[Summerleft]

Picked this off by mistake, still not quite sure , used a filter so not as sharp as Id of liked but anyway will stop waffling

[nichpr]

Summer,
This is such a beautiful blossom........ perhaps you could have brought out more of that beauty had you used a contrasting background and included more of the blossom in the frame.
Some who take this kind of shot strive for realism and some for the abstract. If it is realism that you want, then a greater depth of field will help so that we see more of the petals in sharp focus. If it is the abstract - then a very narrow dof and only portions of the blossom in the frame will often work.
IMHO, the shot above is neither firmly in one genre or the other so, while I appreciate the subjects innate beauty, the photo lacks impact for me.

[chrisa]

Needs better lighting IMHO.

No sure why/what filter would make it less sharp.

[Summerleft]

I used a macro filter rather than a dedicated lense which doesnt give as good a result chrisa.

I was hoping for a very delicate image, and used white so it almost blended in, have had a quick play with contrast

[chrisa]

Should of guessed on the close up filter.

Your edit looks better with more natural whites. Still think some lighting effect or diffusion to soften image would improve it though.

[JMitchell]

Nice image, but I think there's more potential to it. Look at this:

Image Copyright 'The Imogen Cunningham Trust'



This is an Imogen Cunningham image that I think is particularly beautiful. I saw something of it in your photo, but think that there could be a much bigger similarity drawn if you just worked a little on the composition, and the treatment.