#azimuth 135

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It's Always a Good Time for a Walk in the Woods and Mountains of Lassen Volcanic National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across the waters of Reflection Lake with Lassen Peak as a distant backdrop. This was while walking along the evergreen tree-lined shoreline in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

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Chetro Ketl and a Setting in Chaco Canyon (Chaco Culture National Historical Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views and walking around the ruins present in the Chetro Ketl area of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

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Mount Wilcox Beyond a Nearby Hillside of Trees (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at the Tangle Creek Falls area along the Icefields Parkway with a view looking to the southeast. This is in Jasper National Park. One can see the nearby ridge coming off Tangle Ridge and Mount Wilcox off in the distance.

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A Favorite Thing to Brag About is a National Park! (Denali National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the southeast while on the main park road just before crossing Sable Pass in Denali National Park. While I wasn't able to identify any of the peaks based on the park map and a Gaia map program, I was able to determine that this was of mountain peaks to the east of Mount Pendleton. By angling my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward, I wanted to capture more of a sweeping view across this glacial valley leading up to those ridgelines and snowcapped peaks off in the distance. I included some of the blue skies above, even though there was a quite a bit of haze that afternoon. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation while playing around as I learned how to work with DxO PhotoLab 3 that I’d recently purchased after moving away from Capture NX2.

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My Travel Paintings - Badlands National Park and Bison by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Badlands National Park and a Bison. When I captured the original image I posted here on Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/14723335@N05/28503748057/in/album-7...), it was an overcast day with off and on drizzle that made for very slick trails to walk. So even though I was limited on places I could walk, given those conditions, I made the most of it and took in some amazing views. This is one are in Badlands National Park where I really enjoyed the views that seemed to stretch on to a distant horizon while walking the area around the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail. It was later while walking the shop at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center that I came across a water color painted image that inspired me to digitally paint something from that location. While there were no bison that day, the water color painting did...and I was going to paint one with mine! So to the digital painting…I’d been reading and practicing painting lessons in a book I was reading (The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis) One lessons/chapter had me practice sketching and then painting with water color brushes for different images. That gave me an idea on something to try out with the many water color type brushes Kyle had to offer with Adobe Sketch on my iPad Pro. I would sketch out the image I captured with my Nikon D800E and then make changes like including a bison grazing on the prairie grasses and change the overcast skies to one with blue skies and clouds. So after sketching the image I wanted, I then tried out a few of Kyle’s brushes until I got something of what I wanted to paint on top of what I’d sketched out. I could then work with different colors and shades to produce relief in the terrain. Mind you, I was not trying to paint that as accurate as possible; my thinking was to use broader brush strokes where possible to create the appearance in this famous national park in South Dakota. So while not the perfect water color look I wanted, it was a good first try and something to work on with other images! Two other things I did was to use a background I painted out that makes a postcard I’d seen at the Visitor Center and would bring out a warmer color as I painted. The other was more practice on the skies that I’d read from this article (www.creativebloq.com/advice/5-simple-tips-for-painting-be...). In the left center foreground of the painting, you'll find that stick figure image of me "hiking" with my Cubbies hat, loving my time exploring the badlands and South Dakota :-)

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Long Grass Whistles With Each Passing Breeze (Katmai National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A grassy field setting that all walk past on their way to the Falls Platform in Katmai National Park & Preserve. The view is looking to the southeast in the morning hours win a mostly cloudy day. My thinking in composing this image was to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward, capturing a more sweeping view across this meadow of tall grasses. Metering the image was a matter of getting a right shutter speed where I could capture some of the details and highlights present in the clouds will still be able to pull out the colors in the more shadowed areas of the nearby trees and grasses. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation while playing around as I learned how to work with DxO PhotoLab 3.

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A Forested Reflections on the Still Waters of Merced River (Yosemite National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While wandering along the shores of the Merced River and a view looking to the southeast across its still waters and reflections. This is located around the Fern Spring area in Yosemite Valley of the national park.

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Nature Paradise in Voyageurs National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A captured image while walking along the Oberholtzer Trail in Voyageurs National Park. I used the open space in the forest to my advantage, getting down low behind the grassy meadow in front of me. This view extends to the southeast to a distant island with trees present.