Honeycomb

This is an image I've sat on for a while. I've processed this image dozens of times and I've yet to really be satisfied. Aside from my normal raw processing, I bumped up the vibrance a bit in the raw conversion (really seemed to touch off the blues). I also added a bit of a gaussian blur at the end of the workflow post-sharpening (I could never seem to be satisfied with the sharpening, but adding the blur after sharpening helped tone down what was bothering me).
These rocks are my favorite along the San Mateo Coast, so fun to photograph.
Thoughts, comments, critiques are always appreciated.

I like this very much. I'd like to see it without the blur.

- Dan

I would echo Dan's comments. I like it, but would like to see it w/o the blur.

Thanks for your thoughts Dan and Harley. Here's a version without the slight blur. Something about the sharpening in this I can't seem to get to my liking. I thought this morning the blur solved it, but after not looking at this all day see how the blur may not have been the best choice to overcome my dissatisfaction.

I think the sharpend, non blurred, version looks fine. What bothers you about it?

- Dan.

I'd see how the left would bother somehow someone who's taken the photo and stared at it too long. I prefer the blurred. However the top feature bothers me more to make the frame feel fully composed instead of snapped.

That looks like a rock from Anil's fave' playground.

Thanks Dan's.
DanB, I think what bothers me most is the graininess that comes out, mainly in the shadows of the center 'honeycomb', which to me seems to look a lot like iso noise (but it isn't).
DanT, thanks for the feedback. The top was one issue when I composed it, but I was a bit stuck with this comp - I wanted to go a bit wider for more symmetry - but didn't due to other things beyond which would have been a nuisance. It is indeed from one of Anil's playground. This beach has some seriously cool rocks I could play with all day.

Some wonderful color contrasts here, and I like the various elements, though as noted the composition doesn't feel completely 'tuned'.. but I can see how that would have been hard here. The sharpening indeed seems to be a tough one, the first looks better, but it just doesn't look crisp.. the second looks like it was sharpened at too high a radius. Definitely a great spot to keep coming back to!

I been to the tafoni quite a few times. I think what you are seeing and what is bothering you is the aliasing between the sandstone and your sensor, which makes the surface somewhat unnatural looking. I would just go with the flow. The blur doesn't really help the image.

Thanks for your thoughts Floris and Warren.