Jay, the brightness looks fine on my monitor. I love the colors as they are but I think I would have preferred a view just from a bit higher up, looking down on the flower.
I feel the brightness and colors of the rose are fine on my monitor also. I'm curious as to whether the stem looks as dark on your original as on the posted image. Beautiful exposure and composition. I would like to see this flower from a bit higher up also.
Hey Jay,
Excellent advice given above and I agree with the above suggestions. Colors look fine on my end too. I do think Dave was onto something about lightening the stem just a touch.....that will give a nice base to the bloom and improve this angle IMO. You handled this pretty well overall.
I think another option would be to keep the angle you have but tilt it a bit CW so the sides angled more toward the ULC and LRC. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more stem at the bottom, moving the bud further up in the frame.
Colors are rich and not oversaturated. Very clear details and a beautiful image overall.