For fun I like to generate shaded relief maps of various places. I use a technique that incorporates Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) and 3D rendering in Blender to generate realistic shadows across different terrain. Below are some samples; tap on them to show detail.
Inverting the elevation data produced islands instead of lakes. Mt. Superior looks pretty dangerous!
Generalizing the elevation data on a low-res pixel base layer.
I’m not sure where my affinity for over-generalized data come from (maybe because it’s easier to hide mistakes? 🤔) but they’re super-fun to make.
