Splash of color in winter snow

[GDP2012]

I like the bright color of the tree contrasted against the snow and pond beyond it. I would like a critique about the composition. Beyond the fact it has the splash of color, I would like to know if the image draws the viewer in and keeps their eye. What would you have done differently if anything.

Camera: Sony SLT-A55V
f/13
1/30 sec
ISO-100
exposure bias -0.3 step
focal length 50mm
metering - center weighted average
No flash
Used aperture priority

The image has been cropped and I used an unsharpen mask.

[Barry Jackson]

I like the color and the composition.

I kept trying to figure out if that was a tree or what.

I finally decided it must me a tree. What kind?

[geo909]

Originally Posted by GDP2012

I like the bright color of the tree contrasted against the snow and pond beyond it. I would like a critique about the composition. Beyond the fact it has the splash of color, I would like to know if the image draws the viewer in and keeps their eye. What would you have done differently if anything.

Camera: Sony SLT-A55V
f/13
1/30 sec
ISO-100
exposure bias -0.3 step
focal length 50mm
metering - center weighted average
No flash
Used aperture priority

The image has been cropped and I used an unsharpen mask.

Just a personal opinion (I'm a beginner so take this with a grain of salt):
It seems to me that, although the color of the tree is beautiful, the
composition is kind of weak.. Nothing really draws my eye, although
the colors are so nice..

[shruggy63]

Isn't it a silver birch? The colours are nice.
Looking at your exif GDP, was that handheld? At F13 the background should be fairly sharp except maybe the water which might be affected by the slow shutter speed. But I'm seeing blur on the twigs.
I'm thinking you shot something that isn't a landscape as a landscape? You got the winter colours but there's no reason that the background should be sharp when your shot is about colour?

[Akhil Jain]

You might not always be able to capture what your eye sees. Besides, With this shot, if you want that pound to contrast with the snow clad tree, you could probably increase your depth of field with a bit higher ISO and faster shutter speed. You have already cropped the picture so there is very less I can say about it, I feel you could cover some more area in the background and it would have given you a better result as far as the contrast is concerned.
Again, Just a personal view. I loved the colors. Cheers...!

[photog1107]

I feel the composition is too busy to allow your eye to settle on anything. This might have much better possibilities either as a much closer shot... to capture the textures of the bark, etc., or perhaps if this color really did "pop" when you originally saw it, it might even work better if you had backed off to give it some context. In its current state, it's just too messy to see what is really there. Good exposure, tho, and you captured the color nicely, so keep recomposing and see what you get.

[GDP2012]

My goal was to focus on the color and texture of the tree trunk and bark but I'm not sure how I could compose the image to be more interesting due to how busy the background is. I don't have a closeup with the background in focus as suggested. I attached another photo of the same tree taken from the distance showing the entire tree. As you can see it is a very busy image with all of the branches.
The original image I posted was from a close-up shot which I cropped slightly to remove a second tree trunk on the left. As for the blurred background that's probably because I didn't use a tripod, it was about 28 degrees and the hands were hard to keep steady, let alone feel the camera.
Thanks for all of the input. These critiques have been very beneficial for a newbie such as myself.