Milkweed seeds

Went for a hike last weekend to check and see how far along the color was at one of the local ponds I like to take shots at in the fall. While the leaves weren't "ripe" yet for a shot, I came upon a group of milkweed plants and took this. It always amazes me how beautiful and complex the simplest of natural things can be.
f6.3, 1/200, I400, 105mm

I like this Mike. I would prefer a shallower DOF or perhaps a macro of the seeds to get rid of the background branches, but this is a unique image. Good capture!

I like it - good eye.

Very nice capture Mike. I know how difficult it is to capture the seeds so without blowing out the highlights. I feel you did a great job in this regard. Regarding the background "distractions" I don't know how much of purist you are or if this is public land that has regulations about preservation, but I carry a hand pruning shear with me to snip away unwanted foreground or background, but that is a personal preference and i don't really find the background stems all that distracting.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I have a few more of these that I will play around with.

I really like the lighting on this, the whites aren't blown out and the details are all visible. BG stems don't bother me. Nice shot.