Very nice Jim. The shades of white are crisp and clean with lots of detail. Really nicely exposed. As regards to the stray stem, I think it's a coin flip. There's a lot more structure to the background in this that would prevent the area being negative space if the stem wasn't there. But then I try to visualise without the stem, and I sort of miss it!! Regards, -Najinsky
Thanks for the comment.
Actually, I left it there on purpose. Some of the comments on my earlier photos, since removed, implied (and I agreed) that only having a subject in one quadrant wasn't in the full spirit of the Golden Ratio. Thus, this stem is meant to lead the eye elsewhere in the photo. I thought about adding a spot of color in pp near the end of the stem - but thought that was more art than photography.