#azimuth 111

[thorsenmark]

It’s Always a Good Time for a Walk in Mesa Verde National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east-southeast while taking in views and hiking the Petroglyph Point Trail in Mesa Verde National Park. My thought on composing this image was to capture a look across this grassy meadow with trees remnants from a wildfire. I liked the yellow look across this setting, especially with the backdrop of the overcast skies. I felt they acted as a color contrast to complement the yellows and greens present. This is along the Petroglyph Point Trail that goes along the higher ground on the return portion from the canyon and petroglyph wall area.

[thorsenmark]

Blue Sky Solitude in Mesa Verde National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast and up not long after starting to walk the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail. This is in Mesa Verde National Park. What I wanted to capture with this image was to use the backdrop of blue skies for the nearby juniper trees that I’d came across on the trail. The rest was metering the image to balance the highlighted areas caught in sunlight in the trees and the more shadowed areas behind as well as the skies above.

[thorsenmark]

My Vacation Escapes in Dry Tortugas National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: From an overlook along the upper sections of Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park, I captured this picturesque setting. The expansive view extends to the east-southeast. In the composition of this image, I focused on Bush Key as it curved across to my front with Long Key off in the distance. I liked how the island key with its green hues was a color constrast between the bodies of waters with the blue hues on each side.

[thorsenmark]

Itineraries in Exploring Guadalupe Mountains National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: My thinking in composing this image was to zoom into this one section with the white sand dunes and desert plant-life. That would create a layered approach by having the Guadalupe Mountains tower above all in this national park setting. The blue skies and clouds would be that color contrast to complement the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 5 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

[thorsenmark]

Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across mountain desert landscape present in this part of Joshua Tree National Park. This is while walking around the Cap Rock area. What I wanted to capture with this image was an alignment of the the nearby Joshua Tree with the ridges and peaks of Ryan Mountain off in the distance, and then include the Moon rising, seemingly above all of that in the blue skies above.

[thorsenmark]

Nature's All Star Lineup in Dry Tortugas National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking around and exploring Bush Key in Dry Tortugas National Park. The view is looking to the southeast to Long Key with birds flying around some trees and bushes. Several things drew me into this image and setting. One was the birds themselves flying about. Another was the difference between the colors of waters in the nearby area where I was located and the more deeper blue waters beyond the Long Key in the Gulf of Mexico. I liked that color contrast and separation the key made. The blue skies also added a nice backdrop for the birds flying out helping to make them more distinguishable. In capturing this image, I used my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera with a NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR that I found quite responsive and worked well in gaining a focus with the subject detection of the birds flying about.

[thorsenmark]

Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across mountain desert landscape present in this part of Joshua Tree National Park. This is while walking around the Cap Rock area. What I wanted to capture with this image was an alignment of the the nearby Joshua Tree with the ridges and peaks of Ryan Mountain off in the distance, and then include the Moon rising, seemingly above all of that in the blue skies above.

[thorsenmark]

Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Joshua Tree National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across mountain desert landscape present in this part of Joshua Tree National Park. This is while walking around the Cap Rock area. What I wanted to capture with this image was an alignment of the the nearby Joshua Tree with the ridges and peaks of Ryan Mountain off in the distance, and then include the Moon rising, seemingly above all of that in the blue skies above.