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As usual, I like to show the original note to me from a fellow photographer so everyone can read it and see what others are thinking. Perhaps some of you will identify with it.
One of my students in my online class with the BPSOP sent me this. I will will often do the same thing in my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops I teach all over the place.
” Joe, I was doing some macro work in the backyard. Actually, I’m photographing for a macro contest and the rules are no flowers and no critters. So I thought the cherry tree would be cool. I was shooting the cherry tree and nothing was speaking to me. About an hour into it, the sun was getting lower and began to strike the tree at a nice angle so I got under and behind these cherries and the light was definitely speaking to me.
I brought the tree branch up from the left corner at a bit of an angle and the DOF seems about right in that just the cherries in focus. I wanted to limit any distractions around the red cherry. The top is too busy. If I were taller and branches weren’t hitting my head I may have been able to cut that business out. It is the light that really excited me. I remember your blog post about the angle of light being behind and at a 45 degree angle. As soon as I saw this I thought…that’s what Joe is talking about! I had taken a few other photos a bit later but the light was just uninteresting. So here you go. Thanks. I look forward to what you have to say.”
Shelle
Shelle, the first thing I wanted to do was to turn it upside down. The reason for this is to show you that it’s not well balanced. When you’re looking at your photos right side up, you’re looking at them with the right side of your brain, the creative side. You see the cherries, the stem, the leaves, etc. When I turn it upside down, you’re now looking at your photo with the left side of your brain, the analytical side. Now, all you see are shapes, the negative space and the positive space. Now it becomes easier to see how well balanced your photo is. Does it look and feel balanced now? To me it looks heavy on the left side with very little on the right to help out. 
The dark, out of focus branch on the left is taking away from the delicacy of the cherries. It ‘s also taking the viewer away from what he wants to look at. Be sure to check your DOF preview button, or just look at the back of your camera to make sure that what you put in the foreground is in the proper focus based on your complete composition; because that’s what the viewer will see first.I wrote a post entitled “The Whole Enchilada” where I talked about making sure everything is working, not just what you want as the center of interest. It’s the whole enchilada, it’s the foreground and background that’s as important as your subject.
Nice light, and you’re right about it!!! It appears to be coming from about 3’oclock which would be sidelight. What I said was that I light everything from 9’oclock to 3’oclock, and 11’oclock to 2’oclock being my favorite way to light. Take a look at my post on the “Law of the Light“.
One last thought: To me this is a little overexposed. It’s missing the depth in the colors. I hope you’re bracketing!!!!
Thanks for the post. It gave me fond memories of my youth sitting/eating in the Cherry tree in our backyard. Macro work is not easy, especially when you’re not in a comfortable position. you might try a small step ladder next time.
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JoeB
