Rich, I think this Flower is a stunner and I can understand getting the capture was necessary. I'm fine with the front flower and feel it is exposed correctly and is short front to back, Two edits I would try is to select subject and see how Lightroom or Ps selects the petals, if good then I would select background and drop the exposure. If that works, I would try Ps remove tool and see if that back flower can be removed. BTW, I have that same Sony camera, that I bought for my wife but she doesn't want the weight and is happy with her iPhone 14. She just shoots while waiting for Me. I bought that cam because it shoots nice Raw pics but I could never get my brain to learn two cameras. I have it at my desk without having a good way to sell it. I figure the exercise of carry my Nikon D780 and 28-300 lens is good for my physique.   Posted: 11/12/2023 15:25:53

Rich all of Bob's comments are relevant to my input. The delicacy of the flower is evident and removing or blurring the distractions of the busy background would help tremendously.   Posted: 11/12/2023 18:57:10

So I agree with everyone else's assessment. It does look like you darkened the background flowers. This kind of makes them stand out to me a bit. I would recommend muting their colors a tiny bit to make the yellow a bit weaker would make the subject more pronounced.   Posted: 11/15/2023 11:03:43

Rich, that is a beauty. I like the angle of the flower and I think that you managed to showcase it really well, especially those spider like petals leading to the center. Bob and Kathryn's comments about blurring the background would make the flower stand out more. What an interesting flower.   Posted: 11/20/2023 04:29:08

Hi Rich,
Greetings my friend.
What an image you have shared, from the original image. The post processing and editing is simply perfect as a presentation. The colors and the blurry background, tack sharp focus of the main subject is just added to the frame.
Thank you for sharing.
CHeers.
Kamal.   Posted: 11/29/2023 02:35:06