Hi James et al,

Pic 2 for me is perfect as the contrast level seems spot on. Great blacks at one end and a nice white that isn't blown out. Pic 1 & 3 look a bit flatter to me which is why I thought you had perhaps used shadows/highlights to bring in more detail (guess I owe you that beer!)

A polarizer would make things tricky as you are going to lose two stops of light which would make things interesting to capture a kitten who wont sit still.

What lighting set up are you using? The last time I photographed cats the owner tried to stop the cat going behind the backdrop and fell over (her own bag) and dislocated a shoulder. I was left with her writhing in agony and a cat that was spitting at me from behind my colorama. Comedy of errors or what?!

You could try a single main light with a triflector in front? If I do single animals I put them in a small cove (harder for them to escape) have a bowens monobloc with a large softbox with the triflector in front (to prevent it escaping hopefully) If I do large animals I just panic!