I am sorry Kort I neglected to mention your posting (I was not ignoring you I swear!), I got all excited once I scrolled down and saw what Richard had done to it, even though I had the softness, to me it wasn't finished until he rotated it and cropped it! That made all the difference in the world. Don't get me wrong Kort I like your version too, but the one I posted in the gallery is the look I was going for, and always have tried to acheive without success. I usually shoot them too sharp (if there is such a thing!) And have never understood how I could take a sharp image and turn it into that silky softness. I like how your edges softened as they regress into the flower kind of like a shallow dof which, duh, I should have used! Next time I will! ;) I think your version would be very much gallery worthy if flipped and cropped like post #11. Now that I have seen the result of the flip and crop I couldn't present that image sharp or soft any other way, it made such an incredible difference! Yes I know blah, blah, blah, blah... LOL! Onslow/Richard that image with the spiral you posted along with the explanation may be the reason I have been unable to obtain the results I wanted. Thank you for your explanation! The missing piece to the puzzle! I needed that! :) Brenda :)