Hi Mike
Excellent shot, colors are just great.
Could you have achieved this effect with b&w shot?
I’ve read your doubts about whether to choose colorful photos or colorless.
I believe, Mike, it's all about what you feel, your emotions .
Your heart will always give you the best advice whether the photo should be color of black and white.
For me b&w is yesterday's news, I have always been fond of a wide variety of colors and enjoyed them even without much enhancing them in software.
Cheers
George

Hi Dennis
IMHO, the mugs are really interesting shot and it has the right to exist as is.
But...
as I understand, each shot has to include several elements one of which is the background.
Look at the works of grands of still-life images and you will definitely find the background.
Why?
I believe that the bg makes the main subject of the shot more seen and attention attractive.
Carefully chosen bg creates a nice fore and back ground combination.
Next, the bg makes the lines of the subject sharp and nicely contrasted, which makes the image richer.
And the last point, the frame.
I've noticed the still-life pictures are almost all are framed in nicely frames that create an additional charm of the pictures.
And the final note
Dennis, I'm not a professional photographer, do not invest time in exploring PS or any other photo-changing software, so just wanted to share with you some of my amateurish ideas.
Cheers
George

Hi Brother!
Needless to say this shot immediately caught my eye:
-people;
-action;
-interesting color spectrum;
Critical notes:
Cropping:
-old man's right foot is not in
-on the right someone is in but probably should have been out
BTW, I thought you could have leave in the frame a bigger area where people we sitting, just to show compare the people's bodies and the gigantic furniture.
On the second photo it might have been better to include the building with it's roof as well as the wheel of attraction on the right
I hope you would not mind my pseudo-expert comments.
Stay well
Your friend
GR

Hi Mark,
everyting that I'm going to say further reflects only my personal opinion and under any sircumstamces can be accepted as something more than that
---------
"...but here is the original version (V2), I'm still unsure which is the best."
You are right Mark, the second is better and that is why:
-it gives the whole atmosphere of the nature where this bird feels at home;
-the leaf in the image (something that brings you most at the state of hesitation) tells us that you, the author, do not change the natural environment to make it look different due to your own imagination of how it will look more attractive.
-the main subject of the image dominates and nothing distracts our attention from it. You leave it for the viewer to choose where to fix their attention. There will always be someone who sees far from what you wish them to see
-proportionally it also balanced better. On the first pic the bird is too big.
Thank you for reading
Sincerely
George