hey james, I love cats, almost as I love cropping other people's shots. It went ahead and cropped one. I actually cropped them all but will post the first one I took from your post.

I believe there must be a reason for every part of a photo. If there's not, I try to leave it out when I shoot, oor crop it off later. I dont like extra space unless there's a reason for it. In your shots, I did not see how extra space was adding to the composition. Instead, I felt that the cat was posing or sitting is an open space. I like to see more of the candid/photo journalistic syle, classic portraits still have their place. I also try not to center eyes and almost never square a subject to the frame. Angles make the shot less static.

That said, I cant believe you got your cat to sit there for the shots you did get, so overall, I'm impressed!

I also did a slight color adjustment and took the gray glaze off the eye from the soft box.

Just another mans opinion, and as you know by now, I just like to cropping and youre a good sport. . .

Take care,