Which appears to be better?

[jon.oman]

I have a new piece of software, Nik Silver Effects Pro. It is a plug-in for Photoshop. So, I have been playing with it. It does appear to bring out more detail than I could get with just Photoshop. But, I'm not sure if I like it or not. I have just scratched the surface of what the software can do, so there is still more that can be done. What do you think, which version do you like better? The original version is the first image.....

#1

#2

[Sparkey]

Looking at the tree and the bench I prefer the image quality of the first one.

[jon.oman]

I have been leaning in the same direction. But, I do like the lower left and upper right of image #2 better.....

I am going to work on this image some more, to see if I can get the best of both views.

[JohnSR]

I agree with Sparkey. First one looks lots better. By the way, what are all those white spots on the bench. bird poop?

[jon.oman]

I agree with Sparkey. First one looks lots better. By the way, what are all those white spots on the bench. bird poop?

It is fungus.....

[earl.johnson]

First one. The second one is all chalk and soot. I like an image with some midtowns. Do a curve layer in ps and work the midtowns.

[jon.oman]

I go either way with this image. I still can't decide.
I have never been able to use the curve layer. I just don't know what I am doing with them. I could use a tutorial.