#apache peak

[thorsenmark]

When I Close My Eye, I Dream About Mountains (Joshua Tree National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at Keys View and looking to the west-southwest across a mountain desert landscape with some snow still present from a recently storm. This is in Joshua Tree National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the dead, fallen tree and use that to add to the setting in the image captured with the ridges and more distant snowcapped peaks of several mountain ranges in southern California. With the sun behind me, I felt I was able to capture more details, from near to far, including more in the peaks of the San Gorgonio Mountain and San Jacinto Mountains. The rest of the image composition was then a matter of aligning myself to find that angle with the tree, ridges, and mountain peaks. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

[thorsenmark]

I Stand at Keys View and Behold California (Joshua Tree National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: In Joshua Tree National Park at the Keys View overlook with a mountain desert setting as I looked to the west. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the ridges and the way they seemingly criss-crossed one after the other from the nearby one with snow-covered sage brushes and creosote bushes to a nearby ridge coming off the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the more distant ridges and peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains and San Gorgonio Mountain. A truly amazing setting to take in from this overlook! I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image. I would come back to this location the next morning and see what I might be able to capture with the sun behind me and not directly above those peaks (and washing them out in the afternoon sunlight).

[thorsenmark]

Planning Only Wonderful Mysteries in Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the west while taking in views across mountain and desert landscape present at Keys View in Joshua Tree National Park. With this image, I pulled back on the focal length to have more of a wider angle view and angled my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward to capture more of the foreground leading up to the nearby ridges, and then more distant snowcapped mountain peaks. I liked seeing the blue skies and how it was a color contrast to complement the earth-tones in the nearby national park landscape.

[thorsenmark]

Remembering a Friday in Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at Keys View with a view looking to the west across a mountain desert landscape present in this part of Joshua Tree National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the old, dead tree and add that to the foreground, and then create a layered look with the ridges as they came, one after another, leading up to the more distant peaks of the San Jacinto and San Gorgonio mountains.

[thorsenmark]

Exploring America’s Crown Jewel in Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: In Joshua Tree National Park with a view looking to the west across the mountain and desert landscape present in his part of southern California. This is at Keys View. Composing this image, I decided to take advantage of the layered look to my front with the nearby open area that then lead to ridges and spurs coming off the adjacent mountainside, before the snowcapped mountain peaks far off in the distance.

[thorsenmark]

Keys View on a Morning with a Mountain Setting by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: in Joshua Tree National Park while at Keys View with a view looking to the southwest across the mountain desert landscape present.

[thorsenmark]

Real Mountain Views in Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: In Joshua Tree National Park with a view looking to the west across the mountain and desert landscape present in his part of southern California. This is at Keys View.

[thorsenmark]

My Refuge Amongst the Mountains in Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: In Joshua Tree National Park while at Keys View with a view looking to the southwest across the mountain desert landscape present.