#Grassy Meadow Along Lakeshore

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Owning the Time of Now (Black & White, Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A conversion to black & white using DxO PhotoLab 4 where I made some adjustments to color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.

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Wave Upon Wave with the Waters of Lake Michigan (Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view from the shoreline of Lake Michigan at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Pavilion with a view looking to the northwest. I decided to use a layered approach and include some of this land cliffside edge as a way of letting the eyes slowly work through the image to the blue waters of Lake Michigan. Given the overcast skies that day, I felt that they were more of a negative space and decided to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward to minimize that.

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Owning the Time of Now (Black & White, Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A conversion to black & white using DxO PhotoLab 4 where I made some adjustments to color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.

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Getting My National Park Fix in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the roadside edge next to the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northeast on an overcast afternoon. This was in the House of Tomorrow portion of the national park. In composing this image, I decided to use the sloping berm to my front and let it have that sweeping feel out to the shoreline with waves coming in across Lake Michigan.

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Views of McGregor Mountain from Howard Lake (Coon Lake, North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Even though the reflections off Howard Lake were captivating that afternoon, I did remember to look around and take in view of the nearby mountains. With the clouds being slightly overcast at times, I tried to minimize that, bringing more of a focus to the mountainside and peaks above.

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Mountainside, Blue Skies and Clouds Caught in Lake Water Reflections (North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Another image captured at Howard Lake (Coon Lake) but this time I decided to angle my SLR camera even more downward to capture that look across the reflections and lake waters. I felt this best brought out that serene, calm setting I felt while standing on that lakeshore after a hike in the woods of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.

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A Canoe, Ducks, a Lake and a Mountain Backdrop (North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: So there I was seemingly lost in thought but so enjoying the view while riding a rental bike in the Stehekin area in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area...and then I catch sight of this view to my left, looking south. Idyllic, peaceful, tranquil, wondrous were just a few adjectives that came to mind taking this all in. In the end there was no real focus for this image as standing there and taking in this view was what I felt best captured. To best compose the image, I decided to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward so the eyes would first notice the nearby tall grass in a nearby meadow. Then one would see the canoe, as if a stepping stone to view beyond. The eyes would then squint a little to pick out the ducks on the lake and grassy island outcrop. Finally there's the amazing mountains of the Bonanza Massif with Castle Rock and Lucerne Mountain.

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Views of McGregor Mountain from Howard Lake (Coon Lake, North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Even though the reflections off Howard Lake were captivating that afternoon, I did remember to look around and take in view of the nearby mountains. With the clouds being slightly overcast at times, I tried to minimize that, bringing more of a focus to the mountainside and peaks above.

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A Mountain Setting at Howard Lake (North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Another destination for that day's hikes a friend and I walked in Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park Service Complex. And it definitely was an amazing view with the water reflections and water lilies!

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Guest Viewing in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northwest on an overcast afternoon. This was in the Portage Lakefront portion of the national park. In composing this image, I decided to use some of the dunes nearby and create a more layered approach with the shoreline and then waves coming in across Lake Michigan.

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Navigate the Scenic Byways That Nature Has Put on Display! (Denali National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view with part of Horseshoe Lake while walking the namesake trail in Denali National Park & Preserve. Not long after a friend and I had started walking this trail, rain had started, so I missed noticing some of the placid water reflections, given the rain drops. Once that stopped though...oh, what a sight it was! With this image, I decided to angle my SLR camera slightly downward capturing that view and look across the calm waters with the reflections. The eyes would then be drawn to the forest on the lake’s other side. I did some initial post-processing work making adjustments to contrast, brightness and saturation while playing around as I learned how to work with DxO PhotoLabs 3 that I’d recently purchased after moving away from Capture NX2. I then exported a TIFF image to Nik Color Efex Pro 4 where I added a Polarization and Pro Contrast filter for that last effect on the image captured.

[thorsenmark]

Getting My National Park Fix in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the roadside edge next to the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northeast on an overcast afternoon. This was in the House of Tomorrow portion of the national park. In composing this image, I decided to use the sloping berm to my front and let it have that sweeping feel out to the shoreline with waves coming in across Lake Michigan.

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Owning the Time of Now. In Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the shoreline of Long Lake. The view is looking to the northeast while on the West Beach Trail. In composing the image, I went with a more balanced, leveled-on view across the lake waters and shoreline. While overcast with its tendencies for more blah colors, I was able to work with control points and DxO PhotoLab 4 to make adjustments to contrast, saturation and brightness for the final image.

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Along the Shores of Long Lake in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southwest while taking in views and walking the shores of Long Lake along the West Beach Trail in Indiana Dunes National Park.

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Guest Viewing in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana Dunes National Park with a view looking to the northwest on an overcast afternoon. This was in the Portage Lakefront portion of the national park. In composing this image, I decided to use some of the dunes nearby and create a more layered approach with the shoreline and then waves coming in across Lake Michigan.

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Nature Calls To Come With It And Explore (Indiana Dunes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the southwest while walking a hiking trail through the tall grasses along the West Beach Trail. In composing this image, I went back-and-forth in my mind as to angling my Nikon SLR camera. Here I decided to angle it slightly upward and focus more on some nearby trees. A little bit of the tall grasses would be included, along with the waters of Long Lake and a distant shoreline with the forest and trees there. While the overcast skies were in my mind kind of a negative space, here they kind of helped to balance the image and national park setting. Kind of a color contrast, if you will. 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.