Thanks for adding more.
Nathaniel,
The first one in this thread has an exceptionaly soft pastel character. It is enhanced by the repetition of the leaf pattern with curvey shadows. Its stand unique for it's simplicity in composition, pallette and form.
"Red Simplicty" seems much bolder and simple but lacks the excuisite shadows. Red Simplicity is still impressive.
Red simplicity
Your previous picture in this "style" is also well done:
I like the array of colors. Are they natural or you helped nature?
The "Cactus Cranes" is a difficult shot to make. If I was impulsive I might have protested about not having complete leaves in the foreground. Technically to do that might have meant distrubing the garden.
Cactus Canes
In any case, the mental disturbance that might envoke pays off in helping to add some feeling of tension and energy in the picture with the curved canes dominating the leaves that are seen. We have to be careful in critique to demand that pictures follow a style or "rules" which either are not pertinent or are being broken on purpose or for no purpose. When a bridal, sports or product picture is made, it's far easier to find some rulers by which to measure and critique because the end use and expectations might narrow the possibilities. Here, it take this picture as destined perhaps for a print or calendar and so the "rules" depend more on what your own artistic style is going to be.
OTOH, if you want it to be pictorial according to standard "rules" then that's another matter. I'm just assuming you have not been bound by such restrictions.
Still, I really would like to hear your reasoning in not adding the base of the foreground leaves. I am not saying that the image is incompletely framed. Not at all. I'm just interested in whether or not that did or does matter to you?
Asher