I thought I was getting a handle on exposure until my local photography club had training and a contest related to "nigh key" and "low key" photography. It turns out that just like in music, painting, writing (both prose and poetry), and other arts, while there are rules and guidelines, there are also times when those rules and guidelines don't need to be followed. The term "correct exposure" has come to occupy a spot on the throne of photography which it may or may not deserve. The fact is that most environments and subjects that we would photograph contain a wider range of tonality than we can fully capture and a much wider range of tonality than we could ever print or otherwise display.

There is always a lot of discussions here about checking out histograms after exposure. That is not necessarily bad advice, but it is almost guaranteed to create frustration somewhere along the way. Often, getting one end of the histogram right will result in problems at the other end.

So I've come to look at correct exposure a little differently. My approach is not revolutionary but rather is based on the old Zone System for controlling the exposure and printing processes during the days of film. To perhaps oversimplify a little bit, if I see that I have lost usable important detail in the highlights, then I consider that my image is overexposed. Conversely, if I've not captured usable detail in the important shadows, then I consider that my image is underexposed. Sometimes if is not possible to correct one of these without losing the other one. If that happens, there may be several options...using lower ISO (to gain dynamic range), using an HDR approach, or adjusting my goal for that image. And I've done each of the three of these at times over the years.

Your image is fine as it is as a "high key" image. In fact, you might even go a little further if that is your vision.

Of course, you might also want to consider being a little pickier about your backgrounds. A step or two to the left (if possible) could have eliminated the truck and in fact, most of the brightest part of the background, which would have resulted in a gentler, less harsh image.

You will learn as you gain experience. But let it be fun, not drudgery. Good luck on your journey.

Thanks everyone I’m getting a lot of good feedback in a kind manner which I appreciate. I do know how to to make duplicates so you have practice copies to work on ,I just meant ruin in the sense of me settling for a picture that is just all wrong because I don’t know any better. Lol. The weird thing is I shoot all my images in Raw but I posted this picture away from my computer with my iPad and I guess the program I sent it from had changed it to jpeg or tiff I’m not sure. Does iPad not support raw images?

Thanks everyone I’m getting a lot of good feedback in a kind manner which I appreciate. I do know how to to make duplicates so you have practice copies to work on ,I just meant ruin in the sense of me settling for a picture that is just all wrong because I don’t know any better. Lol. The weird thing is I shoot all my images in Raw but I posted this picture away from my computer with my iPad and I guess the program I sent it from had changed it to jpeg or tiff I’m not sure. Does iPad not support raw images?

From an aesthetic standpoint, you, the photographer, are the final judge of how light or dark your image should be. For a close-up of this cat, you have a great pose and closeness. A few adjustments to your exposure and focus will improve the result.

From a technical standpoint, you can see in the 1:1 details, the technical aspects of the image to consider:

1. Over-exposed whites, lacking detail, both visually and when looking at the histogram. On your camera, if you set the display for the histogram and activate the highlight warnings, you'll see 'blinking' warnings of over exposure. Use those warnings to adjust your exposure parameters. See your camera manual for details.

2. For focus, for people or animals, seek the sharpest focus on the nearest eye to the camera. This can be done using a single AF point directly on the subject's eye. Again, consult your camera manual for how to select an individual AF point and how to move the AF point within the frame.

If you click into the details of the image along the bottom edge, you can see the best focus is the fur at the bottom of the frame. Imagine this image if that sharp focus was on the eye and all the hair on the face with all distinct strands of fur as appears on the leg exiting the frame at the bottom. This cat seems willing to cooperate as you refine your technique.

You'll want 'white whites', so you only need to adjust the exposure slightly so the highlight warnings just stop blinking. The EXIF data is missing from the attachment, so you'll have to look at the image on your end and decide if a faster shutter or lower ISO (or both) is the parameter to adjust to just slightly lower the exposure on the whites of the fur.