This week we were asked to revisit a re-editing project and/or re-edit an image we took in the past. 

I do this A LOT.  A REAL LOT.  Ideas will come to me about a past image, or someone will ask me if I might be able to do something different with an image already taken.  Sometimes, depending on a given day, creative juices just aren't there, but in a week or so an image will pop into my mind along with an idea for making it better.

I decided to use past images this week to show you just how often I have walked this road to more creative images. (Note: Clicking on the images will make them larger for viewing.)

Above, the original image is on the left.  I took this image in a back parking lot on a rescue transport run. There was actually someone behind the dog holding a leash (no worries), but I edited them out.  I sent the rescue the original photo.  That spot on this pup's shoulder is an important part of his story.  He had been shot, and this was the point of access of the bullet. Because of that his usage of this particular leg was affected.  Yet, he was loveable, gave kisses, and was a happy boy.

Later on down the line, when they were having a bit of trouble placing this boy (he has separation anxiety), I re-edited the image to include the billowy cartoon cape and a message, so that they might use it in their publicity. He was, eventually, placed.

I attended a dog-oriented event in the Fall, and photographed many folks with their pups.  It was around Halloween, so there were costumes.  In the original photo, the owner is behind the pup.  I just loved the expression on this dog's face.

A few months after the event I was looking through the photos once more and thought this reminded me of "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"  I had purchased some digital backgrounds and wanted to give a background swap a try.  With the swap and brightening up of the colors, this photo has been processed as a metallic print and graces a studio wall.  It is a great sample of the metallic for clients to check out, due to the colors, which are quite bold.

Here we have a kitty, whose photo I snapped in a community cat room at a local humane society.  I loved that the background, at the time, matched the yellow eyes of this particular cat.  After looking through some digital holiday backgrounds, I purchased this spooky one around Halloween, and re-edited the photo.

Re-editing can surely tell a better story at times, can be fun or whimsical, and is a good reason to save past photos for reuse (it is why my backup drives are soooo full).  I do quite a bit of work on calendars and other projects, where these types of photos can come in handy.

To see more re-edited work by other pet photographers, start this week's blog circle with Kelly Marcuccio Middlebrooks of Little White Dog Pet Photography in Sioux Falls, SD.  Have a great weekend!

As you open the blog today, and if technology is truly being my friend this week, you are listening to Red Rubber Ball sung live by Simon and Garfunkle. Red Rubber Ball is one of my very favorite songs.  Written by Paul Simon and Bruce Woodly, it was recorded by The Cyrkle and hit #2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.  I was living in Germany at the time as a preteen, and this song always brings back very fine memories.

"And I think it's gonna be alright, yeah the worst is over now, the mornin' sun is shining like a Red Rubber Ball." Such a great message!

Our mornin' sun has NOT been shining like a Red Rubber Ball as nor'easter after nor'easter pummels New England and the Mid-Atlantic.  A morning sun shot would have been very appropriate for this song.  However, plan #2 seems to have also worked.

Yes, that's Matty.  All you have to do is put something--anything--on the floor and soon he will be there to investigate it.  Detective Matty.  We did happen to have a red rubber ball.  This is one of those balls that has feet and little ears which I always cut off so that no dogs ingest those parts.   I believe if you click on the photos they will enlarge, but don't hold your breath.

I can't wait to read through the blog circle and see what favorite songs have been selected by other photographers!  Join me by starting with Lacey Schuetz Photography based in Winston-Salem, NC.  Then work your way through the blog until you are back here.  If you hit a glitch, come back later in the day, when all bugs are worked out and all links are repaired.  Enjoy!

When I was a kid K.I.S.S. was a big thing.  Keep It Simple, Silly.  What most people don't realize is that this was a design principle used by the Navy in the 1960's and is most often associated with aircraft engineer Kelly Johnson. The "KISS principle" is alive and well and living within minimalist photography.

This type of photography is about composition, textures, colors, patterns, and often, the use of negative space.  It isn't as easy as it looks, because keeping it "simple" and yet including ANY of the items above can be very difficult.

This week I have two images.  They are not new, but they had not been edited before last night. 

This first image involves a cat, a box and some yellow paper.  It also involved waiting forever for the cat to come out of the box.  Most casts LOVE going into boxes, but they take a long time to come back out.  The simple design of this photo allows the lines of the box to intersect with I-am-never-coming-out cat, and allows the viewer's focus to rest completely on Mr. Kitty.  The tone on tone quality also helps the eye to find the parts of the image that are not gold/yellow.

And the old adage about buying animals expensive toys is true...just give a cat a box and you have saved a lot of money.

My second photo is of a rooster out free-ranging in the yard.  It is much easier to control a cat in a box with a paper background, then it is to figure out where a rooster might go, or for that matter, when he might actually stand still.

Using a lens that affords blurring the background, some added color saturation, negative space and not so much rooster in the frame, gave this photo a minimalist touch.  It shows the beauty of our rooster, Eugene.  Eugene passed last year after being with us quite a long time.  He was a wonderful keeper of his flock of hens.

Again, this photo had been in my archives, but never edited, and it turns out it may well be one of my most favorites of Eugene.

For more looks at minimalist photography, take a trip around the blog circle.  Start with John Bouma from MaxNorman Pet Photography, serving the South Florida Area.  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Back in February of 2016, we covered the wide angle topic.  At that time I showed you how moving close to the subject or objects near the subject, can distort the end photo, but also how it might be an interesting choice.  Here are two photos of Matty (our batty cat), that you can find in that blog.

In the first photo, where I am further away from Matty, the perspective appears almost normal.  In the second, where I am close to the couch cushion, you can see distortion in the elongated legs and paws, and in the couch cushion itself.

You can fit more in when using a wide angle lens, but sometimes fitting more in doesn't give a good idea as to what the subject really is in the photo.  There is no mistaking my subject is Matty in the second photo.

This go round, I wanted to use a wide angle lens and minimize distortion.  I used a 28mm Nikon lens for the following photos.  Since I do not like to distort dogs or people in photographs, I paid particular attention to the distance I would need to reduce distortion on my subject.  I did have to get closer to each dog in order to get the detail I wanted with the 28mm.  Sometimes with dogs that are afraid of cameras, or dogs I do not know well, this could pose a problem.  It did not in these instances. 

I was contacted by Ruff Dog Rescue North East to do some photos of their long-time residents.  I actually took these photos yesterday, beating the storm of the century which will be arriving here overnight.  If anyone is interested in these lovely dogs, you can visit Ruff Dog Rescue by clicking HERE.

This is handsome Petey.  He is sitting on a little bridge.  I am a bit higher up than he is.  I am close enough to get the details and his face and most of his body without any distortion, however, if you look at the little bridge you can see the curvature to either side.  The bridge is not really curved.  It is straight.  The curve is lens distortion. It was a pretty dreary day with many dark clouds, which enhanced Petey matching his surroundings.

Below is the lovely forest nymph, Molly.  Molly would never look directly into the camera,  I think it's a forest nymph characteristic.  To be a forest creature, we had to show some forest, which is where the wide angle came in handy. But again, if you look closely at the background you will see the rounded, fall-off distortion on each end of the photo.

In both cases, the subjects do stand out, even though there are other things around them. So when you want to include more in your photos, or if you do want to distort a portion of the surroundings or the subject itself, a wide angle lens is your option. Anything below 50mm is considered a wide angle, as 50mm represents what our eye sees normally.

To see what other photographers have done with this week's theme, you can continue on in the blog circle by clicking the next link. Check out Cheryl Gottschall of Gott Dog Photography (I just love that name) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Have a great weekend. We will spend some of ours digging out of snow, and hopefully none of ours without power from the storm.