When I shot this I knew exactly how I was going to edit it. The way this Bobcat was placed in such an odd place in front of all the Gazelle’s on a high shelf,  it made me imagine him escaping and climbing up to the highest point to get at his prey, yet the bird was too fast. I knew I wanted to convey motion with both the swat of the paw and the birds fearless escape. I even framed the horror in the eye of the Gazelle as he witnessed the rogue Bobcat in his herd. Gazelle and Bobcats would never be found in the same zipcode, not even at a zoo, so this odd pairing really created the story in my head about the naughty Bobcat. I actually don’t know if these are Gazelle, they could be Ibex, there was no identification. I know for a fact that these specimens were vanquished and forgotten in a dark corner of  the museum before they built the current room and brought them out for display.  You really do need to see the before to be able to take in all that I was babbling about above.

I will be editing a photo a day for the remainder of 2012::Project MMXII, this is my ‘after’, you can view the ‘before’ here.

P.S. Don’t forget to check to see if you were one of the winners of the Natural History Prints giveaway! 

I will be sad to part with my little birds of prey menagerie but so happy that they will be going to good homes. I really enjoyed looking through all your pins and inspirations it is always so hard to choose. I really loved the work that went into the board by Julia Eagle (perfect name for the giveaway right?) Her board was timeless, nostalgic + rustic, I wanted to move right in. Visit her winning board here. I am pleased to bestow the Hawk to Julia and have her add it to her home. Paula of Two Ellie had a modern + rustic inspiration board and I think the Owl would be delighted to watch over her home, so I shall be sending it to her! I wasn’t going to be giving the Snowy Owl away this round but it was hard not to give it to Krista who has a whole board dedicated to owls , I mean with all that owl adoration going on I feel that she deserves one too.  Thank you all for indulging me. There will be plenty of prints to be given away in the future, so if you didn’t win this time do keep playing! Congrats Julie, Paula and Krista!

I uploaded this photo and immediately thought I can’t wait to have the new blog done! I am going to make the photos a titch bigger on the re-design and that makes me happy. This was an easy edit, I started with a pretty well exposed, sharp image. I want to note here to those that have stumbled upon these edits that I am not a horrible photographer, I do try to pull the must hideous ones to work on. I get a lot of emails from outraged photographers that want me to proselytize getting the best photograph ‘in camera’ as possible and not rely on Photoshop. I promise you I believe this wholeheartedly, it’s just sometimes you shoot and your photographs are crap and you need a miracle.  I like to work miracles. It’s a lot more exciting for me to transform a photograph that you would ordinarily delete and turn it into something you would frame. I have some winners to announce this week, which is another thrill. I love that I have the opportunity to share my good fortune with you!

I will be editing a photo a day for the remainder of 2012::Project MMXII, this is my ‘after’, you can view the ‘before’ here.
   

I can’t believe I made it to 50! I bet you can’t either. I have watched as my Blogger followers (that’s what they are called here on Blogger, I didn’t make that name up), have followed and un-followed in rapid succession. I have to say that I am so co-dependent that I take the un-follow as a personal slap that I am not doing my bit to satisfy you ‘followers’. I don’t like the wording ‘follower’, when I know you are all leaders (will that keep you following me? compliments? they always work for me).  I have an awful lot going on right now and this project of editing is the only thing that is keeping me coming here each day and checking in. I’m serious, I have wanted to stop blogging so I can add an extra hour into my work day, I want to not do the project so I can focus on the blog re-design, etc., but I know those are pipe dreams, the only thing that works for me is to keep moving, when I stop I can’t get anything done, when I am going, going going, things are accomplished. I am going to slow down this upcoming weekend though as I am going away to meet some blog friends in ‘real life’. It’s quite a thrill and something I missed last year as I started a job that I promptly got fired from, for what else? blogging. oops. If I knew I was going to get canned (a first, ouch) I would have gone away for the weekend prior. Live and learn.

I will be editing a photo a day for the remainder of 2012::Project MMXII, this is my ‘after’, you can view the ‘before’ here.
  

Mandrill’s, quite the exotic primate, no? A bit vicious looking with sharp canine teeth and natural ‘war paint’.  Not a species I would like to be locked in a small room with, but enough about the Mandrill, let’s talk about me shall we? 

I tackled a pile of Besotted Brand orders so high that we didn’t have space to move today. I honestly thought I would be packing until next Tuesday, but I had help and she was fast. When the last of the orders was packed and in the capable arms of my Postman I heaved a sigh of relief, until I came back into my studio and took in the mass havoc that was reaped on it. There was wood shred everywhere. Even my dogs had wood shred stuck to their coats. Bella thought it was a toy and I had to stick my fingers into her slobbery mouth to retrieve a handful of it, pretty. She thought it was a new game, and tried to hold on tight to her wood shred ‘toy’. Never a dull moment. After being up since the crack of dawn, working like a madwoman for twelve hours straight I had to resign myself to the fact that I would never be able to relax unless I cleaned the mess up. A couple hours later I was done, both literally and figuratively. I then had to set up a shot for the Souvenir Foto School class and do this edit. Believe me if I were going to give up this masochistic project, today would have been the day, but I persevered. I am feeling a little like I think someone that climbed Mount Everest might feel, just a total sense of accomplishment.  Now forgive me, I think I am going to go pass out.

I will be editing a photo a day for the remainder of 2012::Project MMXII, this is my ‘after’, you can view the ‘before’ here.