Shiloh wind power plant, Montezuma Hills, California, USA
photo by Matt Granz
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattgranz/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/4683/24231842897_e8a0711772_o.png
Wind turbines, to be exact. I always liked this motif. And sunset really adds to it.
I gave the colors more punch.
‘Where River Meets Ocean’ - Moonstone Beach County Park, Trinidad, California, USA
photo by Sean Christopher Flansbaum
website - https://flansdigital.com/
original image - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5106c430e4b04a9aaefec0c3/1634253979460-K19ZL3CM2GEYR5I4M0OA/Where+River+Meets+Ocean+-+REMASTERED.jpg
Majestic atmosphere, that's all.
Didn't really need much help.
‘Death All Around’ - Sliding rock on Racetrack in Death Valley National Park, California, USA
photo by Casey McCallister
website - https://caseymacphoto.com/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50773864136_8524c807d8_k.jpg
Despite the cheerful title, this to me is sort of a quintessential wallpaper image, something that Apple or Microsoft would include with their OSes. Very clean, yet still with enough detail and atmosphere to keep it interesting.
It was a bit too monochrome for my taste, so I let some cool tones back in.
The painted dunes of Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, USA
photo by Mike Mezeul II
website - https://www.mikemezphotography.com/
original image - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5b2055fd96d4550e08296e38/1604344031123-S86ACON8ZKWFAKU2CDLF/116697162_10101457948138987_1892026428889108363_o.jpg
Let's hear it for the weird stuff. So here we have some pine trees growing out of a purplish-red soil that sits on top of a frozen lava field.
For the extra atmosphere, I darkened the whole thing.
South Tufa, Mono Lake, California, USA
photo by Only_shankz
website - https://www.reddit.com/user/Only_shankz/
original image - https://i.redd.it/476mwudxvuu71.jpg
A detail of the Tufas at Mono Lake. The sky is what sells the photo, as far as I am concerned.
Everybody likes the Magic Hour lighting, and I am no exception, but I think it looks better in motion (like in movies), in photos it looks too monochrome for my tastes. So I eased it up a bit and brought back some color on the Tufas.
‘Sunset Towers’ - Mono Lake, California, USA
photo by Tassanee Angiolillo
website - https://www.tassanee.com/
original image - https://i.redd.it/7sw32la9xdl71.jpg
Crazy colors. Looks like another planet. I especially like the blue Belt of Venus above the horizon. If you don't know what that is, it is the shadow of the Earth thrown onto the atmosphere after the sunset.
I only had to clear some sharpening artefacts here.
First month done!
‘Three Brothers and El Cap After Sunset’ - Three Brothers and El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California, USA
photo by Brandon Burnaugh
website - https://www.reddit.com/user/BurnIt-Down/
original image - https://i.redd.it/4huhmqx6t3271.jpg
I think Yosemite Park is the most frequent subject over on r/EarthPorn. I guess it's really impressive in person, but I don't like almost any photo of it. I find the shapes of Half-dome and El Capitan to be blocky, which makes for - to me - static and uninteresting images. This one is the best I found. It has a nice depth, with the trees in the foreground and sunset light in the background. The atmosphere and the colors make up for the blockiness of the shapes.
Cleared up the image, that's about it.
