#flagstaff area

Preserved Dwellings of Montezuma Castle National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the north while taking in the setting of Montezuma Castle National Monument in northern Arizona. With this image, I zoomed into the main cliff dwelling, more or less straight on but still included a little bit of the surrounding cliff face as a "frame" to the image.

Taking in Montezuma Castle National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the north-northeast while taking in the setting of Montezuma Castle National Monument in northern Arizona. With this image, I zoomed into the main cliff dwelling but still included a little bit of the surrounding cliff face as a "frame" to the image.

It Isn't Hard to Imagine a Beautiful Place in Coconino National Forest by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While waking the Fay Canyon Trail in Coconino National Forest with a view looking to the northwest to the cliffs and high ground around the Bear Mountain area. My thinking in composing this image was to use a more leveled-on view and let eyes first be drawn to the nearby trees before coming up to the peaks as they seemingly rose all around.

Taking in Montezuma Castle National Monument by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the north-northeast while taking in the setting of Montezuma Castle National Monument in northern Arizona. With this image, I zoomed into the main cliff dwelling but still included a little bit of the surrounding cliff face as a "frame" to the image.

Returning for the Mountains by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Fay Canyon Trail in Coconino National Forest. This was a view looking to the northwest to peaks and cliff walls of Bear Mountain. My thinking in composing this image was to use the forested setting around me and have those peaks and outcroppings of Bear Mountain seemingly rise above all of that. Blue skies would then be that color contrast to complement the earth-tones below. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

Fay Canyon Arch (HDR) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the portion of an unnamed trail up to the Fay Canyon Arch with a view looking to the east-northeast. Portions of the heights and peaks were caught in the early morning sunlight while others in this setting were much more darker in shadows. I could see that there would be a large dynamic range present for any image captured. I metered the image for the more brighter areas, knowing that I would want to not blow any highlights. I later brought the RAW/NEF image into Aurora HDR 2019 and exported a single image HDR TIFF. I then worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image present.

Under the Shade of a Tree With Sunlight Shining Down (Montezuma Castle National Monument) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking up at a nearby tree and then beyond to the skies and sun shining above. This was while walking to the main area and exhibits at the Montezuma Castle National Monument. When I noticed the sun shining down through the trees, I recalled a friend giving me some advice on creating and bringing out more of a starburst look with the sun by closing down on the camera lens aperture. To minimize blowing any highlights present while still being able to bring out the more shadowed areas underneath the trees, I decided to work an angle that used the tree leaves to mask some of the sun’s brightness. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 4 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.