Total judging points: 15
Judge's Comments:
#1 A very interesting study with a strong center of interest. This judge normally suggests eliminating large out-of-focus areas; however the small in-focus portion of the leaf in the left of the image makes the green out-of-focus work (… or at least not detract too much). My eye was drawn away from the strong center of interest by the brown area in the lower left of the image and another brown thing in the upper far right of the image.
#2 I recognize that you do not have to include the whole flower. But you are leaving too much to the imagination. It is like cutting off the head at the upper neck.
#3 If the subject of this photograph is the yellow iris leaf then cropping from the left would be very beneficial. If the subject is the green leaf on the left then the yellow needs to be cropped out. The lack of cropping creates a distraction as eyes are pulled to the left and right.
#4 The curves of the iris petal form sharp lines and the in-focus leaf edge is another line. The rest of the image is soft-focused. These elements have my eyes searching for a subject in the center part of the image. This is an unusual composition.