Critique my assignment photo

[Scottie137]

Not sure if it is okay to ask for a critique of the photo I posted for this weeks assignment or not, so if not, sorry about that! Anyways, I am open to any criticism/suggestions anyone has about the image, but am especially interested in any PP advice. I opened the PEF file in ACR and played with Vibrance, saturation, sharpening and exposure a little, otherwise, nothing else was done to the photo. Taken with my Sigma 28-80mm lens in macro mode on my Pentax K100d in Av. Auto white balance, F 8 at 1/125 and iso 200. Thanks in advance for any advice...

Oh, the purple "water" was just sprayed on food coloring, and it was shot outdoors in the shade with a tripod and mirror lock up....okay, I am really done divulging info...

[Bentwing]

I would have liked more DOF. The center of the flower (stamen) too much out of focus for my taste. I really like the motion and composition. Do you happen to have any shots before you added the colored water?

[jiminyClickit]

Scottie137,

At first glance, the orchid center looked like a blotch or decay, then attention went to the water-darkened green-veined petal. A tissue would have helped that. Otherwise a good shot of a fine orchid.

[Winning Post]

Hey there Scottie,

Love the colours and the use of the food colouring. For me the DOF is the most 'unsatisfying' part of the image. Maybe cropping in really close on the beads of water could give a different, abstract look to it.

[Scottie137]

Hey thanks for the critiques everyone and, looking at it now, I totally agree with the need for a greater depth of field. I was so focused on getting the lighting down that I kept using a larger and larger f-stop. I was also struggling a little to apply the rule of thirds here and not sure how well that worked out either!