You are all so encouraging to me as I am a newcomer to this community and have so much to learn! I used my 75-300 lens, and so during the shooting missed the dirt, which I was unable to clone out later due to basic editing rules. I was paranoid about it during the voting, and really amazed that almost everyone seemed to focus on the lovlier aspects. Thanks again for so many constructive comments and for a PB on this my third challenge!
Nice separation between subject and background. The feelings of silky and smoothness have been clearly pointed out by the illumination of the flower's texture. However, a lighter coloured background might have added more interest since the dark bacground tends to feel a little gloomy and dull. But nice work overall. Congratulations :)
This is a beautiful picture. There are two backgrounds. The rightly done unfocused main background and the sharply focused purple one. Waht makes this pic so good is that the center of this lily is so well set.