I liked the esthetic idea of the first version, but this one is a definite improvement.
Nice job on the bark! The XFrog models are indeed mediocre, so you managed to make them look quite a bit better, I like it.
I also like the suggestion of adding a little bit of depth of field. I don't know the focal length and distance to, say, the center rock and leaning tree, but that's the distance I would set focus on and then only add a subtle depth of field.
The image indeed has a weird sharpness effect to it. Did you sharpen it in post, or did you render it with catmull rom and less than or equal to AA8?
I'm mixed on whether you used path tracing or not. Oshyan isn't sure either, neither am I.
I tend to say you did not use PT, but like Oshyan I wonder what would cause it to look like a non-PT render if you understand what I mean.
I like the exposure of the render, quite photographic, but not spot on yet.
How does it look when you darken all surfaces by 50% or 75% and increase camera exposure accordingly?
This should result in a brighter sky, which I would expect given the amount of visible detail in the shadows in this render.
It's a tricky balance and probably a personal thing as well, so I can imagine you have very different ideas about this!
Looking forward to see your next iteration!