Two photos in the rain 2 different settings U pick your preference

[Omaha Steve]

X post from GD,

Night vision vs flash. She knows we feed the creatures of the forest at dusk.

[Mira]

1. The first one by a country mile IMO

The depth and the true feel of the forest are preserved, and the dark ambience complements the deer's eyes. It is a naturally gorgeous shot. To me the second one looks unreal and washed out.

[Mz Pip]

2. The first one.

It is more true to a night shot.

[Binkie The Clown]

3. The first one looks flat, like most flash photos do.

I prefer the second one.

[Curmudgeoness]

4. I have never heard of night vision for photography,

so the second one blew me away. I am partial to the second one since there is so much detail in the background that is missing in the first one. The only problem I have with the second one is that it looks like day, but the deer's eyes should not be reflective like they are and it is a little unsettling.

Then again, if you are trying to get the sense of night, #2 misses the mark by a mile.

[handmade34]

5. 1st

[Homer Wells]

6. The FIRST one, for sure! nt

[jmowreader]

7. The second one looks like a daytime shot

I can see uses for that - cops and firefighters at incidents spring instantly to mind - but for most purposes, a night shot should look like it was shot at night.

[ManiacJoe]

8. As is, I like the dark one better.

It looks more natural. The browns in the second one don't look right.

That said, I would do some playing with the post processing on both to see how much better they could look.

[Omaha Steve]

9. Feel free

Can you do it from the post material?

OS

[ManiacJoe]

10. Bigger versions would be better,

but for just experimenting, these would do.

[ManiacJoe]

11. Playing with the demon deer.

Turns out that the pics were much larger than expected. I scaled them down here.
It would seem that my Photoshop skills need some updates...

For the first one (dark), I was hoping to lighten it up while maintaining the natural "flash at night" look, but that was not working out.

For the bright one I originally wanted to see if I could bring it back closer to a night shot, but I couldn't get that to look reasonable. Instead I just went a little darker, a little more contrast. I then ended up using the Nik Color Efex plugin to play with the white balance and color tints making the deer and trees look a little browner.

Ultimately, I am not sure it is better now, as opposed to just different; but it was an interesting experience.