yeah - i think aikoworld is right - with that kind of lamp the metal between the glass is really prominent.

you're right - it's getting there - you might want to increase your bump to improve visibility over distance, but to me it looks fine. For the metal, I might try changing the specular color, as metal...

care to elaborate?! ;)

gubar this looking very cool - nice and clean - but is there any need to smooth this? it should be fine as is, or with the normals softened.

yeah - looks like a nice start - what are you using - nurbs? any chance we can see a wireframe - the petals look pretty good. :)