205. Steam

‘Prismatic Sunset’ - Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowtone National Park, Wyoming, USA
photo by Joaquin Baldwin
website - https://www.joaquinbaldwin.com/
original image - https://i.imgur.com/K68SA1z.jpg

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A really nice capture of the Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring. The iconic steam coming ouyt of it was missing (actually, I think it went to the left), so I added it in. This was much, mich harder to do than it seems, due to the reflection - I had to mask out all those meandering lines where the stone shelves jut out of the water, where the steam wouldn't be reflected.

As far as the color grade goes, this is the one photo where the original argubly looks better, or 'more designed.' But it's too unnatural for me - the sky is never really that shade of cyan-gray. So I let some color back in.

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204. Gemini

‘Until the Very End’ - Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, Fiordland National Park, Southland, New Zealand
photo by William Patino
website - www.williampatino.com
original image - https://i.redd.it/hul735vv9kv61.jpg

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Otherworldly. Definitely check the original image. It's in the portrait format, and it's crazy good. I had to crop it to landscape for the wallpaper, so I did the best I could.

I got rid of some of the rocks on the right for a better composition, enhanced the colors and the contrast, and got rid of the excess bloom.

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202. The Sand Planet

Tegharghart, Djanet, Sahara, Tassili n'Ajjer national park, Algeria
photo by Chettouh Nabil
website - https://www.instagram.com/nnchettouh/
original image - https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Sunrise_Djanet.jpg

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Some photos are just perfect.

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194. The Steps Up the Hill

National Park in Nan province, Thailand
photo by Pongpon Rinthaisong
website - https://www.instagram.com/spyarm/
original image - https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-landscape-national-park-nan-thailand-province-image67643824#res29250703

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A nice clean composition. I made it even cleaner by removing the visitors.

There was also a terribad vignette in there, so I gently threw it out.

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193. It's Just Dozing Off

‘The Other Side’ - Mount Bromo, Tengger mountains, Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java, Indonesia
photo by Iswanto Arif
website - https://www.instagram.com/iswanarif/
original image - https://unsplash.com/photos/PNAD9NjsYb4

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Really looks impresive from this high a viewpoint. It was probably taken from a chopper, so I thought, why not have one in the photo.

I also pushed the blacks.

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190. Through the Clouds

‘Clandestine’ - Cuerno Principal and Este mountains, Torres Del Paine National Park, Southern Patagonia, Chile
photo by Ted Gore
website - http://www.tedgorecreative.com/
original image - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5349724ee4b056257cdcb44b/1455149006523-DJAPHH7TCQPQDTYTQ6ZT/24794871145_5f1c52194c_o.jpg

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Nice framing by the couds.

The Magic Hour seemed a bit too orange to me, so I let some blues back in.

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189. Grass

‘Firehole River Sunrise’ - Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
photo by Rodney Lough Jr.
website - https://www.rodneyloughjr.com/
original image - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54fa3009e4b0152d9ffb33ee/1437238864170-MP8F4CHTAMAVKGQO6541/image-asset.jpeg

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An amazing photo. There is probably a reason this photographer has photos in the Smithsonian.

I just darkened the image a little as I usually do, so it looks better on the screen.

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168. IRL Cartoon

‘The Winding Road of Tianmen Mountain National Park (Zhangjiajie) in Clouds Mist’ - Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan Province, China
photo by Thongchai Sirajinda
website - https://www.facebook.com/thongchai.si/
original image - https://res.cloudinary.com/enchanting/image/upload/v1/artemis-mdm/a7872cff-c871-423b-a1de-8feea9e01383.jpg

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This looks like something straight out of a cartoon. If it was in the desert, I'd expect to see Wile E. Coyote an Road Runner speeding along. But I do like the greens of the lush vegetation.

I reframed the photo to something I think is a better composition, removed some lens reflections, and deepened the aforementioned greens.

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