#azimuth 89

[thorsenmark]

There Are Times When the Moon, a Joshua Tree, and an SLR Camera Come Into Alignment (Joshua Tree National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at a roadside pullout along the main park road with a view looking to the east in Joshua Tree National Park. This location just happen to have several Joshua Tree plants were quite extensive with their branches. I also happened to notice the moon and was able to align myself with the moon and an opening in that Joshua Tree to capture an image. My other thought in composing this image was to have those Joshua Trees fill up most of the image, but pull back a little on the focal length to include some nearby foreground to complement this national park landscape.

[thorsenmark]

Fog Across the Owens Valley While Taking in Views in the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east while taking in views across desert landscape present at this roadside pullout along Olivas Ranch Road in the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area. My thinking in composing this image was to have a layered approach with the nearby desert landscape leading to the fog covered Owens Valley before coming to the ridges and peaks of the Inyo Mountains. I decided to crop a portion of the road to my front as I felt it really didn't add to the image, but also because I wanted to bring out more of a panoramic look to this vast, open space in western California. 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]

The Humdrum of Life Changed to an Exciting Vacation Escape! (Denali National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the east from a higher plateau area while on a guided hike across some tundra in Denali National Park. I decided to stand a little ways behind a young evergreen tree and use that for that “view beyond” in capturing an image. I would use that evergreen tree and keep it in focus while the rest of the image would be a little off having manipulating the aperture and the distance from me. A person looking at this image would find their eyes first drawn to that evergreen tree and then would slowly move across the tundra and then to the river valley with the mountains all around.

[thorsenmark]

Snow Is Falling on the Joshua Trees (Joshua Tree National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east while taking in views across a snowy landscape with Joshua Trees and other desert plant-life. This is at a roadside pullout along the main park road in Joshua Tree National Park. In capturing this image, I decided to keep a balanced, leveled-on view with the horizon. I was able to use the plant-life and Joshua Trees to add some interest to the foreground. While I did feel that the overcast skies were something to minimize, I also felt it helped to bring more of a focus to the snow and Joshua Trees.

[thorsenmark]

Seeing the World from the Mountains in Nevada (Great Basin National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east while taking in views at a roadside pullout along Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive. This is in Great Basin National Park. The setting that I wanted to capture with this image was a look down the mountainside and then across the Nevada high desert leading up to more distant ridges and peaks. Angling my Nikon SLR camera would help do that as well as bring the horizon higher into the image, hopefully creating more of a sense of grandeur with the landscape present.

[thorsenmark]

Mountains off in Distance at Tunnel Parking Overlook (Shenandoah National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at the Tunnel Parking Overlook and a view looking to the east across the ridges and peaks of the Northern Blue Ridge. This is in Shenandoah National Park. In composing this image, I took advantage of the way the ridges seemingly criss-crossed the other into the distance. I also wanted to focus more on the mountainsides to my front and angled my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera downward. I found the blue skies were more of a negative space and didn’t add much to the setting. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation in DxO PhotoLab 7. 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.

[thorsenmark]

Fred the Crocodile (Everglades National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: In the area around the Flamingo Marina in Everglades National Park with a view looking to the east in the boat ramp area. “Fred” the crocodile was hanging out getting some sun and was quite still allowing me to compose this image with a long reach NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR on my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera. I got down low and angled my camera for a more frontal view, and then look to the crocodile as well as across the ramp and then waters.

[thorsenmark]

One of the 63 Ways to Beat Stress and Feel Great in Yosemite National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east while taking in views across the Merced River and nearby forest to Half Dome and other ridges and peaks of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park. This location is at a sandy beach not far from Yosemite Village.