Yes You are right, the white burn-out is distracting. Also the sharpness could be greater, soon I will have the chance to make a better scan, so stay tuned for an update..
I think I understand the idea behind this picture and why the artist choose this way. The composition of this shot is quite good, I think.
However I would have tried to work even more with the depth of field. The background could be even unsharper and less noisy. Maybe also some sky would help the picture to gain more depth.
The focus could have been better placed onto the top of the red stone in the middle right.
The colours could have been more brighter, in my opinion they are too flat.
The format of the picture is in my eyes not the best choice, I would have tried to stick in a 2:3 format.
All in all a good picure with some small flaws, which prohibit the picture to be a very good one.