Adirondack Morning

Is the reflection nice off the water? Is the burnt out background

effective?

I really like the reflection because it is a soft variation to the real subject. You're using an interesting application of the rule of thirds, but it is not immediately evident, since you're doing this with negative and positive space, not the horizon. The mood is well brought forth.
I think you should saturate the background a little more, if at all possible without making it bright. Since your only highlight is flat, you could probably bring the fog a little bit more. This looks like a simple shot, but the processing is evidently tricky.

The fog and the reflection are great. Only the featureless white on the top bothers me a little.