I like them both, but somehow number 2 draws me deeper into the space. It may be that the deep black area beyond the trees has that effect. A lovely composition, with rich variety in texture and tone, with nicely manipulated depth of field. Thanks for sharing the Nordic summer!
Thank you Jon for a generous comment. You may be right about the deep black and what draws one into the space, perhaps an effect also due to more contrast, more white areas in this "morning" version with another kind of light. Having taken several more straight version of this subject (many times!) but never really managed to "open up and entering into the space" I decided to swing the standards around the vertical axis, one to the left and one to the right, getting some kind of narrow DOF, but sufficient for "entering into": yes, manipulated depth of field! Happy you appreciate it --- and the Nordic summer!
Best wishes!
/Bertil