Err, before you get too carried away with my "genius" and attributing everything as an absolute property of the image and it's composition... 😜
Composition and balance certainly, but also your memories, It's also reminding you of the familiar. You may imagine walking down the path because in similar views you have. Those shaded beech avenues as the sun shines through the golden autumn leaves is an iconic view, one that sticks in the memory.
Thank you both.
What may not be apparent in the first image is that Glen Banvie is a small but quite deep ravine, so standing on the path you look through the closer ground detail and leaves straight through to the canopy behind. There is no forest floor, or sea of tree trunks, just this striking backdrop of autumn colour. I took a whole series at different spots, the one shown is by far the best.