#azimuth 43

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You Don’t Have to Imagine Standing Under Palm Trees in Biscayne National Park! by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking up and to the northeast near the national park entrance sign.

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Rainbow Falls Seemingly Hidden Amongst the Trees (North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens

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Going to Explore the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While approaching the Rio Grande Gorge with a view to the northeast and bridge crossing. This is in northern New Mexico not far from Taos. The ridges and peaks off in the distance are of the Sangre de Cristo Range and Taos Mountains. In composing this image, I wanted to capture a leveled-on view with the horizon and bridge, aligning the latter across the image center. That would allow me to include some foreground interest with some nearby sagebrush and side of the gorge, leading the eye to the bridge itself. I liked the idea of the mountains as a distant backdrop for this setting.

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Standing Under Palm Trees and Watching Them Sway in the Breeze in Biscayne National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While standing beneath swaying palm trees and others at the entrance of Biscayne National Park, I sought a composition that would capture the harmony between the palm trees and the mangroves on the other side. The view was looking up and to the northeast, offering a panoramic perspective of the sky. I wanted a view to the skies above as well as metering to not blow any highlights while still being able to pull out the more shout out areas later. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation in DxO PhotoLab 8. I then exported a TIFF image to Nik Color Efex Pro 7 where I added a Polarization, Foliage, and Pro Contrast filter for that last effect on the image captured.

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Impressive Views Enjoyed Along the Jawbone Trail (Pinnacles National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While hiking the Jawbone Trail in Pinnacles National Park with a view looking to the northeast across a forest and trees present along the ridge I on. My thought in composing this image was to take advantage of a clearing I had along the trail with a more distant view to the Balconies and Machete Ridge. That clearing allowed me to look down and then across the forest and center the volcanic formation. The blue skies and clouds would be that color contrast to complement the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image.

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Opening One’s Heart to See Only the Beauty Around (Pinnacles National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Jawbone Trail with a view looking northeast to other pinnacle formations in this part of Pinnacles National Park. My thought on composing the same image was to take advantage of a clearing that I was hiking along that happened to have a view looking to the Balconies and Machete Ridge with its volcanic formations. 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 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

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My Vacation Escapes in Great Basin National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Along the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive of Great Basin National Park with a view looking to the northeast. The view is looking down a mountainside, across the Nevada desert and then to ridges and peaks of Mount Moriah.

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Opening One’s Heart to See Only the Beauty Around (Pinnacles National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Jawbone Trail with a view looking northeast to other pinnacle formations in this part of Pinnacles National Park. My thought on composing the same image was to take advantage of a clearing that I was hiking along that happened to have a view looking to the Balconies and Machete Ridge with its volcanic formations. 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 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.