Cat in the yard: Composition/PP C&C

[OrionsByte]

This is my cat, Maybelle, who is not supposed to be outside roaming around the apartment complex where we're not allowed to have pets, and yet here she is, lounging in the grass for all to see.

I submit this shot for C&C to see if anyone has any thoughts on the composition and post-processing. Composition-wise, there's something that seems "off" to me about it - maybe I need to crop out a bit of the grass on the left - I'm not sure. Post-processing-wise, I spent a fair amount of time cloning out all the leaves - did that add or detract from the picture in your opinion?

I shot this in RAW+Basic, so the "original" is the unedited Basic-quality JPG SOOC, and the edited version is converted from RAW using Raw Therapee (first attempt using that software) and then moved to Paint Shop Pro X3 for the cloning work.

ORIGINAL:

EDITED:

 

[MohaimenK]

edited looks much better....but does it match the cat's true color?

 

[dak1b]

the edit is better, however to me it looks like theres just too much grass, which takes over the subject. imop

 

[OrionsByte]

but does it match the cat's true color?

Yep, pretty darn close. Might be a little warm.

 

[vtf]

On animals, you should get down on their level and foucs alot on the eyes. Generally the rest falls into place.

 

[Naphtali14]

Edited does look much better.. However I agree dak1b that the grass distracts; there's too much depth of field in my opinion.

 

[misskrys]

Edited looks much better, but I also agree that you should get down on her level. Really get those pretty blue eyes

 

[AlexL]

the edited version is a lot better and the colors looks good!

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

As for composition.... I think I'd like to see a little more space over, under and to his right... Nice PP otherwise... IMO anyway......

 

[page_tyson]

Your cat kinda looks like the one on Meet the Parents! I like the edited photo, I would personally like to see a little more DOF however
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