My cat...

[~Carla~]

We have about a gazillion feet of snow here so haven't had much of a chance to play with my new D90 yet. This isn't an overly interesting shot, but I did wake my cat up so I could play a bit... lol!

Thoughts on composure, etc? I really welcome constructive criticism as i'm just learning...

Thanks!

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll53/justmystuph/Cat.jpg

[Marko]

This is a good shot to start since the eyes are very sharp which is great and essential to 99% of all portraits of living things.

A couple of tips for improvement would be to ALWAYS watch what is going on in the background. In this image there are distractions in your background which steal some of the impact from the main subject.

You also want to be aware of areas that are too bright as those too are distractions. In this case kitty's coat belwo the neck on the kitty's left side is too bright (blown out highlights) and should be burned in (darkened) if possible.
Hope that helps
Marko

[~Carla~]

Thank-you!! I'm still learning photoshop but going to play with your suggestions and see if I can kick it up a notch!

Appreciate your input! :D

[Mad Aussie]

Marko has covered most things I guess other to suggest differences in composition.

Seeing as this cat has such a bright chest you might try zooming in further on the face and eliminating the white out a bit more that way. By doing that you would probably cut off more of the ears which would make the crop look a bit more purposeful rather than something that appears like you just missed the ear.

I reckon the best part of a cat is the eyes. They have such intense colours and patterns so often and you got those nicely.

Just looking closer at the photo and I see the main ambient light is from the cats left side. I wonder if a higher f-stop would have under-exposed the the photo just enough to create a nice shadow on the cats right facial area and also darken the background distraction. You may be able create a similar look with photoshop.

[~Carla~]

Marko has covered most things I guess other to suggest differences in composition.

Seeing as this cat has such a bright chest you might try zooming in further on the face and eliminating the white out a bit more that way. By doing that you would probably cut off more of the ears which would make the crop look a bit more purposeful rather than something that appears like you just missed the ear.

I reckon the best part of a cat is the eyes. They have such intense colours and patterns so often and you got those nicely.

Just looking closer at the photo and I see the main ambient light is from the cats left side. I wonder if a higher f-stop would have under-exposed the the photo just enough to create a nice shadow on the cats right facial area and also darken the background distraction. You may be able create a similar look with photoshop.

Thanks so much for the tips!! :D Will try what you suggested soon...