#azimuth 166

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Taking Stock of Beautiful Places with Shiprock by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across the northern New Mexico high desert with a distant view to the Shiprock formation. This is at a roadside pullout along U.S. Route 64. With this image, I zoomed in with the focal length to include more of the surrounding landscape to add to the setting in the image captured. I also liked having a leveled-on view with the horizon in keeping a balance between the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image with the blues of the skies above.

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I may not have gone where I intended to go (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” - douglas adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul While at a roadside pullout along the Icefields Parkway at the Goats and Glacier Lookout in Jasper National Park. The view is looking to the south-southeast to the ridges and peaks of the Hooker Icefield with Mount Christie and Mount Brussels (Brussels Peak). My thought on composing this image was to angle my Nikon SLR, camera, slightly downward, creating a sweeping view across this mountain valley to the more distant ridges and peaks. I wanted to have them higher into the image and create more of a sense of grandeur with them. There would be a little bit of blue skies and clouds in the image, but most of that morning was overcast with just a little bit of blue skies coming out, so I felt I could minimize it and focus on the mountains to my front.

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It’s Always a Good Time to Explore Jasper National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the south-southeast while taking in views across this glacier valley with the Athabasca River flowing by and then more distant ridges and peaks of the Hooker Icefield range with Mount Brussels (Brussels Peak) and Mount Christie. This is at the Goats and Glacier Lookout along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. As opposed to a wider angle, panoramic view, I decided to zoom in with the focal length and have much of the forest and mountains fill the image from edge to edge with a little bit of the mostly to partly cloudy skies above that had some glow from the rising sun.

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The Athabasca River Flows on By the Mountains (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at Goats and Glacier Lookout along the Icefields Parkway with a view looking to the south-southeast. This is in Jasper National Park.

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The Fjords of Death Valley National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at a roadside pullout along Badwater Rd with a view looking to the south at ridges and towering peaks of the Amargosa Range in Death Valley National Park. What drew me into this the setting were those ridges and the way they seemingly towered thousands of feet above the almost flat basin of Badwater. They had a look up fjords like one might see in Alaska or Norway, but this was a dried up basin. So my focus in capturing this image was to include some of the nearby foreground and the basin leading up to those ridges, but angle my Nikon SLR camera to bring more of the ridges and skies above into the image. There was some noon-time haze present on the ridges, but I was able to use the ClearView Plus tool in DxO PhotoLab 6 to cut through and bring out some of the details.

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I may not have gone where I intended to go (Jasper National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” - douglas adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul While at a roadside pullout along the Icefields Parkway at the Goats and Glacier Lookout in Jasper National Park. The view is looking to the south-southeast to the ridges and peaks of the Hooker Icefield with Mount Christie and Mount Brussels (Brussels Peak). My thought on composing this image was to angle my Nikon SLR, camera, slightly downward, creating a sweeping view across this mountain valley to the more distant ridges and peaks. I wanted to have them higher into the image and create more of a sense of grandeur with them. There would be a little bit of blue skies and clouds in the image, but most of that morning was overcast with just a little bit of blue skies coming out, so I felt I could minimize it and focus on the mountains to my front.

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Seeming to Be in a Field of Rubber Rabbitbrush (Mesa Verde National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the south while taking in views across a small field of rubber rabbitbrush present at the Mancos Valley Overlook in Mesa Verde National Park. My thought on composing this image was to use the LiveView LCD screen on my Nikon D850 SLR camera. I wanted to have the wildflowers all around me, but to include a depth in having them extend off the image edges. I felt that using the LiveView screen would allow me to hold the camera for that view but not have me disturb the wildflowers by getting in them using the optical viewfinder.

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An Epic Reunion with Mount Rundle After So Many Years (Banff National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the south while walking around the Johnson Lake area in Banff National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of some framing with nearby and more distant trees. I felt that and the color contrasts would better bring out a focus with Mount Rundle. The rest was later making adjustments with control points in DxO PhotoLab 6 to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image. I decided to crop some of the foreground as it included parking area signs and such.