I like the first one better. It gave more of a sense of being near water with the duller sky although your manipulation is very good. I feel the sky here detracts from the rest of the elements of the scene.
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Well, both of these images are/were good and this effect is nice as well. I don't like to straddle the fence, as I know that it's not helpful to the person who is trying to determine what works better than something else, but this sky background changes the mood of the original so much, it's almost like looking at a different image. It certainly changes the flavor and the mood. I like both of them, but for very different reasons :)PJ