PatrickMP

Overall I love scenes like this, and I think you've captured it very well.  You've made excellent use of the stairwell to force the eye along a particular path in the image.  I can't help but naturally go to the top-right of the frame. 

However, the top-left of the frame seems vacant to me, and the image seems to "tilt right" as it were.  I'm not sure if it a combination of the negative space in the top-left quadrant and the sloping/curvature of the stairs, but my I feel like I am falling over to the right when I look at the image.

Aside from that, the tonal range is excellent.  You've captured some very nice light in the image, and there is a very good balance between the highlights of the leaves and the shadow detail in the stairs.  The depth of field is also very nice, having a clear view from foreground to background.

Requesting a critique on some of my older work. Originally printed on Ilford MG IV FB,

these are scans from copy-slides I made of the work.

Overall I like it, but I feel that the rock (boulder?) in the foreground is too prominent . I'm not sure of what was available above the top of your frame, so you might have had to make a conscious decision between the rock and something worse up above. Perhaps if you were shooting 6x7 or some other non-square format you could have retained the angle of view, while eliminating the heavy gray foreground.

The use of angle is really nice, and the subject stands out from the background quite well. The rear elements are enough in focus to add to the photo, but not draw your attention away from the main subject.