaction between the people and the goats which was probably closer to the intended story.

In both cases the arm in the background takes away from it. With a bit of effort, you could replace it with some more sky and fence. Being out of focus makes it easier.

Also maybe only apply sharpening to the in focus parts of the picture, and before applying the black background. Doing it after has left a row of bright pixels around the edge that draw the eye to the edge instead of the center. Sharpening the out of focus areas enhances bokeh problems. One quick method is after global sharpening, just take the history brush, set the history marker just before the sharpen step, then "wipe" it away where it isn't needed. You can also it with layer masks if you prefer. Then the background will be softer edged and the main subject will pop even more.

no. 2 for me very nice shot. both subjects seem absorbed by the amimals and improves the image greatly

I think I prefer the first one.

I don't find the people in the background so distracting, I didn't really notice them even until I started reading the comments.

The one thing I would say about the second is I find the orange band on her wrist distracting. I'm sure you both know what the band is so it might have meaning to you that makes it fit in more, but to someone like me I have no idea what it is from.

#2, because more interaction with the people/goats, and your wife's expression.

#2 here