Thanks again JP! I hesitated going b&w with this one as it kinda takes away from the rotten apples at the back contrasted to the good one in front, but I figure it's got something else going for it without the color... just not sure what yet, exactly ;)
The bgd blurring is both in-camera and post... I enhance the blur a little in post (gaussian blur in a layer mask) and then apply a slight bit more around the corners via a filter plugin (one of the 55mm filters collection).
I hear ya re: smallish prints, it's pretty much the idea I had in mind for these, to go 5x7, maybe up to around 8x10. I suspect they'd look best when grouped closely together as a set.
Just great. I love the weird things you're doing with focus. You doing it in camera or post?
These need to be printed but small (no more than 5X7 imo) with big white matte borders.
~inframan