138. Barren

Shiprock monadnock, New Mexico, USA
photo by Ian Avery-Leaf
website - https://ianaveryleaf.com/
original image - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/585842592994ca87d4ad28fb/1505770672030-AEGOZ4IUVDC93GU071CK/DJI_0323.JPG

Download Wallpaper

This is actually a frame from a video. I had a hard time finding a well-framed landscape photo of this. There are plenty of good portraits though, as the features basically call for that.

I wanted to go for the warm-cold color scheme here, and I meant the cold to be bluish, but somehow I ended up liking this greenish variant.

Before

After

76. Mirage

‘Hwy 285, Mile Marker 362’ - Highway 285 (‘Death Highway’), New Mexico, USA
photo by Mike Hawkins
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelshawkins/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/7858/33648791528_f7190e9639_4k.jpg

Download Wallpaper

Grab your popcorn. You know what I'm talking about, countless movies started with a scene like this, with a car slowly appearing from the distant mirage. So I added one in.

So this is obviously a composit. I also boosted the colors and the sharpness.

Before

After

71. Stellar Performance

Very Large Array, Soccorro, Plains of San Agustin, New Mexico, USA
photo by The persistence of the memory
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/persistence/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/6059/5914905048_a268b81c3e_o.jpg

Download Wallpaper

I always loved those telescopes in the middle of nowhere. Technology with a mystical note. And I added-in a guitar chick for more notes, because why the hell not. I also added-in the Moon for more atmosphere. It should be about the right size - I have another photo taken from more-or-less the same location with a similar photo lens that has a setting sun in it, and that's the size of it.

Right, for all the purists out there, this is obviously a composit. Other than that, I boosted the colors and sharpness, and removed a not-so-bad vignette.

Before

After

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

Download Wallpaper

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.

Before

After