Learning White Balance and Composition

On my walks with my friend, Wendy, we pass this fence line on each lap around our track.  Each time we pass my eyes are drawn to these wispy flowers bending,reaching out of the vertical fence line. A couple of days prior to this shot, the flowers seemed to be in their glory as with the surrounding varieties. I was a couple of days too late to get the flowers at the height of their beauty,  but needed to experiment adjusting the white balance for an assignment so I decided to try it out on this scene. 
Image 285
White Balance set for "sun"
Speed: 1/200
ISO 250
F 7.1
Taken: July 01, 2012 

This shot was taken at basically the same time. The White Balance was adjusted.  I like splitting rays of light and the silhouette of the windmill. I also notice the curve of the planter contrasted with the vertical lines of the fence and the oblique/curved lines of the flowers.
Image 283
White Balance: Cloudy
Speed: 1/400
ISO 250
F 10
Taken: July 01, 2012

Same deal with this shot. Only adjusted the white balance. I'm still deciding on which one of these I like best.
Image 282
White Balance: Shade
Speed: 1/320
ISO 250
F9
Taken: July 01, 2012

This is a near sunset shot of the pond I am also blessed to walk past lap after lap! Again, here just playing with the white balance setting. I like the reflection of trees and setting sun in the water. I like the contrast of light and shadow. There is also an element of foreground, middleground, and background in this composition (I think)-- although I would have liked to move up about 3 ft to make the foreground smaller. But, I would have fallen off the dock!
Image 289
White Balance: Cloudy
Speed: 1/400
ISO 250
F10
Taken: July 01, 2012

It is amazing me to the how the color changes with just that change in setting. I still don't understand the how and why behind white balance. That's bugging me. I have a good website to follow up with and that I think will give me a better understanding, but I haven't been able to get back to it during a time where my brain could focus on something complicated for an extended period of time. Once I get the understanding, I hope to add a little summary to this post.
Image: 290
White Balance: Shade
Speed: 1/500
ISO 250
F11
Taken: July 01, 2012

So, this will be my last photo for this entry. This was not a white balance study, but again, trying to capture whatever kept drawing my eye to those flowers/fenceline on my walks. I'm not satisfied with this photograph, but I think it still might be my favorite among this group-perhaps, just because of the potential held here. This one has some composition elements that I like. Vertical lines, as mentioned before, but this time the strong vertical lines are retreating at an angle. I was attempting to use the Rule of Thirds by placing my subject (lower right flower bud) on a point of intersection.  I also like the contrast of strong fence line with soft, bending flower stems and the contrast of white flower blossoms against wrought iron, light in the sky vs. shadowy building in background. I wonder if I had used a macro setting or a tripod if I could have gotten the subject into clearer focus? It was windy that evening so maybe it would be impossible to avoid all blur of a moving subject while trying to maintain a soft focus in the background. Lastly, there is something about the color of the light that bugs me in this one. I wish that I had had time to wait out the color changes in the light as the sun went down.
Image: 275
White Balance: Shade
Speed: 1/200
ISO 250
F7.1
Taken July 01, 2012