first b&w attempt lilypad

well, the lily minus the pad. I converted using lightroom. Suggestions for improvement? I see a bit of noise... is it distracting? how about the little bee? Does he look trapped?

For me it's a little too close.
Nonetheless, technically quite good.

Thanks Robert, I was in a macro shooting mode that day.

I like it. It doesn't appear too noisy to me. I think I would like it more if the bee weren't there, but that's just me, and I understand that it may not have been possible at the time. Nice choice with B&W.

Very nice! I like the bee

The bee looks great, although it would have looked nice if the bee had been in flight, hard though.

I love the bee! It almost looks like it's trapped amongst the testicles of the beastly flower. However, we all know how small these are but this is a nice capture of the scale between the bee and flower.

It's beautiful. Just the lily pad alone would have been a boring picture. The bee added salt to the dish. And in b/w is even better.

mikepack wrote in post #8944885
I love the bee! It almost looks like it's trapped amongst the testicles of the beastly flower. However, we all know how small these are but this is a nice capture of the scale between the bee and flower.

Maybe, you meant tentacles, LOL??

Except for the out-of-focus foreground I like it.

Thanks everyone! Gorgeshooter, that is a good point. I didn't really notice the out of focus foreground. Maybe I should increase my aperture a bit. I usually shoot fairly wide open because I like a narrow depth of field, but I totally agree that this image would benefit from the increased aperture.

Mikepack, the last time I looked, testicles were round. Thanks for your comment and the chuckle.

chrisKi, I do have an image with a bee in flight. I will have to take a look at it and see if I like it enough to post it.

I have to say I am amazed and impressed by the images y'all post, and appreciate your comments.