Wil,
The flower is sharp and clear, the work on the background is exactly perfect - it retains the feeling of nature (green) but removes all clutter and distraction. Excellent flower photography!
Mikel.
Very beautiful. Excellent color capture! Also, the very soft bokeh is smoothing. I would venture to guess Canon glass due to the way they shape their aperture blades, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it (or even my lens cap, for that matter). To be honest, I find the framing effect distracting, but it really makes the centered-ness work. It would only be better without the framing if the subject was to one side, so good call in the post processing. The colored edges (stepped color gradients) are unfortunate, and I have been dealing with those myself lately. They say that it helps to use a little grain to cover them up, but what fun is that? They are due to a lower-than-perfect bit rate. Your monitor is probably 32-bit, but most cameras shoot at 24-bit. If any part of the post-processing lowered it to 16-bit, that is a major no-no and you should avoid that step next time. If not, then hope for better luck next time. Again, beautiful image. :-)