Small Flower in our garden

Taken on a bright sunny day in the lawn of our house

I like your decision to use the stem to lead my eye from the lower corner, but not sure I like the decision to center the flower. You could have accomplished the first point without risking centering the flower by panning down a little and following more of the stem. Your choice on DOF does two things: it emphasizes the flower, but also makes the rest of the picture out of focus. I think I would have enjoyed seeing more of those details in the background, particularly the stem. Use a tripod with either f16 or f22. If you want to make the flower pop more, use some shading to make the area directly behind it dark -- then it will pop. Final thoughts... I do not know if it is the scan or the original exposure, but the flower seems a little blown out; I am unable to discern all the detail. Great of you to recognize that we do not have to go far from home to work on our photography! If you are going to do more flower work, I recommend going macro with some extension tubes, bellows or a reversing ring.

Thanks Carl for very useful comments which i need to keep in mind next time i attempt macro photography as a passion.

This is a scanned photograph.

Hi,

 

I do agree with most of what Carl has already said above. I think it worth adding that a cleaner background would have improved the picture. As it is, the back is cluttered and confused, which does tend to distract the eye. You should take a look at books on flower photography (by Clive Nicols, Heather Angel etc), and at calendar shots. These will give ideas as to what works and what may not. Keep up the good work though.