Taiwan - Kaohsiung Buddhist Museum, Flower Bud / Before-and-After Series

This was captured at the entrance to the Great Hall, where the wood carving was.

There's something soothing, calming, about sitting down and cleaning up a photo, making it look better than it was before, and time flies while absorbed in such an exercise.  The original pic is below:

The first time I learned how to use the clone stamp to change something in a photo I stayed up until almost three o'clock in the morning getting it just right.  And if you're removing something, what's behind it has to be painstakingly cloned into place from the surrounding scenery.  That was in 2003, and even then I had in mind to do a before-and-after series of some sort.  Click on the photo below to enlarge, then use the arrow keys to toggle back and forth.

Before:

After:

Later, when I'd had a little practice, a picture from Zedler Mill was doctored to remove the power lines and a log that had fallen into the creek, among other improvements.  This was in 2008.

Before:

After: