Azruial,
Thinking about your analysis, I wonder if I had made this a "true" sepia, where the pole is brownish rather than black, if that would have made the it less dominant? I will try that in Lightroom. This is one of a bunch I shot on Folly Island with a little Canon point-and-shoot to see how good a picture I could get with it.
Thanks again for your comments. I am getting back in the game after a year or more of shutter block - show me the Afghan Girl in front of an Ansel Adams mountainscape and I couldn't find a picture to shoot.