[Dmodegirl]

[danpen]

The background's nicely out of focus and I like the light on the petals, I think I'd have cropped a little tighter but a nice shot.

[Dmodegirl]

I had it cropped a bit but wasn't happy with it, so I left it as is

[skipper954]

I am a nut for the rule of thirds. Particularly in a shot like this it would make it much more dramatic, as would a bit tighter crop.

skip

[Dave]

Lovely tones in the shot & good use of DOF

[Rob Barron]

Whilst I agree that perhaps a touch cropped off the left would be ideal, I can't agree that there is a problem with the rule of thirds (not that we have to stick to that all the time!) as the flower head occupies almost exactly a third of the picture so it's sides are right on the thirds laterally. The greenery at the base of the flower is also along the third line horizontally. We don't always have to position the actual subject on a third though I entirely agree that in a busier picture than this it is usually better.

I am quite happy with the way this is as it stands and as the picture's creator did try it and felt it didn't work, I am happy to go with her judgement on it. As I said though, I agree a touch off the left might make a difference, especially as the flower has a loose petal reaching out of the head to the right and the left side is considerably darker so can afford to be cropped a shade.

I have not pimped it to find out as the taker has asked us not to by default and what I can see in front of me is a beautiful picture so that is fine :o)

Cheers,
Rob