It took 2 satellites 16 days to create the original image.  Fortunately it is in the public domain so It is fine to use it. Rather than the traditional Blue Marble I wanted to age the earth and give it an apocalyptic look. I used adjustment layers with masks to alter different areas of the planet. I then reduced the opacity of each layer until they looked suitably polluted or deforested.

I decided to have a go at pimping this Lada from Cuba. If anybody knows the model please leave a comment. To process this image I used the same technique as Red Chevy. Orton Effect, Fractalius and Selective Desaturation.

This was my first attempt at portraiture. Back in 2004 I decided to try and get the perfect cover shot for the lonely planet guide to Cuba. Cuba is a place soaked in history so to get that across I asked some of the old locals if I could take their picture. I liked this shot because of the crooked bars and the way his skin matched the colour on the door. This was taken when Fidel Castro was still running the country. I remember someone telling me that he had been in power so long he had seen 10 U.S. Presidents come and go. After returning from Cuba I discovered without a Model Release Statement from the local the image could not be sold. These days I have spare Model Release Statements in my camera bag all the time.

This is a 1957 Chevrolet in Trinidad, Cuba. To process this image I used a similar technique as the Blue Chevy. Orton Effect on the car and de-sat and de-focus background. To add some extra sparkle I also added a subtle Fractalius layer.

This was taken in Cuba. This building is typical of the design and condition of houses in Havana. I like this shot as despite being taken with an early digital compact camera it had a natural HDR look about it even before I started work on it. To process this image I started be removing the cables in front of the building with the Spot Healing Brush Tool set to Content-Aware. I then added Vignette, Viberence, Selective De-saturation and the Orton Effect. Then I gently lifted the pastel shades of the buildings using individual channel curves. I tried to submit this image for stock but it was rejected by Shutterstock and Dreamstime for copyright. I guess Art-Deco buildings count as Art.

Karen shot this 1950 Buick on the streets of Cuba. To process the image I used a similar technique to Cuba Chevrolet. I started by using the Orton Effect to give it a bit of a glow. I worked on the dusty red colour. Then I desaturated the background and darkened the edges with vignette.

I shot this beautiful car in Cienfuegos in Cuba. This is my first attempt at using the Orton Effect. At this point I must mention the very cool photoblog zOOm and thank Florence for sharing this technique. In essence the effect is created by duplicating a layer, blurring it and setting the blend mode to multiply. This significantly darkens the image so I applied curves to brighten each layer. I applied a little vignette and some masked desaturation to keep the focus on the subject.

This shot was taken in Trinidad in Central Cuba. I used a levels layer to shift the black point. This ensures jet black silhouettes. I then used a Hue/Saturation layer to boost the colours to something closer to the original sunset. For more information about shooting sunsets read the shot notes in Stunning Sunset.

This is my best selling photo from Cuba. Since submitting it to stock photography agencies in 2006 it has sold 98 times and made USD$35.65 so far. It almost did not get accepted at all. The original image had a great deal of speckle because it was not saved at the highest level of jpeg quality. You can see the uneven speckle patterns in the sky caused by lossy file compression.

I had to use so much noise reduction and despeckle that the image started to appear soft focused. Fortunately with this type of dreamy ideal holiday type shot a bit of soft focus does not look out of place and this image was accepted at Shutterstock and Dreamstime.