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Passing Through a Portal in Bryce Canyon National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Queens Garden Trail with a view looking to the west-northwest through a portal in the wall. This is in Bryce Canyon National Park. I felt the sandstone walls were that frame for the hiking trail and a look beyond.

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From the Daily Grind to Me Time Outside (New River Gorge National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at the Main Overlook in the Grandview section of New River Gorge National Park & Preserve. The view is looking to the east with the New River floating by, surrounded on both sides of the river valley and gorge with hillsides and ridgelines. I angled my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward in order to capture more of a sweeping view across this national park landscape. And yes, those are dandelions in the nearby field :-)

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Taking a View into the US with Mount Custer and Other Peaks and Ridges of the Livingston and Clark Ranges (Waterton Lakes & Glacier National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Cameron Lake Trail with a view looking to the south and into the US (with Glacier National Park). This is in Waterton Lakes National Park. Mount Custer is the most prominent peak with Forum Peak to the right and north. My thought on capturing this image were a few things. One was a look into the US after spending a few days up in Canada. Another was the still waters with the mountain reflections and all. And then there was how the blue skies seem to contrast and then complement the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image. I chose to use some nearby trees and shrubberies to frame the setting for look beyond.

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Tales and Adventures of Exploring Jasper National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the northwest while taking in views across this glacier valley with the Sunwapta River flowing by and then more distant ridges and peaks of the Winston Churchill Range with Diadem Peak and Mushroom Pea. This is at the Stutfield Glacier Viewpoint along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park.

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Hiking the Trails of White Sands National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking along the Alkali Flat Trail with a view looking to the southeast across the white sands and dune formations present in this part of White Sands National Park. With this view, I turned around and looked back from the direction I had just walked. What I wanted to capture with this image was the multitude of footprints in the sand and the lined up poles used along the hiking trail for direction.

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My Navigations in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views of nearby coast redwoods along the Simpson-Reed Grove Trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

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Morning Sunrise in Austin by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: I decided to update this image based on new software that I had for post processing. I used DxO PhotoLab 8 along with the Photoshop cable removal tool and then use some control points to bring out the image I wanted. I also use the perspective tool and DxO PhotoLab 8 to straightened out the buildings and make a more aligned perspective with the image.

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Somewhere Else, But I'm Here and Very Happy! (Waterton Lakes National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Cameron Lake Trail with a view looking to the northwest across this hillside with an assortment of green plant-life and other vegetation, as well as a nearby forest. I liked how there was a backdrop of the partly to mostly cloudy skies to help highlight those trees. The rest was metering to not blow any of the highlights in the area caught in sunlight, but still being able to pull the more shadowed areas out later in post-production. This is in Waterton Lakes National Park.

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I’m Going to Sit on the Deck of this Ship by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: I’m Going to Sit on the Deck of this Ship I will imagine leaving a trail of disturbed water behind A great wave with waters popping and erupting This way and that A pattern in fluid dynamics Even though this wake travels for miles It leaves barely a disturbance on the sides Gliding across the waters of the Gulf of Mexico Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one afternoon while on the Yankee Freedom Ferry Ride as we left Dry Tortugas National Park and Fort Jefferson, still visible on a distant horizon. The view is looking to the west and astern on the ship with the waters of the ship’s wake given a display of erupting waters.

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Taking It to the Trail (Mesa Verde National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the northwest while taking in views across Spruce Canyon and then to cliff walls on the other side. This was while hiking the Petroglyph Point Trail in Mesa Verde National Park.

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Escaping All That Back Home for All This Out Here! (Big Cypress National Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: I captured this image at a roadside pullout along the Loop Road in Big Cypress National Preserve. The view extends to the south across a pond (freshwater slough) with a forest of trees as a backdrop. In composing this image, I decided to angle my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward and raise the horizon on the far side of the pond. I liked the look of the pond stretching out to my front, while still keeping some blue skies to complement the greens, yellows, and browns in the plant-life below.

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Fresh Ideas for Travel in Carlsbad Caverns National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Big Room Trail-33 An image captured while walking the Big Room Trail in Carlsbad Caverns National Park with a view towards an amazing display of underground formations.

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Evergreens and Snow Covered Mountain Peaks by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station with a view looking to the southwest across a snowy landscape with a forest of evergreen trees. This is in Mount San Jacinto State Park. The snowcapped peaks identified using the PeakVisor app on my iPhone were of Divide Peak, Luella Todd Peak, Marion Mountain, Jean Peak, and San Jacinto Peak from left to right.

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Jasper National Park Has a Beauty to Stir a Thirst for Adventure by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the southeast while taking in views across this glacier valley with waters from the Columbia Icefield flowing by and then more distant ridges and peaks of Mount Andromeda and Mount Athabasca. This is at a roadside along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. With this image, I chose to use the waters flowing by as kind of a leading line into the image and let that bring out a sweeping view leading up to those mountains off in the distance. I chose to underexpose a little bit with the shutter speed, so that I could bring out more details in the clouds that hung around the mountains. I was able to bring out the more shadowed areas across this landscape later in post-production.

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New River and the Thurmond-McDenoree Road Bridge (New River Gorge National Park & Preserve) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the north while standing along the shores of the New River in the Stone Cliff portion of New River Gorge National Park & Preserve.

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Giving the Gift of Photo Memories (Pinnacles National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the south while taking in views across wild grasses, sage brush and trees leading up to more distant ridges present in this part of Pinnacles National Park. I captured this image as I was heading out to hiking the Juniper Canyon Loop. My thought on composing this image was to angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward and bring out more of a sweeping view across this landscape. The angle that I was viewing happened to be facing a little away from the sun, so that brought out more shadows, cast and added to the shapes and textures present.

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Where the Turquoise Waters of Peyto Lake Begin (Banff National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the southwest while walking around the Peyto Lake Overlook. This is along the Icefields Parkway in Banff National Park.