The strong diagonal seems unnatural with the tree and grass rotated past vertical. I kinda get the feeling that the pipers are blowing hard enough to move the tree branches on the right (those on the left might be cloned tighter/rounder) ... maybe amplify the branches on the right with some motion blur.
I'm not fully sure of "the point" / "message" to be conveyed, but I find myself drawn to the mass (scale) of the tree in contrast with the sky. I have to "work" to put the connection of the pipers to the tree. I kinda get the playful spirit of the pipers blowing over the tree (or so I think), but like you've indicated ... not really there. Maybe others will have better thought @ this one for you.
My first thought was that the pipers were blowing over the tree. It works for me. I prefer the color (big surprise) but this is mostly symbolic and B&W works ok here too. I would rotate until the grass is vertical.
Thanks, that's helped a lot.
I can see now that the moment the tree is almost falling on them, rather than being influenced by them.
Time for some PS warpery I think
rotated to bring the pipers standing on level ground. Through some blur at the right side of the image. Just goofin' with a gradient at enlarged canvas created by rotation. Nothin' much, just concept of rotation.
