B&W Columbine

Hey guys -- Here is a shot I took for my wife of her most favorite flower, the columbine. I'm looking for any feed back that could take this shot to the next level with the same gear I shot it on. I personally would have like the stamen to be a bit further to the left, but beyond that I'm not sure where to go. Please be as critical as you wish. I don't understand why but the image looks better if you go to flickr, it's as if they soften the image when you link to it. If you click on the image you can see what I consider a better version of the image. Thanks!

Canon XSI | 450D
50-250mm ƒ/4-5.6 IS
Sigma 530 EF DG Super Flash on body for fill and sharpness, with sun camera right

Exif:
Length: 214mm
Aperture: ƒ5.6 - I could have stepped back for more sharpness, but I think I would have hurt my bokeh more than improving the image with more sharpness.
ISO: 160 I don't know why I was on auto, but noise did not seem to be a major issue in my opinion. I would have probably selected 100 vs auto.
Shutter: 1/200 (Max flash synch speed) but I shot in aperture priority. I should have probably just went manual and locked it at 1/200 but I would have made the same choice the AI did.
This was handheld.

PP'ing:
Shifted to B&W
Clarity +12
Sharpened +150
Noise Reduction, Luminance +100 so I guess ISO 100 would have been an advantage.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/53541218@N04/7​834831808/

It's a little bit dark and the contrast is too flat...But the composition is very nice.

Good detail and focus. I think the composition could use some tweaks. I would suggest shooting a little bit wider and keeping the edge of the flower on the left side of the frame. That would give you some room to crop and move around to a more interesting frame size. And remember going wider means teh DoF will widen, so you may have to compensate. If you want to go for black and white, I think you need to go through and edit the contrast of the image more. try and separate out the tones of the background and of the flower more. The flower blends a bit much on the right side of the frame for my taste, it is difficult to make out the secondary petals in the background. Dodging and burning is a good thing for doing B&W images.

Maybe some one with more experience with B&W can offer more specific advice as well.

Thanks y'all! I appreciate the quick replies.

Mark - I see where you feel it is too dark and not "popping" enough I think is how I interpret your comment. I may have gotten good pop on the stamen, but the rest of the image needs that same separation, thanks.

Steven - I think you are right about how I could have approached the initial framing to get the image to "feel" better. I feel like its almost pushing me around instead of letting my eyes move freely (at lest it pushes in not out). I do personally like the clipping of the petals, but I think you're right that I could have pulled back a tad and then had the option of how to frame it with a crop instead of being locked in. Perhaps to give a more unique vantage instead of a more "conventional" framing. I should take that into consideration next time and at least shoot a second shot pulled back a bit more.

You both indicate I need to reconsider how I edited the contrast. I kind of liked the "softness" of the tones; but I didn't ask what I liked, I asked what I needed to do better and 2 for 2 both hit on it needing more contrast. I definitely will have to consider a more "snappy" contrast in the future.

Thanks for your opinions so far, I appreciate it. I think this is one of the best things any photographer can have, honest feedback from people who can break down an image and keep perspective...how can you get better if no-one challenges your shot. Thanks!