Rose

Yes, it was , and it blew out all the whites.
you might have used a shade over the flower, perhaps attached to your tripod.
Harsh light is rarely good, and best avoided.
Interesting rose, though - both in color and configuration.
Very tight in the frame. You might have backed off a bit, or cropped less, and perhaps moved it off-center for interest.
Sandy r

Yes, the light is strong, but I think you handled it fairly well. Nice BG, and nice FG to BG separation.

Interesting image jay. The whites in this do look a bit over exposed to me in that I don't seen any detail at all in them. I like the subject/ground separation you achieved but might want just a touch more dof for the bloom. Don't know if you've used a diffuser but that might have softened the light here enough to get more detail and color saturation - assuming you wanted that.

Pat

Jay: I'm not one to knee-jerk condemn harsh light even though it does make getting a good shot more difficult. I think if this were merely exposed a bit less it would work OK. You did well using the polarizer so there's little glare. I might also have fixed the yellow blemish on the lower petal. Good DOF management. >=))>