Please tear this apart

[Acute Exposure]

Is too much direct flash a bad thing in this instance?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/3799759019_2819049643_b.jpg

[thebishopp]

I like the photo but it seems a little dull... perhaps a boost in levels and curves would help. I take it this is a pretty close crop from the original? Reason I ask is it looks like there is some noise going on behind the first few petals. Maybe some noise reduction would help.

[rw2]

I would crop and do a little cloning to get rid of some of the background. Other wise very nice shot.

[thebishopp]

I like the edit Rw

[GeminiZ]

yeah focus mainly on the flower and not some distractions... that's great

[robertn]

I don't agree with the crop, it makes the photo overall have a dull atmosphere. The original photo has more depth too it thanks to the background on the left. Also, the flower is less centered in the original photo which makes a more interesting photo too look at, there's more for the eye to wander over.
While i do agree the pp isn't quite there yet on the original i don't feel the edited photo by rw2 improves on anything, it's still bland and the crop just isn't working. Getting back to answering the OP's question, no i personally don't feel the direct flash is bothering, but that might be a personal thing.
Maybe this quick edit can explain what i'm saying a bit more:
http://www.robertnabbe.com/junk/flower.jpg

Keep it up.

[Acute Exposure]

Great feedback! Thanks! I really like both edits but I wanted to keep the background for depth so the second edit is actually more my style. I think the whites being brighter does a lot for the image.