Looking out across a vast area and seeing a certain landscape for the first time gives a person an indescribable emotion.  A truly beautiful site is one that leaves a person with few words, one that gives a person the chills, one that makes a person want to capture that moment forever.  That is how I feel when I spot a marvelous landscape.  I want to capture the image and never let it go.  This sensation urges me to take hundreds of pictures of stunning scenery.

These pictures are a just few of the most spectacular views I saw this past summer throughout my travels across the United States and in Turkey.  In the U.S., I was on a bus tour starting on the east coast, and finishing on the west coast.  I also visited the highlights of Turkey.

One of the major things I focus on when I am taking a picture of scenery is the balance between close and far distance.  The picture below was taken in the Palo Duro Canyon in Amarillo, Texas.  I tried to focus on showing the enormous size of the canyon by including both parts of the canyon: the parts near me, and the part across from me.  I love how the clouds look like they are rolling in above the camera.

Palo Duro Canyon in Amarillo, Texas

In the next picture, I tried to focus on contrasting the colors.  I used the shadow in the trees near me to make a difference on the city below.  This is a view overlooking Istanbul, Turkey.  Istanbul is commonly mistaken to be the capital of Turkey (which it used to be).  However, the capital of Turkey is actually a city called Ankara.  My favorite part about this picture is that the city of Istanbul has the mountains in the background, and they provide for a perfect balance between the city and the sky.

Istanbul, Turkey

The next picture is a place called Ephesus Ancient City.  It is an old Roman city.  I love the angle of this picture.  I love the alleyway with the columns off to the right, with the mountain in the back.  In many other pictures, the line between the mountains and the sky is a straight line, or the mountains are traditionally shaped, but I enjoy the decline of the mountains from the top left to the top right of the picture.

Ephesus Ancient City

I love the light source in the next picture.  One of my favorite times to shoot landscapes is the sunset.  I love the rays of sun behind the clouds as the main color in this photo.  I like that the trees are simply just black, but the light illuminates their shape.  It is my passion to study details like this prior to taking a shot.

taken from the Hierapolis Ancient City in Turkey

This final photograph is one of my favorites because of the trees on the edges that serve as a border to the mountains and the lagoon.  All of these photos seem to posses more than what is on the screen.  For me, I can imagine what lies beyond the edge of the picture.  It allows me to use my imagination.  It is a difficult challenge to attempt to capture the beauty of these magnificent landscapes.  But it is this challenge that keeps me coming back for more.  I love the difficulty of trying to balance distance with color.  These stunning views cannot be ignored, they must be captured and treasured forever.

Blue Lagoon, Turkey

Sarah Nelson is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

All photos courtesy and copyright Sarah Nelson