Am I getting a reputation?
" Is that what I should be wanting"
Always a great question to ask. Some answer it before pressing the shutter. Some after. It's unfair for me to give composition advice while I am sitting here watching one of Kurosawa's masterpieces "Rashomon". I will go easy.
Clearly set 2 is superior. Maybe you were getting used to the gear in set 1. Let's call them test shots.
#1- Looks fine by me. Light is a bit harsh. Do you have a diffuser?
#2- Is that dirt in the lens showing up in the image. I saw that once when shooting macro at f16 or higher (if memory serves). Looks like you are favoring the left to avoid other leaves on the flower but by doing so you cut off the leaf at the bottom left of the bud. Maybe do some trimming during setup.
#3-Same lighting situation as #2. The green leaf being cut off at the bottom is noticeable.
#4- Clearly superior in all aspects from it's sister image in set 1. The close up works as it gets rid of the background clutter.
#5- A beautiful image. No distractions, just one thing to appreciate. It's a portrait. The only suggestion would be to find a way to soften the light and maybe move the subjects up and to towards the center just a smidge (really, just a little bit).
#6- You barely fit this one in the frame and it shows. I clicked on the image and it delivered me to your flickr page. I saw your other experiments with this composition and understand why you landed on the one you posted here. It's tough with multiple flowers and backgrounds but I can see you getting closer to showing what's in front of the camera instead of showing what equipment you used.
It never hurts to view the masters when getting a feel for the possibilities of composition. I prefer movies to still work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak6rI-j07QU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMdb70ShnkI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HazR58qlcyo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBasQG_6p40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uC7-RRdr4U
Keep going.
JT