#looking se

Letting Nature Pamper Me with Snapshots of Mount Shasta by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting while taking in views across grassy meadow with a backdrop of an evergreen forest and some nearby hillsides. This picturesque setting is looking to the southeast with majestic ridges and peaks of the Mount Shasta standing tall in the distance. With this image, I chose to zoom in with a focal length to have the nearby hillside in Mount Shasta fill the image from edge to edge with just a little bit of blue skies above to complement the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image.

Glacier National Park True by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views from a roadside pullout along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. This is in Glacier National Park. In composing this image, I took advantage of some higher ground I was located on and angled my Nikon SLR, camera slightly downward to create more of a sweeping view across this mountain valley. That would in turn bring the horizon a little higher into the image. I felt that would help create more of a sense of grandeur with the mountain peaks all around.

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.

Finding My Home in the Mountains of Jasper National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While taking in views at Athabasca Pass Lookout and a setting to the southeast across a nearby forest and mountainside in Jasper National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the layers present and create a look beyond to the more distant ridges and peaks of Mount Kerkeslin and Mount Fryatt. While there was a slight haze from the wildfires going on in Alberta at the time, I was able to reduce some of that using the ClearView Plus tool in DxO PhotoLab 6. I also 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.

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.