hi don
i can not belive that i was thinking about the same flowers and how they look when there are dry...
nice
regards
christian
About the 2nd picture - the background is overexposured and it looks terrible, sorry.
But despite that, I enjoy the 1st one.

I disagree, I like no 2 and I don't think theres anything wrong with a blown background, after all, there are no important details lost, I think it actually helps isolate the subject.
But, this is just my opinion, take it or leave it.
The first shot I find a little bit too dark. This might have been the effect you were going for don, but I prefer no 2