"Oddly, I like this image"

David J. Sullivan, one of my best critics, posted a note to a sui generis still life: "Oddly, I find I like this image, with the exit out of the top of the frame, better than the next one which has everything contained." I can't think of anything I'd rather hear than "Oddly, I like this image." My answer to him follows.

Many thanks. You're on the money, as usual – at least my two cents' worth. I've come to think of my best photos as "hard pictures," hard in various ways, one way being that it's hard to tell them from mistakes. When I put them on photo.net they get little attention and low ratings. I'm not complaining.