Showing the flow, which one works better?

Description: These are two of several attempts at this spot to show the flow of the creek as the little waterfalls enter it. I didn’t have the right gear to get into the river, which might have been a good perspective here. I like how the long exposures caught the overall movement of the water that wasn’t visible in real time. I have some concerns about compositional balance and whether I should have just gone ahead and gotten wet!

Settings:
Photo 1 (square crop): Canon EOS R, Canon 24-105mm @ 31mm, polarizer, 10-stop NDF, 20 s @ f/8.0, ISO 100.

Photo 2 (landscape crop): Canon EOS R, Canon 24-105mm @ 35mm, polarizer, 10-stop NDF, 30s @ f/9.0, ISO 100

Specific Feedback Requested: Any thoughts are welcome. What do you think about the composition and balance, especially the large dark mass of water in the lower right? But, again, all aspects are open for discussion.

Pertinent technical details or techniques: Long exposures using CPF and 10-stop NDF.

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For me there is no question the first image is the stronger of the two. In the second image you have cropped very tight to the top of the mountain, it feels too cramped. The extra breathing room with more sky in the first image feels better. I suspect you may be worried about the tree being a distraction in the first image, which is why you cropped tighter in the second image. While that tree is not ideal, a really tight crop just introduces another problem.

I think the second image has too much empty or negative space in the lower right corner (LRC). When I encounter situations like this, I ask myself, does the negative space in the LRC help to balance the image better, or does it help tell part of the story? I’m not sure it does either in this case. Just my opinion…

The long exposure has created a wonderful creamy look in the water, it’s very well done.

I prefer both the crop, for the reason’s @Ed_McGuirk noted, and the sharpness of the first image. (Maybe the sharpness difference is the way NPN is handling the images?)