(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
A reworked old shot of a cosmos in a bed of flowers. I think I was mostly shooting pretty close up macro shots at the time but was experimenting here with the lens in telescopic mode !
Ian: Ho hum, just another one of your fantastic treatments of light and BG 
. I especially like the cram effect and the light on the flower is magical. Bravo! >=))>
Ian, I love the background, color and the delicate way you handled the DOF, almost as much as I love the POV and colors of the flower. Lovely photo.
Hi Ian - The composition, framing, and processing all come together nicely here. The colors pull me in and I think this is overall a quite successful portrait of this plant. My main point of feedback involves a few of the out of focus bits. For example, the stem in the lower middle catches my eye (the one coming out of the bud and heading to the upper left). Depending on how much processing you do to your photos, you could consider lightly cloning over that stem to reduce its visual weight. You could also consider lightly cloning over the flower in the lower left corner, as it also distracts me from the main stars of the photo. Otherwise, a beautiful portrait!
Thank you so much @Sarah_Marino for your comment and suggestions. It’s always tricky tackling a bg when you want to suggest something of the environment of a flower, and I spent some time working on what I wanted and didn’t want in focus. I’ll definitely look again with your suggestions in mind.
I’m sorry if I made it sound like I didn’t think you were making deliberate choices. I just wanted to mention that the out of focus part coming out of the bud caught my eye. If it was over to the left just a bit, I don’t think it would bother me because it wouldn’t intersect with another important part of the composition. Either way, it is a lovely portrait of this flower.
Beautiful, Ian. I really love the composition and the soft foreground in this image. The blurred echoes in the background work very well.
