Nature made even more starkly gorgeous

Midlife crises generally result in someone buying a motorcycle...no, a Corvette...no, a Dodge Viper...Damn it, I can't even lose my sh*t without thinking about it too much! Emerging from an early midlife crisis into the arts: Katya Horner of Slight Clutter Photography.

After embarking on a career path that included being a paralegal, attaining an MBA from Rice, totally hating attaining an MBA from Rice but finishing anyway, and teaching in low-income schools, Horner found her passion in evocative Photoshop manipulations of her own photography. Some of the haunting glory:

Red Fairytale Woods: With its menacingly red ground, this landscape presents endless possibilities of Grimm-ly idyllic terror -- at least until M. Night Shyamalan reduces it to one possibility you'll claim to've seen coming even though you didn't.

Late For The Train: This shot was textured to look like it was taken in the 1920s, a romantic time when travel by rail was still the norm, and they hadn't yet invented platforms or benches.

Peaceful Morning River: This creek of tranquility was captured in the Hill Country, then infused with extra greens and blues. Note the unbroken bow formed by tree and reflection -- if you're not freaking out about how beautiful that is, infuse yourself with extra greens.

The rest of the portfolio runs from cityscapes, to desolate furniture, to deer, which might run fast, but not as fast as a Viper...no, a 'vette...no, a...Geo Metro.