just done a mod for you in cs5.
I tweaked the colour balance to where it should be which made the colour pop more and the white becomes whiter plus tweaked the sharpness a tad too.
other than those tweaks i would say you got it all wrapped up there.

Ian

A desk lamp to expose the background would not work, for one it would be a different light to the studio lights and therefore mess with the cameras white balance.
However you are nearly there all you need to get the back ground nice and white is one stop more exposure on the light facing the background and one light facing the subject correctly exposed, this works well for me with people and i get a nice high key look.
Also use the grey card for custom white balance it will make your colours really pop and add to the white being white as it should be.

great shot you got the mushroom sharp front to back which is hard work with a macro lens.
Only one real criticism and thats the grass in front of the shot is distracting, cloning these out would be what i would do if the image were mine.
Other than that it's a great shot and you got down and dirty too which is a must for that different perspective.

Ian.

Nice shot but the sky seems a little blown out and the pier a little on the dark side but do really like the light on the sand and on the well composed stones.

Ian.

good shot Ted. but you know there will be buts .
Firstly try using a wider angle lens like sigma 10-20mm or for full frame the 17-40mm lens and put the aperture to f22 this will ensure sharpness front to back as long as you focus on your horizon or a little before, if you did not already manual focus then do so as this is more accurate for this type of shot.
In this shot i would get the horizon in in the middle by chopping off the out of focus poppy's in the foreground, the only reason you have soft foreground poppy's is because you need to use a wider angle lens.
This is only my observation but i think the tree needs to be put further to the right for a better composition.

Also maybe you could bring out the detail in the clouds a little with burn tool.

I have uploaded a mod for you.

I hope this helps.

Ian

a great shot i know just how difficult it can be getting a great image of the moon.
All i did with my mod was sharpen and tone down the glare to get back the detail in the moon then added a touch of warmth, that's it.

hope this helps but to be fair its a great image that needed little doing and it was easy to do.

Kind regards

Ian

great looking flower head and nicely thought out.
there was a comment on the leaves being in it earlier however i personally feel leave them in as you have,
it gives the whole image more of an identity.