A negative space.

[alfredo]

[Mira]

1. The first one, with the shadow cradling the head,

evokes a catch in my heart. It is, to me, beyond perfect exactly like it is. Every little millimeter. (since these days I'm the queen of adjusting crops)

It reminds me strongly of the sculpture work of Käthe Kollwitz, one of my favorite artists both as lithographer but especially as a sculptor.
I hope you look her up, and if you know her already, look again.
:)

[alfredo]

2. I love her work. I'm flattered!

BTW I just finished editing this image. Not sure if this would qualify as negative space. I shifted the image to yellow to give some substance to the rays as they crossed the darker background.

[Mira]

5. The rays in the flower are wonderful. Other than that it's a bit busy for my taste

and IMO when you have THAT OTHER ONE it is not your best example for the contest.

Have you tried cropping in really tight on just the flower, leaving in the blade of grass top on the left, and the trailing flower part on the right???

[alfredo]

6. Here's an earlier version

[alfredo]

8. Here's a crop of the image. Not a "final" version, just a test.

[alfredo]

3. This one knocks my socks off.

[Mira]

4. Yes, mine too - and look:

Kollwitz sculpture in German Cemetery, somewhere...

[alfredo]

7. Looking at her work, makes me think she was a barrel of laughs.

Her work is so lovely, but so incredibly dark.

The music of Beth Gibbons of Portishead comes to mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzananVefh0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vozNQX6Ye1A&NR=1