This is my cat Sammy. Any commets? Is the plant too distracting?

the plant is not, but i think i would crop it tighter, youre already putting 99% of the focus on the eye nose area. would crop from the back of the head, cut part of the left ear and leave as much in front of the cat as possible. Here's an example.

Sammy is lovely Amber. You get away with the greenery nicely because of the green eyes I think. And though I usually don't like losing bits of ears or whiskers, Tony's crop is good because it loses the bits of wood framework in the background which did not belong.

Thanks. I don't really like his ear being cut off though but I do agree with the wood in the background.

I think the cropping also reduces the distortion that the wide lens presents. Don’t get me wrong, I love my 12-24mm lens but I think one has to use the distortion to compose an image. When I first saw the cat shot it looked like you shoved the lens in the cats face and snapped a photo. By taking more of the background out, and cropping off part of the back of the head, you reduce the apparent distortion - so that the face/head does not look so bulged. . .

If the bulged look is what you liked about the shot, then I'd say you did a fine job and you should keep the crop and be happy with it. . .

Here's a suggestion, try the same shot with a mid range tele shot wide open and compare the two shots.

Wide has its place, but I think when you’re using wide to shoot things that people are intimate with, like a cats face, you should have a reason to distort their features because when you do you make people un comfortable. Distortion will cause people to see more than just the image, it creates an unusual or uncomfortable feeling, it's kind of like lighting a human face from below, it's spooky ... I think wide worked best when shooting the nose of a Dalmatian or a big dog with a big nose, or the eyes of one of those dogs with big eyes and flat face and so on. Distorting things that are common, without meaning to extenuate their features, causes one to feel uncomfortable and I don’t think you posed or shot that cat in a pose that lends to that un comfortable feeling.

Now, if that cat had been on the floor, putting the sneak on a mouse, or just sniffing the ground like is was on the prowl, and you shot it close and wide, I think it would work.

These are just my thoughts; your shot is not at all bad. The neat thing about photography and asking people what they think is you can just do what you want and ignore us if you choose. It's all about sharing ideas, and finding your place. . . .

Take care, Tony

I would agree, I normally wouldnt like the ears cropped either but it works well here