A professional photographer,
Cindy Chadwick, has a thoughtful discussion of what makes a photo "artistic" or "fine art" vs something less on her web site. She suggests that the elements of an artistic photo are:
Good Composition
Emotion - it is difficult for a photo to look artistic if it does not create some emotional response in the person who sees it.
Uniqueness - Will people say "Wow! I've never seen a picture of a ________ like that before."?
Ability to tell a story - will people be able to insert themselves into the picture or into your shoes as you viewed the scene and project their own story of what is happening?
Certainly the folks here will have their own elements to add to this list.
I don't know, Rob, if you were trying to create "art" on top of that cliff but I try to look very critically at my work to see if it has all the elements listed above. I have learned that when one or more elements are lacking, I just feel that something is missing. Much like the shot I just posted on this forum - LONE TREE. I like it, but feel something is missing - I'm just not sure what element that is so I posted it here to get some Pixalo member input.
Looking forward to seeing what others have to say.