Oh! It's always fun to see something unusual in the DPC Challenges and this certainly is unusual. Thanks for putting it in competition.
I voted this high when I went through the images and still would do the same. I think it is nicely exposed, the subject matter is just fine and your mask works very, very well.
What's not to like.
So, I'll simply say congratulations on a great idea and move on to the next image in the queue.
I don't like the border on this - i think it would be better without. It looks like there is white balance problems in the background, as the green leaves look a little blue and cold.