The Flickr Lookingssw Image Generatr

While at the Soda Canyon Overlook with a view looking to the south-southwest to the Balcony House ruins off in the distance. This is in Mesa Verde National Park.

While hiking along the Cinder Cone Trail with a view looking to the south-southwest. This is in Lassen Volcanic National Park. My thought on composing this image had been to zoom in with the focal length and have this mountainside fill the image from edge to edge. I wanted the viewer to seemingly be emerged in this national park setting. The rest of the image composition was aligning myself with the lone evergreen pine tree to my front and having that curve of the hiking trail leading up the mountain across the image somewhat balance the tree.

At a roadside pullout along U.S. Route 163 with a view looking to the south-southwest to sandstone and mesa formations off in the distance in Monument Valley. My thought on composing this to capture a leveled on view with the horizon. I took advantage of some high ground I was located on to create a sweeping view leading up to the formations off in the distance of the image. The PeakVisor app on my iPhone identified Brighams Tomb, Stagecoach, and King-on-his-Throne.

While exploring along the many walkways with an overlook to the historic watermill at this location along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The setting is looking to the south-southwest.

While at a roadside pullout area along Alberta Highway 93A with a view looking to the south-southwest across the waters of Leach Lake to Mount Fryatt and Whirlpool Mountain. This is in Jasper National Park.

Years Ago I Encountered an Image of You on the Internet
I knew I wanted to visit, hiking and exploring your wonder
The wind carried the scent of volcanic remnants as I ventured into your wonderland
A sky devoid of any clouds, stretching endlessly above
A distant mountain peak, once with fiery volcanic eruptions
To me, it is a land of undiscovered enchantment
Curiosity and reverence fill me as I step forward
On a path that leads ahead

Another work of short poetry or prose to complement the image captured one morning in Lassen Volcanic National Park. This is while hiking along the Cinder Cone Trail with the namesake feature to my front and looking to the south-southwest. I’d come across a similar image several years prior from a blog post (www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/Don-t-make-the-sa...) describing different things to hike and explore in this national park. This setting is one that I had promised myself that I would attempt to capture when I came across it. The view is looking to one of the paths leading to the summit area. I chose though to take the path that goes behind and follows a different direction with the return coming down the trail to the front on the image right.

The rest of the image was attempting to align myself with the peak and some of the evergreen pine trees as foreground interest. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 8 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

A setting looking to the south-southwest while taking in views around Teresa Lake in Great Basin National Park. This is while walking the Alpine Lakes Loop. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of the deadwood and other rock formations present in the foreground and create a layered look with that leading up to the lake waters and finally mountainside with its ridges and peaks. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 5 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

A setting looking to the south-southeast while taking in views across Teresa Lake to a more distant evergreen forest and mountainside. This is in Great Basin National Park while walking the Alpine Lakes Loop.

While exploring and walking around the John Oliver Cabin in the Cades Cove area of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The setting is looking to the south-southwest using the porch to frame the edges and be a leading line into the image with the grassy meadow and more distance ridges and peaks of the Western Great Smoky Mountains (Cobb Butt and Cobb Ridge). The rest was aligning myself to the porch and overhang while exposing for the highlights off in the distance. I later used Perspective tool in DxO PhotoLab 7 to straighten out the angles with the cabin.

While walking along the Maligne Canyon Trail with a view looking to the south-southwest in Jasper National Park. My thought on composing this image was to take advantage of a clearing in the forest to my front and capture a view looking across this portion of the national park. I liked how the open area sloped down and away from me to create more of a sweeping view, leading up to the more distant ridges and peaks of the Trident Range. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 6 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

A setting looking to the south-southwest while taking in views down and across a river valley with the West Prong Little Pigeon River. This is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. What I wanted to capture with this view was to take advantage of the high ground that I was located on while also angling my Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera slightly downward. I felt both would allow me to minimize the negative space that I felt was present with the overcast skies while bringing out more of a sweeping view across this river valley to the ridges and peaks of the Central Great Smoky Mountains with Chimney Tops off in the distance.

River! that in silence windest
Through the meadows, bright and free
The caption used is from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ‘To the River Charles’
While at a roadside pullout and parking area along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This view is looking upstream and to the south-southwest at an unnamed creeks with a small waterfall amongst the large rocks and boulders present. When I was mulling over how to compose this image, I had a few thoughts in my mind. One was to close down on the aperture, so that I could have a longer shutter speed. I wanted to have that silky look with the waters flowing by. The other was not to just focus on the small waterfall to my front, but also pull back on the focal length so that I could include the forested landscape all around. I felt the waterfall with woods complemented the other in this section of the national park.

A setting looking to the south-southwest while on the H.J. Moberly Bridge and taking in a view as the Athabasca River flowed by. By capturing a wide angle view from each shoreline of the river, I wanted to capture a sweeping view looking to the more distant ridges and peaks of the Trident Range. I also liked in this setting how the blue skies and clouds were that color contrast to complement the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image.

While walking the streets of Durango and taking in the sights of the city with the storefronts around and mountains as a backdrop. In order to capture this image and align myself with the streets and store fronts, I was able to stand in the center turn lane at an intersection. I mulled over the idea of waiting until cars passed by but then I figured that they added to the setting with urban exploration in exploring this city in southeastern Colorado. The rest was metering the image to not blow any of the highlights on this bright, sunny afternoon, while still being able to pull the more shadowed areas later on in post-production. I used the perspective tool in DxO PhotoLab 7 to straighten out any distortions with the wider angle capture.

A view looking to the south-southwest across some hillsides of trees to my front in Pinnacles National Park. This was in the Bear Gulch Day Use parking area. I took advantage of the way the hillsides crossed the other to create more of a layered look and used the blue skies as a backdrop to highlight the view with the trees.

While walking around the Hungo Pavi area of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The view is looking to the south-southwest through an opening in the wall with a view beyond. In order to capture this image, I closed down on the aperture, so that I could bring as much as I could possible into focus, or with enough of a focus. I later worked with control points in DxO PhotoLab 7 and then made some adjustments to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted for the final image.

A setting looking to the south-southwest while taking in views of the night skies at a bed and breakfast that a friend and I were staying overnight in Cuba, NM. To capture this image, I had brought a Sirui tripod that I use with my travels because of its weight, an RSS tripod head and a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 20mm f/1.8G ED Lens. The rest was making adjustments to the ISO and shutter speed so that I could capture an image in about 15 seconds time and minimize any star trails. I later used NX Studio that Nikon provides to make basic adjustments and then exported a TIFF image to Viveza 3 for final adjustments.

A setting looking to the south-southwest while taking in views across northern New Mexico landscape in Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

While taking in views looking to the south-southwest and across a sandy landscape with dune formations and wild grasses in Monahans Sandhills State Park.