It may just be my eyes, but I can't find a focal point in the first shot. Maybe getting at least one of the buds in focus really good would help, or taking the shot from another angle......... On the thumb, I would've cropped the right side out almost up to the white bud and cropped out at least an inch off the top. That way, it would bring the buds in closer, but still give you your dof. *Or* I would've had the dof in the front and back, and had one or two of the red flowers in focus instead of the buds. There's several ways you could play with these images, I think, to make them more appealing...........

Bud!

I really like bud. Great detail.

Bud is a really nice 1:1 macro shot, very sharp! I tend to agree with Kay about the composition of the other shot though...it needs some cropping...

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I will play with the thumb shot and re-post it soon.

Bud is awesome!