When mother nature meets photoshop - PHOTO

There are many weird and wonderful creatures in the animal kingdom - but you're unlikely to ever spot an ice-skating chick or a flying rhino.You've also got a cat in hell's chance of seeing a young girl offering flowers to a 20ft-tall buffalo or a camel enjoying a cigarette.But then for all its evolutionary marvel, Mother Nature doesn't have Photoshop.Swiss photographer John Wilhelm does, however, and with a little fantasy escapism has turned his wildlife pictures into some truly surreal works of art.'Everything is possible now,' said the 43-year-old IT director from Winterthur, Zurich.'When you're working digitally, it allows you to do things incredibly quickly and you can create anything.'Every idea can be realised, which is very important to me.'Sometimes, I have a crystal clear concept in mind that I want to bring to life. But, most of the time, I just go out and shoot at zoos or museums, and when I get them onto to my computer and see them bigger ideas pop up.'So, you could say that you see fantasy in my pictures, the childlike parts of my mind.'After John has photographed his subject, he digitally manipulates the image with editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom.The process can take John up to four hours to complete one single image, including shots of a smoking camel and a clumsy elephant treading on a disgruntled lion's tail.John explains: 'Mainly, I decided to create these photographs for fun and to free my creativity.'The reaction from the public has been very positive.'Although there are, of course, the purists who don't like retouched images and have something to say about them.'He said the image of the ice-skating chick came to him after skating on a frozen lake.'The chick photograph was then taken a few weeks later and the pose reminded me immediately of ice-skaters,' he added.'For me, having three kids and a regular job as an I.T. director, I have to discover my ideas quickly.'With what little training I have in photography, this is made possible with the right equipment and the world of digital.'(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az