Julie's single leaf reminded me of this image I recently took on a trip to the Adirondacks. This leaf was under the water about 1 foot deep just sitting there. When I shot the image I thought it was great but upon final review I thought the BG hurt it.
Tripod mounted Canon EOS 40D, ISO 100, f/18. SS 1/10. 24-105mm at 105mm.
Nick, I really like this! I'm glad my image reminded you to go dig it out.
One thing I thought when I first looked at it was how close in tone the sand and leaf were. I selected the leaf and lowered the midtones with a levels adjustment just a touch, then inverted the selection and lightened the midtones for the sand just a touch. I think it gave a little more tonal depth to the image.
I see you put the leaf in the ROT's position but I still think it had a bit too much sand around it so I cropped just a bit, moving the leaf so it filled 2/3 of the frame and letting the sand only have 1/3. These are just suggestions but I think they bumped the image up a notch - and it was already pretty darn good to start with. See what you think...
Hey Nick, I think Jules repost helped control the negative space. Its common to see photogs add to much negative space that overpowers the main subject. Nice color in the leaf and good contrast between the main subject and the BG.