Aside from a wide range of contrast and color, the image has a nice emotional appeal. I'm no expert, of course, but the contrast, though pleasing is a bit too diverse for me personally...but I still like the picture on many levels
Thanks for the comments. Yes - I would have preferred a little (a lot) less contrast but unfortunately, I was shooting under a bright afternoon sun. I've reduced the contrast as best as I could in CS3 using shadow/highlight without degrading the overall quality of the image.