Late Autumn Cottonwoods

Made this image of these cottonwoods and a few birch set against autumn color in the Hatcher Pass area of Alaska about 10 years ago. The 4x5 sat in my files until about 3 weeks ago when I decided to scan it and see what I could do. The result is a bit of an interpretation that is somewhat a departure from the original. My intent was to bring out the luminosity of the cottonwoods, attempting to make them somehow glow against a colorful palette of autumn color, as well as accentuate the graphic nature of these trees. Maybe I accomplished this intent and maybe not. Any and all opinions, positive or negative, about this image would be appreciated.
Made this photo with my now 30year old view camera, a 360mm Nikkor lens, on Velvia. Scanned with a Microtek M1 flatbed scanner. Multiple layers and masks were used, mostly Tony Kuyper's masking techniques as well as others, luminosity painting, and selective color. The only cloning done was to eliminate the film holder spots (from E6 developing) in the upper left that remained after cropping.

Larger picture provided. Compression is an issue.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and comments.