The Last Word

Buffie Boily of Boily Photo, Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Canada, is best known for her innovative wedding style, fashionable senior portraits and heartwarming children’s images, not for photographing rodents. But as Buffie says, “Hey, someone’s gotta do it.”

“Three Blind Mice” is actually a vacation image taken at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, a place that Buffie calls a “Merit Print Park.” The image came about simply because Buffie was aware of her surroundings. These African Spiny-backed Mice were having their “afternoon break” in their glass tank, with one little guy facing the wrong, or maybe the right, way.

The image was captured through the glass, lit with the tank light and natural light in the room. The image was exposed handheld for 1⁄20 second at f/3.5 with a Nikon D100 and a 28–80mm f/3.3–5.6G AF Zoom Nikkor lens.

There is virtually no Photoshop work done on this image, save a bit of highlight dodging on the fur.

According to Buffie, “I was so excited when I took this image that I spent the entire afternoon asking my husband Sib, ‘Did you know I just made a merit print?’”

Before being entered and receiving an honorable mention in the WPPI 2004 Awards of Excellence competition, “Three Blind Mice” has scurried away with its fair share of hardware including: Best Animal Portrait in Canada (PPOC) and Atlantic Canada (MPPA) 2003, Judges’ Choice 2003 (PPOC), Best General Print 2003 (MPPA), Loan Collection 2003 (PPOC) and Honorable Mention in the NAC Global competition where it earned a spot on display on the Great Wall of China. It also helped Buffie get nominated for MPPA Photographer of the Year 2003.

Buffie can be reached by email at boilyph@pei.aibn.com/. To see more of her images, visit her web site: www.boilyphoto.com/.