too bright

or too contrasty.

The question in my mind is if this is really way bright. I am aware of there being some blown highlights, but there’s detail in there when it’s viewed at 100% I know that doesn’t really help to make a judgement on here, but I think the bee stands out well and the shadows from the wings are really coll, but overall, I’m just not sure what to do with it. I could definitely correct the issue, but I’m not sure if the bee will pop so much.

If it were me, I’d just put some kind of “frame” around it in a darker color. Once you separate the background from the petals with the frame, I think it will look fine.

it does look too contrasty to me, especially too bright in the lower half. i definitely agree the shadow is cool. but with closeups it seems like you always need to have really good detail and blown highlights immediately remove that element.