(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
It’s sort of a wild garden – a preserve devoted to Asian flora, and there is a very small lotus pond in a beautiful little hidden dell. By the time the flowers open, midday, they are in full sun, but this bud was still in dappled shade from trees overhead. Canon 5D4, 100-400 + 1.4X at 368mm, ISO 100, 1/5 sec at f/16. Tripod. Minimal tonal adjustments in LR, the edge of a BG leaf removed on the left in PS. Frustratingly there is only one very small area to stand, limiting compositional possibilities, but it worked out well here.
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Diane, I really love this image. I agree with what both Bill and Kathy said. I also like the way the back leaf seems to cradle around the bud, as if protecting it. Very nice.