In the first image the tufts of grass and the near side road have some nice detail. In the newer one, the water horses are starting to show a similar nice detail. Good skills on the details.
The composition is not working that well, IMO.
Ouch. Completely static. Lifeless.
The important things in the image are the two riders and the water horses. These should be larger and positioned differently. The background forest and sky currently take up half the picture, but they are utterly unimportant, so this should be reduced. The picture needs to show the road to convey why the dark rider is in the stream here, but it is context rather than an important feature.
My suggestions:
Keep the image dimensions more horizontal than vertical.
Move the river so it flows at an angle instead of across, and add the road closer to a corner. The river doesn't have to be corner to corner (like the image below), but something more angled than what you have now.
Position one rider towards each corner of the image. The 1/3 mark is usually a strong position, but you might push the dark rider a little closer to the edge if the water horses add visual weight to that side of the image. You will probably have to do some experiments here.
Images above taken from a page on basic composition:
http://photoinf.com/General/NAVY/Photographic_composition_Balance.htmAlso consider reinforcing the light/dark contrast between the riders by using a similar contrast in the background elements. It's beyond my skills to offer any concrete suggestions here though.
Tourist
