what's in a name???

Good-looking rose, Stefania - an English rose by David Austin? Certainly looks like it. Beautiful thing - one of those that almost resemble a peony or camelia, lovely flower. I must say that I would have expected a different composition from you - you have such a varied portfolio, full of pictures with creative compositions. And yet this rose was put slap bang in the middle of this image, a very straightforward shot. Undoubtedly on purpose, and maybe you have your reasons for that. But I think I would have gone for a somewhat different composition if it had been mine. In showing you alternatives, I can of course only work with what you've supplied, so I've made a mod with a crop. I think I would have been inclined to leave out the background, so my crop reflects that. Also, I thought it might be a good idea to make the crop uneven, so if you could have called the image symmetrical at all before, you can't anymore after the crop. And in a second mod I hope to show you that de-saturating the image somewhat and playing around with the hue a bit can still make a nice picture, but now the shapes and lines of the flower are more important and the colour isn't. Just some ideas. Not that there was anything really wrong with your image, because there wasn't. Well exposed and with good dof. I just wanted to show some alternatives.

Good-looking rose, Stefania - an English rose by David Austin? Certainly looks like it. Beautiful thing - one of those that almost resemble a peony or camelia, lovely flower.

I must say that I would have expected a different composition from you - you have such a varied portfolio, full of pictures with creative compositions. And yet this rose was put slap bang in the middle of this image, a very straightforward shot. Undoubtedly on purpose, and maybe you have your reasons for that. But I think I would have gone for a somewhat different composition if it had been mine.

In showing you alternatives, I can of course only work with what you've supplied, so I've made a mod with a crop. I think I would have been inclined to leave out the background, so my crop reflects that. Also, I thought it might be a good idea to make the crop uneven, so if you could have called the image symmetrical at all before, you can't anymore after the crop.

And in a second mod I hope to show you that de-saturating the image somewhat and playing around with the hue a bit can still make a nice picture, but now the shapes and lines of the flower are more important and the colour isn't.

Just some ideas. Not that there was anything really wrong with your image, because there wasn't. Well exposed and with good dof. I just wanted to show some alternatives.