RE: Ask the photographers!

Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Yes, the color in this special type of bromeliad is important. They "blush" just before and throughout the flowering stage but this individual was bred to turn bright neon pink instead of the usual darker shades of red.
And the "pot" is just a hollow beef bone (with no substrate inside)!

Sometimes I do think about some of thet things you mentioned. Like how the paper simultaneously calms the background while helping the light situation. It works as my background while also my spotlight with the funny backwards white umbrella.
The sharpness on the other hand is a more complex issue to tackle that won't simply be tamed by a coverall method like before. It's hard for me because a cluster of plantlets like this has no obvious center and the main focus is never in the center but also the object itself is somewhat flowing in the way it coveys movement
So all in all much to consider in a few moments (before the shot)!

Also it has minimal post-editing aside from cropping out the chaotic background. In general, if I'm forced to edit beyond this then I'm using tweaking only brightness by a bit.