Doubling the prices, that is very generous of you, Asa.
Of course if you win a prize, you will have to send some acorns to yourself.
It is true, a background does not need to be completely clean to work very well. Painterly backgrounds such as your first submission, can help to tell whatever story the image has to say (in this case about the bee in the flower). They put mood and context to the image. Anyway, I have high hopes of being surprised with the submissions in this contest!
