sleeping cat

This is a very good picture. The sleeping cat is adorable and the black and white conversion was good. There is not a lot of tonal range in the picture but the high contrast look that the stark blacks and pure whites creates has a nice feel. Obviously you do not pose a cat to take a picture by the angle with which you captured this one is very good. The detail in the face, especially the whiskers is very clear and sharp. Normally a little background is good to have to show depth in a picture but its not really necessary in my opinion as far as this picture goes. I love that you were able to portray the largest part of a cats life in such an artful manner. Im assuming, only because I have tried this with lights before and scared my cat to death, that your lighting is a continuous source. The lighting is very dramatic and not normally what you would see associated with something like a domesticated cat but it works well. If i could do anything different to it i would probably try a reflector on camera right to fill in the dark side of the body a little. Keep in mind Im not suggesting you flat light it but more or less bring some definition back to the cats left side of the body. Because the left side of the cat is so dark there are a few tonal mergers where the cat blends into the background. The shallow depth of field works well for what you have produced because taking from your title the focus is the fact the cat is asleep. I particularly like the pattern of the cat and feel as though i would like to see a little more of it. The cat itself seems to be in a desolate place even though I can again assume that its not. This leads back to the not being able to distinguish the environment that the cat is in. Im also not getting a feeling of peace that you might have had if this was in color, or in a duo tone with a warm tone to it. If I had to chose a favorite aspect of this image it would be either the sharpness of the whiskers, or the pattern of black lines on the cats face. The negative space in the picture can work two ways. For me it enables me to stay focused on the face of the cat and move around just the face looking at the details. However, with nothing else in the picture to look at it could easily cause a viewer to simply glance and then pass on. Were you to frame this I think it would add to your composition because it would help our eyes to stay within the frame and examine your subject further. Overall I believe you did a spectacular job and the few faults I did note were purely from the standpoint of what others might see when they look at your work. For me, Im pleased with the picture you produced.