181. Long Shadows

NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia
photo by notausernameagain
website - N/A
original image - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGgR4YCnchbQ4uYMYQUmgVMqRWdnNNCDLOldJYsCl-gijEhcqFYaNjpGh8-YxLlhv3BgkQ73J3VHJ7asgqTnc24QIZNhd_yk3_xVd5nCe9QfszDv4FR7V0-otcoq_gV-G3Ea8tQpN-FQ8it9GvqCqXeH0yVvk7O1g5fVsDHxqyJSo4___ki59N9UoyQ/s4311/181b_Original.jpg

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NamibRand again. The long shadows and the minimalist composition were the draw for me here. I used to like lens flares and glares - I still do, when I'm filming something - but not so much for the wallpapers. So it got the boot.

And I pushed the blacks.

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176. A Tree Apart

‘Angels on Green’ - Moravian Tuscany near Kyjov, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic
photo by Aleksandr Larin
website - N/A
original image - https://cutewallpaper.org/21/grassland-wallpaper/Wallpaper-Grassland-Landscape-Green-Huawei-MediaPad-M5-.jpg

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What a beautiful photo. Apparently, the leftmost tree is of a different kind then the other three, but I found a photo of the same motif by another photographer that had all of them in bloom. So I took the in-bloom one and composited it here, because otherwise, I liked this photo more.

Other than that, I deepened the colors and blacks.

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114. The Bale

Rammamere, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
photo by Craig Sweetman
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/186801162@N04/
original image - https://i.redd.it/887p691sc5p61.jpg

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A wonderful country scene.

I increased the contrast and saturation so as to work better as a wallpaper.

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107. Gentle and Sweet, Man

Sunrise in Bedfordshire, England, UK
photo by Craig Sweetman
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/186801162@N04/
original image - https://i.redd.it/aslql2ivqvw61.jpg

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Yeah, I know I'm overdoing it with the puns. Sorry about that.

This is just so calming.

Only pushed the blacks and the saturation a little so it works better as a wallpaper. And cleaned some sharpness related white edges.

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64. Yes, I Know It's Not There

’Sunbeam’ - Elephant trunk tornado near Milnesand, New Mexico, USA
photo by Marco Rank
website - https://marcorank.com/
original image - https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-CbWBBq4/4/X3/i-CbWBBq4-X3.jpg

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So, this photo is titled 'Sunbeam,' and curiously, there's no sunbeam there. That's because I removed it, as you can see on the comparison gizmo below. This is by far the best photo of a tornado that I found floating around, and while I understand that the sunbeam and the little rainbow are the spice which just happened to be in the right place at the right time, the reason I like the photo is the tornado itself, and I feel that the sunbeam takes away from it.

I also darkened the image to emphasize the storm (well, the super-cell), and sharpened it.

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63. Morning Dew

‘Misty Morning in the Field’ - Pomorskie Province, Kashubia District, Poland
photo by Mateusz Liberra
website - https://windows10spotlight.com/images/63c9dfb46805c3d85f6ce8cb7ae5a918/
original image - https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/morning-light-pomorskie-province-north-poland-191734904
Windows 10 Spotlight version - https://windows10spotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/63c9dfb46805c3d85f6ce8cb7ae5a918.jpg

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Yet another photo where I used the Windows 10 Spotlight version as the starting point, as I think they did a good job of reframing it. I took it a bit further and got rid of the sun. I think it was too close to the edge of the frame, and was actually drawing the eye out of the photo. The level of detail here is pretty amazing, especially the dew on the spider webs in the foreground.

I enhanced that even more by upping the sharpness. Other than that, I did practically nothing here.

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53. Mountains with Funny Names

Sgurr nan Gillean, Am Basteir, Sgurr a Bhasteir, Sligachan, Isle of Skye, Scotland, UK
photo by Manuel Martin
website - https://www.manuelmartinphotography.com/
original image - https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/sgurr-nan-gillean-am-basteir-sgurr-a-bhasteir-royalty-free-image/180921875/
Windows 10 Spotlight version - https://windows10spotlight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/307f1cc8e3b2a73e2198305404fa57dc.jpg

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Well, at least funny to me. It's Gaelic if I'm not mistaken. A very calming photo, and the road really gives it depth and draws you in.

Just did the basic housekeeping.

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48. Purple Heather, Purple Sky

‘Mystery Morning’ - Heather fields near Hilversum, North Holland, Netherlands
photo by Albert Dros
website - https://www.albertdros.com/
original image - https://i.redd.it/66hlnugoyb611.jpg

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Moody. I'll take it. I reframed the photo a bit - i think the tree looks better like this than dead center. More dynamic. I also added the crescent moon, hopefully oriented properly to where I think the sun is. I did it because there is another photo from the same series - Purple Dutch - that had the moon in it that I liked, so this is a case of having your cake and eating it, too.

Other than that, I darkened the image a bit, as I usually do.

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