THE PHOTO:
Last in the hot-air balloon series (for now). These were taken in the Yarra Valley, soon I hope to take another ride over Melbourne itself - but hopefully the pilot won't try this trick with the city skyscrapers.

POST PROCESSING:
Straighten, Crop, Levels, Sharpen.

This feed item was originally published on 05/01/2010 under: landscapes, melbourne, photos, places

© 2010 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Another in the hot-air balloon series (honestly - how many chances like this do you get - let me milk it). This shot being a wider-angle shot similar to this earlier one.

POST PROCESSING:
I think I tried for about an hour to get some level of detail into this shot, but in the end it's pretty much how it came out of the camera except for some sharpening and a slight tint.

This feed item was originally published on 28/12/2009 under: landscapes, melbourne, photos, places, sunrises

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Another shot of the ANZ building in Docklands, this time showing more of it's premium location next to the Yarra River mouth. My fascination with this massive ANZ bank building started before it was constructed with one of my first HDR shots in Melbourne (and before I even knew what I was looking at). Then when I moved to the Docklands area (I can actually throw a stone and hit the building), it took on a life of its own as it began to dominate the area.

POST PROCESSING:
Sharpen, Dodge/Burn, Levels.

OTHER:
OK, so this is not much more than an exercise in SEO domination of a key-phrase. Not even ANZ themselves optimizes for their flagship building's address. It's also to shut-up Jon who keeps pressuring me to do this. This photo was originally titled "ANZ Blue Hour".

This feed item was originally published on 26/12/2009 under: cityscape, melbourne, photos, places, structures, sunsets

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Another in my series from my hot-air balloon excursion last month.

POST PROCESSING:
Crop, Sharpen, Levels.

This feed item was originally published on 20/12/2009 under: general, landscapes, melbourne, photos, places

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Taken on the new "back door" escalator at 833 Collins Street - aka "ANZ Docklands"...while it was moving...

POST PROCESSING:
Lens correction, levels, curves, USM.

This feed item was originally published on 11/12/2009 under: abstract, general, melbourne, photos, places

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
I don't know why (it's probably the 6 beers I just had before posting this), but I don't think this image is related to flatulence. In fact its another in the series of hot-air balloons from a couple of weekends ago.

POST PROCESSING:
Surprisingly for a simple shot, this needed a lot of post processing - mainly to get the landscape and foreground balance in check. The balloons were mostly in shadow in the original and the camera warm white-balance threw things out a bit with a blown-out sky. Apart from my standard stuff (USM, levels/curves), shadow/highlights was more influential in this shot than anything else.

This feed item was originally published on 09/12/2009 under: general, landscapes, melbourne, photos, places

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Interesting patterning in a farm paddock viewed from a hot-air balloon in the Yarra Glen, Victoria.

POST PROCESSING:
Rotate, Crop, Sharpen, Levels.

This feed item was originally published on 01/12/2009 under: landscapes, melbourne, photos, places

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
Taken from my recent balloon trip a few weeks ago (more to come), this one being one of the few higher altitude shots that the "pilot" allowed us to get.

The blue radial gradient coloring in the sky was from the circular polarizer on the lens.

POST PROCESSING:
RAW Pre-processing (light/shadow, recovery), levels, USM, curves, crop.

This feed item was originally published on 23/11/2009 under: landscapes, melbourne, photos, places

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
This is probably the strongest shot from my weekend treat to a hot-air balloon ride in the Yarra Glen region just outside of Melbourne. While I can't vouch for the operators in a positive fashion, given the right weather (like we were lucky to have), some of the views are quite astounding. I am looking forward to comparing this rural experience to a future urban one.

POST PROCESSING:
RAW Pre-Processing, Sharpen, Crop, Levels, Curves, Dodge/Burn, Color Balance.

This feed item was originally published on 10/11/2009 under: landscapes, melbourne, photos, places, sunrises

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.

THE PHOTO:
A couple of weeks ago I took this shot the ANZ building in Docklands after it had almost been finished. I wasn't quite happy with the final result and wanted to come back for another attempt - being this one.

POST PROCESSING:
RAW Pre-processing (vibrance, fill-light, clarity), Noise Reduction, Smart Sharpen, Levels, Selective Color replacement, Curves, USM.

This feed item was originally published on 24/10/2009 under: melbourne, photos, places, structures, sunsets

© 2009 Mike Hudson for seriocomic.