Hi Doug,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing your photo of the cat. This is a tough exposure and you did really well on it. The cat's eyes are a tad darker than I would like, but that can be handled pp, I think. Otherwise that is a hard exposure to pull off and I think you did a nice job with it given how bright the background is.

As to the composition, I generally like it. However, and please take this the right way since this is your very first photograph that you are sharing in the forum, but I have a hard time figuring out what the story you are sharing in the picture is. For example, if the cat was looking directly at the camera, I would call it a very nice portrait. Since the cat though is focused on something else, I am wondering if the composition is congruent with what the cat was looking at.

Anyway, hope that helps - and welcome again to the community.

Sincerely,
James