Has the water finally settled on this path?

A little while ago I showed the development of my print 'water pooled path' (link)

We left it with white margins, and some pencil scribble to see if it might be better with extra dark textures in the side areas.

I printed a short 'stage 1' edition and then with more trepidation than I thought I would feel, back it went into the Ferric. Now I'm so glad I took the risk:

'water pooled path'

- a little path that leads away from the Maple collection at Westonbirt Arboretum

Now the puddles are the focus, and the reflections speak for themselves. The viewers gaze is drawn up through the image rather than roaming side to side. This was a risk which paid off (and that doesn't always happen!)

Etching Progress - Water Pooled Path

Work has continued on the etching:

water pooled path - stage 1

I've created some distance with a spit bite horizon line, and a soft shading in the puddles.

This all looks great on the inked up plate, but now its printed I've reached an impasse. I'm just not sure I can stick with the unfinished areas down the sides. These looked great on the drawing, but maybe not on the print.

Here I've drawn shading over the white areas, and I think darkening the sides will serve to focus attention on the puddles, and draw the eye through the image. Just to be sure I've printed a few off at stage one, and then its back to the acid and a good strong bite for this plate.