Hi Judy: Like the soft dreamy mood of the Pink Lily flower. Using the lens aperture of f/6.3 allowed you to have a selective focus rendition of the Lily flower. The pistil and stamens and stems are sharply focused with the flower petals out of focus. The petals have a halo around them which seems to fit your selective focus theme.

Would have preferred to have the left flower petal not cut off but entirely in the pictures area, more like you have done on the right side of the frame. If you wanted to spend some post processing time the left petal situation would not be that difficult to fix. There is an out of focus green flower stalk at the bottom right, I would clone that out. While it is not terribly distracting it is there.   Posted: 05/01/2023 23:13:21

Very nice execution of a dreamlike bloom. I agree with Murphy's crop suggestions to balance the composition. Cloning the green stem would focus the subject. This would make a fine print on canvas or heavy tooth mat paper, very painterly.   Posted: 05/04/2023 15:50:15

This image does have a rather soft and dreamy feel to it. I am wondering if that was your intent, or the effect of blurring the background, which also blurring the tips of the flower petals as well. If the bloom itself is not cut out from the background layer, this often occurs when the background layer is blurred. I wonder if that was your creative intent, or an effect that you decided to live with? I don't disagree with the comments regarding the crop (loosing part of the bloom on the left). Again, if your creative intent was to crop out parts of the bloom to emphasize the inner portions (a notable intent), perhaps cropping out a bit more of the bloom might be effective. As shown here, the image straddles the middle ground (intentional or not) which adds tension that competes with the overall feel of the image.   Posted: 05/08/2023 15:02:15

Judy, I agree with the comments you received - I think I might have gotten rid of the halo but maybe its an intent on your part to help set of the flower from the background. I agree it would look good on canvas especially if you good add some room on the left side. Ray   Posted: 05/10/2023 20:11:25

I appreciate the softness of this image. The main subject (pistils, stems, ..) are on focus. Goor job.
I am disturbed by the halo around the petals, and also by the green stem on the right.
As you had a tripod, that means you took time to take the picture. It would have possible to have all the petals (left and bottom). Except that, I like the composition.
  Posted: 05/15/2023 03:28:48

Judy I am surprised that you cut off the left petal and left a stem of what appears to be from another flower. Love the dreamy effect and the peachy background. Perfectly sharp on the stamens and pistil.   Posted: 05/15/2023 22:02:29