Cuckoo flower

[Jonathan Ashton]

Handheld ISO 200 1/320 sec f8.
Unusual for me I did not use a tripod, it was too tricky, the flower is growing at the base of the waterfall in my garden pond and the tripod was not proving to be an asset and it was breezy in any case so I had to keep trying to get a shot in between gusts.
Cuckoo flower is on of the preferred food plants of the orange tip caterpillar, I used a green brush at a low opacity to help smooth out the background but I deliberately left it with detail to show the surroundings.
All comments welcome.

[Anita Bower]

This is a gorgeous flower. So delicate and perfect. Lovely veins in the petals. Lovely soft pink. Graceful. Nice curve of the stem. I know you like leaving in the blurred bg, but I'd suggest toning down that yellow line in upper right area. I usually use a tripod also, but have been experimenting with hand-holding this past week and having fun with it.

[Steve Maxson]

Hi Jon. Lovely subtle colors and excellent detail throughout the flowers. Here's another vote for toning down the yellow/orange stems on the right side as they are drawing my eye away from the beautiful flowers.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jon,
I'm with Anita and Steve on the stems....otherwise very well done!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate your comments regarding the stems, I like to see the ghostly appearance, as mentioned the background has been smoothed out to some extent, I didn't want to lose the overall "setting" as it were.