Photographing movement: Comparing the two exercises

I have chosen my two favourite images from the previous two exercises 'Photographing movement', and am comparing why I think they do and don't work, and which over all is the better image. Here are the images I have picked:

Image 1

Image 2

The first one I like the fact that the setting is stationary, and the car is streaking through, making it appear it is going exceedingly fast. The light trails make a really good feature in the picture, and the contrast between that and the cars that are frozen in the background make it seem like it is the only thing moving at speed. It really jumps out at you in comparison. I also don't like it for the same reason that the background is stationary. Even though it makes the main subject stand out, it also makes it quite a cold image as everything is so still and your eye is not drawn to any other part of it. This can mean to some people it would be a very striking piece, but can also put people off by its boldness.

Image 2 is much more fun in appearance, and as I described before the picture has captured the sense of suspense very well by just adding the slight movement to the ball. The movement makes the photograph much more dynamic, but with so much else in focus it can draw your attention away from the action of the piece.

Over all I think that both images work well for their own reasons, and it is very difficult to pick one particular photograph as better as they are very different subjects that need to be caught with different techniques to get across the message you want to say about them. The second image is my personal favourite as it has an emotion connected to it through the colours, movement and suggestion included with the shadow of the basket ball, to make you feel as though you personal could be just ready to jump up and throw it yourself. A good photograph to me is one that makes you feel something :-)