100. A Big Round Number

Lava field on the Big Island, Hawaii, USA
photo by Aya Okawa
website - https://www.aya.photo
original image - https://i.natgeofe.com/n/5352ba88-e4f0-4c7b-abd7-776673cc17ab/amazing-places-na-hawaii.jpg

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The 100th post! Wooo!!!

It calls for something special, so how about some red-hot lava on Hawaii?

A great photo, but I did replace the sky here. The original composition just seemed static to me, with the lava and the sky each taking one half of the photo. I wanted something that would draw your eye in, so I found some clouds that emphasized the perspective. They are also red, so they work well with the lava. I even put some heat-haze over them near the horizon - it's there in the original photo - though that's barely noticable. And I sharpened the lava in the lower right corner - it was blurry there (possibly due to the aforementioned heat-haze, but it didn't come across as such). The guy got the boot.

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10. Reflect(ion)

Puʻuhonua O Hōnaunau (The Place of Refuge) National Historical Park, Kona Coast, Big Island, Hawaii, USA
photo by Tio76
website - https://https://www.reddit.com/user/Tio76/
original image - https://i.redd.it/fxqu4uq5iqg71.jpg

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Since I seem to be writing a lot about things I dislike, another one I'm not fond of is the clichéd reflection in the calm body of water. I find that the kaleidoscope effect detracts from the subject. What I do like is when it's done with a twist, like here, with a beautifuly colored reflection broken up by the rocks in the foreground. Photo by reddit user Tio76, I couldn't find out anything more.

This is also a good example of real vs. percieved. In the original photo, the horizon is as level as can be, but due to the slowly rising shore on the right, and the small hill with the palmtrees, it actually looks like it's not, resulting in the whole photo being a bit unbalanced. So I made it look level, without really being so. The only other thing I did is fix the artefacts left over by the digital sharpening of the original image.

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