This is part of the first stage processing for the Galaxy Lithium mine in Ravensthorpe. Chris, Robert and Jugal were kind enough to give us a guided tour on Thursday. This rig uses a variety of mechanical processes to separate the spodumene concentrate which contains the Lithium you find in your mobile phone battery. Like most mining in Australia this product is bound for China. Galaxy also owns the processing plant there. I thought this was quite clever of them as I believe most mines ship raw ore to China without adding any value.

After removing the Galaxy logo for copyright reasons this image was accepted for Stock Photography at Shutterstock and is available for high resolution download here. I also blended the image with a slightly less high contrast Photoshopped RAW development to adhere to strict stock image quality standards.

This is inside the cab of a steam engine at the Railway museum in Merredin. This image adds to the newly dubbed series of pictures named Mechanography. A little Orton Effect was used to process this image as well as some selective desaturation. We are spending a little more time in Hopetoun and plan to cross the Nullarbor at the end of February.

We have just had a wonderful weekend at the Maranup Ford Farm Stay. Which is a beautiful Caravan Park near Bridgetown. We chose this place as it was The weekend of the annual Bridgetown Blues Festival and the Caravan park was one of a very select set of sites which has an especially “Pleasant Outlook or Vista” according to our Camps guide book. On both accounts we where very impressed. The Campsite had a beautiful federation style garden and the Festival was Just the right size for a great day out with street performers, like these two, and Cafes and Bars also providing a selection of Music, but more memorable than all this was the people we met at the Caravan Park who all made us feel very welcome. If everybody is this friendly and generous we should have no worries setting up home in Australia.

The original photograph was taken by Kerim Okten. I knew as soon as I saw this image online it would be one of the defining images of the London Riots. Sure enough it was used by The Daily Star, Daily Mail, i, Daily Express, The Telegraph, The Sun and the BBC as a backdrop for their newsreaders. Its a powerful shot but I did not want to help glamorise what is ultimately pointless destruction. I’ve added some elements in an attempt to change the message.

THE RIOTERS PRAYER
Our father, who art in prison, only mum knows his name, thy Riots come, read it in the sun, in Birmingham, as it is in London, give us this day our Welfare bread & forgive us our looting, as we’re happy 2 loot those who defend stuff against us, lead us not into employment but deliver us free housing, 4 thine is the Spliff, the Blackberry & the Lager, forever & ever…Innit

We went for a walk in Rutland today. Karen spotted these Crocuses outside a cottage. I have used Orton Effect and Desaturation layers in an attempt to make the flowers stand out of the busy background.

I have never been lucky enough to see a Red Squirrel in the UK. The closest I could get was to disguise one of our common gray squirrels. I used liquify to change the shape of the face and lengthen the ears. A new layer with a blend mode set to color is used to change the fur to a woody brown hue while keeping the texture.

I know this has been done before but I decided it was time for my take on this classic piece of digital art. Like Future World I used an image of the world in the public domain. This time showing the Pacific as I thought it would blend into the blue of my left eye. My aim was to make it look as realistic as possible despite the unrealistic concept.

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 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.