I would go with the header, primarily due to the position of the text and the background visual. The footer text over the visual is slightly hard to digest and may cause accessibility issues (color contrast). That said, both lovely designs.

I REALLY WANNA BUILD SOME TYPE OF WEBSITE WITH THIS EXACT LAYOUT. MANN THATS ATTRACTIVE

Hero for this one!

looking good!

I'm leaning towards the hero, but I do think that the text is getting lost in both of them.

Love the Hero! The text placement is easier on the eye

If you add a bottom dark shade that slowly fades out the higher it goes, this could go up a level. (I'm talking about the hero)