(If the background has been replaced, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
The autumnal rose of sharon hibiscus - which never seems to open fully !
This is a beautiful and sharp cluster…I rather like the partially closed blooms as it helps me imagine with anticipation what it might look like fully open. I’ve long been fascinated with trying to capture/demonstrate “transitions” in photography, so for me, I rather like this.
You know what I really like is the background light on the upper R. top of the image…it provides a luminous counterpoint to the brighter cluster. If this were mine and I had the raw data, I’d include more of this lit section in the background as I believe it helps the overall image. Your thoughts?
Gorgeous, Ian. I love the colors and the textures of the leaves. My only nit is the partial in-focus leaf poking into the left side of the frame. for some reason, it really attracted my attention. Maybe blur it into the background?
Thanks, @Jim_McGovern, for the comments. I was a bit concerned about other elements of the bg distracting if I opened this up, but I do agree that more of the lighter area would be good. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks for the comments, @Dennis_Plank . I’ll look again at that leaf - I think you have a good suggestion there.
Ian, the colors are splendid of the flower and the buds. Looking for a suggestion: the composition seems to me a bit squeezed in the square format with the leaves piercing the external lines. Do you think that an horizontal format could give more air to the image and may be a bit more of lighted background?
Ian: It’s interesting that these are called Rose of Sharon because we have a couple of varieties here that use that same name. Perhaps the hibiscus gods ran out of names 
. I like the lighting and the overall comp. This is another challenging crop decision but I think I would take some off the top and left. Still very nice as is. >=))>
As previously stated, a little adjustment to the comp would be my only suggestion. I would remove the partial leaf on the top left and give a little more room at the bottom and the right. A variety of Rose of Sharon that I’ve never seen before. Thanks for posting this.
