Orchid

Great B&W image of these beautiful flowers, Bob. I would prefer seeing such beauties in all their color glory but that does not fit the theme for this week! I like the clarity of the center of the flowers but the petals are so high-key they blend into the background. However, maybe that was your intention. Personally, I would probably prefer a bit more edge definition. I like all the nice textures and color shadings.

I like the comp and sharpness here. I think the shadows in your color version are better handled. The shadows in this conversion no longer define the delicacy of the flowers. I think the second flower from the left is the best looking in this b-w version and could be a guide in correcting the overly dark areas in the companions.

The arch of flowers is really nice and your treatment really emphasizes the lip and column areas of the four blooms. The larger version shows off a lot of really fine details.