Frost has “caught” me many times too. 🙂
In the holly leaf image, I would like to see the stem of the leaves . . . like you do in the second image, of the brown fragile leaf. I like that brown fragile leaf because it makes me feel like the leaf is just about to fall off. Like the next whisper of wind would bring it right down. I don’t get that feeling very often with most fall leaf images.
I think “Feeling” in an image is created best when the subject of an image simply links the viewer to a “feeling” or memory or positive emotion of the past. Like, the image itself may not be “exciting” — a leaf hanging on a tree about to fall off — but when that simple subject ignites that feelings that are already within me, I start to get excited about it. My brother Michael always quotes a homey little poem called “The Frost is on the Pumpkin” when the first big frost hits (and has done it ever since I was young) and so when I saw this picture of the leaf, it brought back that whole load of “exciting” feelings back to me: the excitement of cozy evenings by the fireplace, harvesting the last fruits in the garden, expectations of snow and Christmas…. It’s like a chain reaction, and after just a few milliseconds of running through years of memories, I say “wow, that’s a really nice picture”.
BUT, I wouldn’t say that if it wasn’t well composed or had some other element about it that distracted me from the feelings being ignited. A picture has to be well composed, well exposed, well everything to keep you from being distracted from those memories being ignited.
I would tend to say that the twig in the top right corner of the image is a distraction to me. Cropping that out would help me focus on the leaf and it’s struggle to keep attached to the tree.