Mike Malaska, USA - Hi-res mosaic

Image submitted by Mike Malaska, Chapell Hil, NC, USA.

Mike writes:
"Here is an assembled mosaic of particularly hi-resolution images of the South Pole and Argyre Planitia.

The images were from the June 22, 2008 MEX VMC image sequence. To create the mosaic, each of the images was passed through the VMC utility made by Bernd Leitenberger to convert into a RGB PNG. Next, each of the images was stacked and aligned in Photoshop CS3. Each of the images was clipped about 4-pixels worth to remove funky color effects around the edges. In addition, two JPEGs of the images (#3 and #6) were also used to fill in blank areas remaining after processing – these JPEG black and white images were colorized to match the color of the PNG images. Exposure adjustment layers were used to adjust the layers to the top image (image #12) of the stack. The individual images were cleaned up using the spot healing tool and the clone stamp – in all cases the overlapping region of another image was used to determine the best way to apply the spot changes. A light unsharp mask was used to bring out detail in the top image. An orange tone photo filter was added to the entire image. Then, adjustment of levels, hue/saturation/levels and contrast curves were used to get the right color and exposure balance. Finally, the image was placed on a black background, rotated, and cropped."