Edit 2
Edit 1
Original
With fall behind us and winter in full swing, these small trees still have leaves. Dry and delicate like parchment, they punctuate the barren forest with splashes of light.
I’m playing around with some Selenium-ish toning on this one.
Any and all honest and constructive feedback is welcome!
Is this a composite: No
Camera: Fujifilm X-T3
Lens: Fujifilm 16-80mm f4
ISO: 80
Focal Length: 46.6 mm
Aperture: f/4
Shutter: 1/7 s.
I like the idea of this and agree that older leaves are pretty photogenic, especially with a bit of spotlighting like this. The darks look muddy and blocked to me and you could use a little clockwise rotation to straighten. They feel like you’ve really gone in and changed the luminance value of the big trees. But since you didn’t say how you processed this, I’m not sure. Either way, I think lifting those and adding some local contrast could improve the feel of this. I like the one fluttering leaf on the left.
I also like the concept, and love the way the bright leaves stand out. However, I too wish for a bit more definition in the rest of the scene. I understand wanting to emphasize the bright against the dark, of course, but there seems to be enough interesting tonal variation back there that it would be nice to see it brought out a bit more.
Thanks @jefflafrenierre and @Kris_Smith. I scaled back on the dark while trying to maintain that pop of leaves. Slight rotation as well. Let me know what you think. Did I swing too far the other way?
I like this. I would say you did swing too far the other way. I like the dark look of the trees that really put the emphasis on the bright leaves. For my tastes, maybe back off the changes 75% to bring a bit more detail to the trees but not much.
Adam, for me a rework of this image this one is a balancing act between using luminosity to make the leaves pop out, vs. showing a a bit more of the tonal range in the midtones (such as in the foreground leaves on the ground.
I agree with @Harley_Goldman about aiming for somewhere in-between the original and your rework. But I wouldn’t darken it globally, I’d try to retain some of the detail in those foreground leaves. I’d darken the top half of the rework and the trees to enhance the separation of the bright leaves on the tree, but also retain some mid-tone detail in the leaves on the ground (because there is some interesting texture there.
I love the image, but second the opinion that you should aim at something not that dark…
Thanks @Harley_Goldman @Ed_McGuirk and @joaoquintela ! I’ve added another edit. I think I’ve reached a middle ground. I put some more emphasis on those foreground leaves and used some luminosity masks and burning to darken the background. Let me know what you think.
To my eye, you hit the sweet spot with the last edit. 
Thank you! It was getting to the point where I was staring at it so long I was doubting everything 
