Thanks, all, for this helpful feedback! I really appreciate it. I opted for the unusual crop largely for the reason touched on by samstevens. To me, this image almost looks like an intrusion on the bee as it is going about its business, with the bee coming up to the edge of its "stage" and asking "Can I help you?". But I might have overdone it with the extreme crop (as dcstep pointed, there is probably a cropping sweet spot that would help to minimise distraction from the bits that are OOF), and the general point about increasing DOF is well-taken. I am really loving this Tamron lens, and am looking forward to learning how to get the most out of it (probably, in part, by adding a ring-light to my kit). Thanks again, everyone.