I like the colors and background darkening, but the crop throws me off a bit as the larger flower anthers are cut off. I might suggest a highlight adjustment on some of the petal edges. This might be the result of jpg compression.   Posted: 05/04/2023 15:44:19

Hello Dan: Not being a plant pathologist I had to Google 'anthers' to learn more about what they exactly were. It seems stamens and anthers are kind of interrelated in certain ways. In the larger Dahlia flower in the central part I do not see anything that looks like a stamen, just dahlia flower petals. In the very central portion of the flower the petals seems to be a slightly different shape. Would you be so kind as to explain this aspect further to a plant novice.   Posted: 05/06/2023 15:23:33

You are lucky to have such beautiful dahlias nearby You have taken a sharp beautiful capture lovely color I am not bothered by the top of the right flower being out of frame but I think the top petal of the left flower should either be cropped more decisively or cloned in with some room from the top edge   Posted: 05/06/2023 16:38:08

What a colorful collection of blooms and petals. I love the simplicity of this image with the effective black background and pinstripe border. The blooms themselves are very clear and sharp. The general tones of both blooms are very similar, and as such the blooms seem to merge together. As such, we lose some of the native depth in the image. May I suggest that you darken slightly the larger bloom on the upper right, to attain a bit more separation between the two blooms I tried this o illustrate my thinking, and as I did this, I also left the more central portion of the larger bloom a bit brighter than the rest. To my eye these modifications add a bit of depth to the image and makes it even easier to appreciate the subjects that you have given us. See what you think …   Posted: 05/08/2023 19:10:53

Murphy - Dahlias are some of my most photographed flowers as we grow a large number of different kinds and I especially appreciate using them as a macro subject given their structures. You did great but I agree with Charlie that are eye is down to the lighter corner part of the back flower so darkening might help avoid that. And while the colors are great, I wonder what it would look like in B&W? Thanks, Ray   Posted: 05/08/2023 20:51:11

Just great colors. I really like it as the composition with 2 flowers at different stages (closed and opened).
The petals are sharped, and the water drops give a feeling of freshness.
There are 2 flowers, so 2 stems, but between them, we have an impression to have a third (cut) one, which attracts my attention. So I need to more analyze the picture.
Good idea to have a frame of the same color.   Posted: 05/15/2023 02:42:22

Murphy, I love dahlias and I love the colors. In my opinion the two flowers kinda blend together and what Charles did so beautifully, it separated the two flowers brightening and darkening at the same time. I tried B&W but the color version wins for me.
  Posted: 05/15/2023 20:42:30