Stills

There is a very particular feel to the light in this that I like: I always feel that that is one of the main advantages of colour - being able to catch certain times of the day or climatic conditions. The scale of man and tree, and their positioning, are well thought through and the foreground tree is given context by the housing and different tree types behind.
 

the scale of the man against the tree keeps me interested here, the muted colours work as well. While the man and tree are centered there is still some tension created by the tree on the right which makes the central tree feel not so centered.
 

I went to your blog to look at this a bit larger -- still difficult to get all the leafy details, but as Colin indicates, the structure and content are still strong. I agree that the scale of man and tree are key.

I like what that small touch of brighter red adds in the midst of so much green.
 

I am in a quandry, the image is a little soft, a hand held 6x6 at a medium shutter speed (either 1/60 or 1/125), but it is the only one of the two that places the groundskeeper in the 'best' location. When I looked at the negative with a loop on the light box, it looked fine. After scanning, boo hisss.

It is my past natural landscape photography that wants me to have a tack sharp neg, but the fine art side that permits me to live with some softness. I guess I need to scan the other neg and make a decision, but I do like this composition very much. Another reason that I will not complete this years SoFoBoMo project in the time alloted.
 

JPG compression is hard on foliage, and that's pretty much the whole image here. I'm not sure the softness would be a problem if you printed it.

I can't help but think of the photography magazine adage to check for trees growing out of the subject's head, although, in this case, any other placement of the figure would have ruined the symmetry.
 

This is an optical surprise as it is not immediately apparent as to the size of the tree, it seems very small, until one recognises the scale from the gardener.
 

This is very 'Shore-like'. The figure is key to holding down the picture and adding scale to all the vegetation. I have no issues with the light or softness as both add to a certain roughness (as in overgrown) to that the picture has captured. There are also little snippets amongst the growth to keep you more interested - like the turreted wall?