what a FANTASTIC idea, Rod!!!! nah...there's nothing else in the image that's important to me. i chopped off the dog's legs, got the timing wrong (see its blurry tail), and compo & DOF suck...LOL! yeah...i felt like i was losing something with the higher contrast, but i couldn't put my finger on it. i kept thinking maybe it was losing a bit of detail in his mouth but when i looked at the original i changed my mind. What a TERRIFIC idea to do it that way, Rod!!!! Let me work with the high resolution image and see what i can do!!! THANKS A BUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!