Personally, I like the first one even more than the traditional one! The first photo is just so unique and abstract. There's a softness to it. If you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve this effect? It has such a painterly quality to it! One tiny thing I might adjust is to change the color of the background just so the subject pops a bit more. That should be an easy adjustment with any photo editing software though. Of course, that's my personal taste and if you prefer monochromatic style photos by all means keep it this way!