[jake]

Does the presentation look ok? Does it make it too dark? Would it look better with a different border or lettering?
All suggestions welcome (well almost all )

[Angela]

There's quite a lot going on in the image Jake and I think the border does make it difficult to focus on the flower itself. Perhaps a crop to where the border is now and a plain colour border would set off the image much better.

[Larne]

I actually like the image as it is. I find the leaf on the l/hand side a bit distracting and it would have been nice to have less detail in the background but there may not have been much you could do about those. The point is my attention is always drawn back to the flower and that's what makes it work ... for me at least.

[jake]

I hear what you say Angela. Here's the crop and plain border.

Larne thanks for the comment my idea was to isolate the flower from the surrounding area without completely getting rid of the suroundings. Yes the background though well out of focus could do to be a little less obtrusive, I have a f1.7 (good old Minolta lens) that would have done the trick or a lump of coloured card placed behind. Might have another go with artificial lighting.

[marcinklysewicz]

great photo and i prefer first version. beautiful flower.

[jake]

Thanks Marcin. My late wifes father used to love these plants so we cultivated a few in his memory

[Markulous]

Much prefer the 2nd - and will await the Minolta version which'll reduce the BG detail nicely (but preferably not the BG card or lighting version! )

[ray]

First one is best for me jake, love it

[photoshopmad]

The second one is best for me. The border on the first one detracts from the beauty of the flower.

[j sotelo]

I like the 2nd, it centers the focus on the flower, you could have left enough space at the bottom for the title, IMO it would have looked good too.

[jake]

Once again thanks for your opinions