Porgy, Bess, and little Socrates

I wish all my patient and gifted friends on Blogger, and BlogCatalog the kind of holiday they want and a great New Year. Dr.Awsom has a card for you as well below this one, and an important message. Well, it would be wouldn't it. The picture above taken a few months ago was one of those lucky times when very slow focussing did not ruin the picture. The composition was improved greatly (I say) by shifting Socrates a little to the left so that 1. the little black ears 'read' better and the framing could be a bit squarer. A Photoshop filter called 'angled strokes' gives a subtle painted look, which is often all I do to make a picture from a photograph. Slight unsharpness is also improved by this filter which creates tiny 'cells' of colour with sharp edges. The high-res image shows this better of course. This picture will bring me joy for ever not only because these cats are special, but because the composition is almost perfect. Can I say that? I think so because there are rules, and they are the same for everyone. But not important for everyone. Like wrong notes in music - if they're wrong they're wrong.