Larger version (as suggested)

[Stuart Frohm]

Here's a larger version of the clematis photo, as kindly suggested by photographers, to make it easier to offer comments and criticism. Thank you very much!
Pentax K100D, SMC Pentax 100 mm macro, ISO 200, aperture priority, f/16. tripod. Minor retouching in iPhoto.

[Julie Kenward]

Excellent! There you go! I'm on an uncalibrated monitor so I'm not going to comment on the exposure (although it looks a little bit dark to me on this one) but the texture and deep intensity of this flower really shines through!

One thing you might try next time is to get the center of the flower out of the center of the image. In this image, you could crop a bit off the right side of the frame (since you didn't get the entire petals on that side anyway) and it would put the center of the clematis more in the ROT's position.

Nice going...glad you reposted. You are welcome to repost an image within the same thread if you want but this works, too!