199. Absolutely Fabulous

Lone tree, unknown location
photo by Johannes Plenio
website - https://j.plenio.de/
original image - https://unsplash.com/photos/MS2dni_S3Ew

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Unbelievably atmospheric.

I removed the sun flare and fiddled with the colors.

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186. A Tree in the Sea of Blue

‘Nemophila’ - Lone tree in baby blue eyes flower field in Hitachi seaside park, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan
photo by Morgan French
website - https://mtfrench.smugmug.com/
original image - https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QsV78bk/3/4K/i-QsV78bk-4K.jpg

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The tree by itself is amazing, the crazy blue flowers take the whole photo to another level.

It needed some work, though. I removed the park visitors, brought out the detail from the clouds, balanced the colors, and removed a bad vignette.

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183. Livin' on a Prayer

Seceda, Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy
photo by Daniel Francis
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/d2francis2/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/8410/29967995056_f0621b1bec_k.jpg

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Coz we're half way there. This is the 183rd wallpaper. Exactly half way through the year. And this one is fitting, because a photo of this particular place - Seceda in Italy - made me waant to start collecting landscapes. Here is the photo. Technically, it's pretty bad, but the atmosphere is something else. So I wanted a similar, but higher quality photo of this cliff, during a cloud inversion. Easier said than done. I finally found one I almost liked, but it was shot during a very sunny day, with too much glare for my taste. So I decided to make it more moody, and here's the result.

I turned the sky stormy, and tried to make it look like there is a hole in the clouds somewhere off-screen through which the sky shines onto the green plateau. You be the judge if I succeeded (had to really hold myself back not to make a really bad pun here. But now you have it in your mind anyway, don't you?)

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177. More Greenery and Moodines

‘Mighty Glencoe’ - Glencoe, Glen Coe, Lochaber, Scotland, UK
photo by Silviu Dascalu
website - https://www.silviudascalu.com/
original image - https://i.redd.it/guxo3pdw0vw71.jpg

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Scotland again. Green hills again. Overcast skies again. Wonder if they get any sun over there?

Well, if I had to have clouds, I thought I could at least recover some detail from them. And I fixed the color balance, and pushed the blacks some more.

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164. Pretty Ominous

‘Forever Primordial’ - Karymsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia
photo by Isabella Tabacchi
website - https://isabellatabacchi.com/
original image - https://isabellatabacchi.com/wp-content/uploads/photo-gallery/Forever-primordial-web-res.jpg

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This looks like a villain's lair. I love it.

I darkened it to for even more villanousness. Yes, I know it's not a word.

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158. Mordor

Shi Shi Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA
photo by Kyle Adams
website - https://www.kyleadamsphotographer.com/
original image - https://i.redd.it/f47n98pvc4z61.jpg

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Well, it looks like it. Sea instead of lava, though.

I fixed the blacks.

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157. ...And Still Green

‘Savoring the Sunrise’ - Cnòc a Mhèrlich, Cleat, Druim an Ruma, Dun Dubh and Bioda Buidhe, Quiraing, Isle of Skye, UK
photo by Brad Eide
website - https://www.flickr.com/photos/58071954@N08/
original image - https://live.staticflickr.com/8812/28860453752_3640e3ccd5_k.jpg

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Scotland, that is.

I know it's sunrise, but I thought the photo was a bit too yellow, so I toned that down. Also added some depth to the clouds.

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141. Perfectly Balanced

Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales, UK
photo by Dorin Vancea
website - https://unsplash.com/@dvancea
original image - https://unsplash.com/photos/kKDPBa5GmT4

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This is one of my favorite landscapes. So simple and unassuming, but the longer you look at it, the more you realize how perfectly balanced it is. Great composition which just draws your eyes in, great lighting, muted colors that are simultaneously dramatic and relaxing. I like just about everything about it.

Usually I remove things like cars on the road, but even they work perfectly here, giving small scale detail to the photo. So I left it alone.

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