A spectacular image. When I opened this thread in my browser I only saw the top half and at first thought you had gone to Indonesia to shoot a slash and burn fire.
Having read your write up about how you created the shot, I agree that as presented this is the better of the two options. Having the fire breather at bottom right gives a strong diagonal and filling much of the frame with the flames has great impact. I wonder if you need slightly more space to the left, though? As it is, it feels just a bit too tight and it might add to the drama by giving the fire somewhere to expand into. I also wonder if the image suffers from the lower part of the flames not having a distinct edge?
I liked the other shot as well. The fire breather is nicely illuminated and we can see his tatoos, with the fireball being an ineresting and well defined shape, which demonstrates how the other shot could benefit. For me the main problem is that it is on the small side and leaves too much empty space. Unlike the other shot, there is no obvious connection between it and the performer, either. Maybe some manipulation might help it. I would be tempted to crop the man just below his tatoos, make him slightly smaller in the frame, increase the size of the flames and possibly rotate it very slightly so that it takes up a bit more width and creates more of a diagonal. Finally, I would add something to connect the two elements to make it obvious the man is breathing the fire. I am not sure if that would work, but some experimentation would be worthwhile as the shot does have a potential which is not quite realised as taken.
Thanks for sharing. You have set the standard for the remaining fifty weeks!
