I agree with HeldInHisArms comment about the first one being more appealing. The flower in the gap makes it stand out much better, so it was good thinking to recompose. I love to think of elements in a scene as shapes and fitting them all together like a puzzle, which is what you’re doing here. It would be best if the lone flower blossom was completely surrounded by black background. Right now, the left side still is still connected to the background.
There is another little something that bothers me about the shots. The flower is leaning to the left (although the curve of the stem is very beautiful), and the flowers in the background diminish the further to the left they go, giving me the feeling that everything is sliding in that direction. Perhaps this is a rare occasion where having the physical horizon perfectly level isn’t necessary, and it would look better to tilt the camera to make the apparent horizon level. As long as it didn’t make the “in focus” flower look like it was artificially leaning to the right; I’d just have to experiment with Lightroom’s crop tool.
But, other than that, and the fact that the “in focus” flower really isn’t that in focus (due to lens quality or miss-focusing, I’m not sure), you’ve got the right idea with singling out one flower and making it stand out from the others, while still using the others to create depth and add color. I haven’t seen too many people purposely try to put together puzzles with their pictures either. It’s not easy to do, and I think the attached picture, taken during CAPTURE North Carolina last year, is the best example I’ve ever been able to produce myself.
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