Think about the photo before and after, never during. The secret is to take your time. You mustn't go too fast. The subject must forget about you. Then, however, you must be very quick.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
The good: colors are very vibrant and rich, but not overly saturated; lighting too, is very dramatic and contrasty without any overly blown highlights.
Suggested change(s): that one area(upper right) of leaf or leaves feels more like an intruder than an invited guest. I'd suggest cloning/cropping it out. This would leave you (no pun intended) with a bit of an imbalances image so I'd also suggest twisting the crop about 20-30 degrees counterclockwise.
Focus is good, yes, but couldve been a smidge sharper. Perhaps a slightly tighter aperture, or manual focus, if available.
Strictly in terms of the contest theme, however, this more than fills the bill. Best of luck to you.