I discovered a filter on Picnik called "Orton-ish". I'm really liking it. It adds a depth and softness to images. I first tried it on this photo that I took of my friend's daughter...
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After:
(I also PhotoShopped out the tree...it was really bugging me.)
Pretty cool, huh? I liked that so much that googled "orton" to see if there was a way to do this same effect in PhotoShop. Here's my attempt...
Before:
After:
It doesn't work for every image, but it looks fantastic when it does work. Another fun tool for the toolbox.
So I have to admit that we drove through Mickey D's for lunch today (come on, you know you do this too every once in a while). All the way there I'm convincing myself that I'm going to get one of their salads and not put on too much dressing so it will be somewhat healthy. Then as I'm sitting at the drive-through, I see this picture of their new "southern style chicken sandwich". I'm looking at it and I notice the pickles and the bun and I think, "no way...that's a Chick-fil-a sandwich!" I'm staring in disbelieve. I grew up in Texas and have lived in northern California for almost 20 years, and I still love and miss Chick-fil-a sandwiches. As far as I know, we don't have a Chick-fil-a within many hours of where I live. That's probably a good thing considering how much I love it. My Texas family and friends know that when I go to Texas, one of my first priorities is to get to the nearest Chick-fil-a for a Chick-fil-a sandwich with extra pickles and a lemonade (their lemonade is made fresh in the store with real lemons).
arts of the country for over a year. Not sure why it's just getting here now. Leave a comment if you've seen this sandwich in your neck of the woods and let me know what you think of it. I'd always choose Chick-fil-a over McDonald's, but when you don't have a Chick-fil-a, it's not a bad alternative.
We met our good friends Darren and Amy and their dog Kirby for a hike around a small lake at Tilden Park. It was sunny, but cold, in the low 50's. The cold didn't stop us from having a great day. Kirby went swimming and Josh hiked like a trooper (except for tripping over big rocks a couple times). Amy takes beautiful landscape photos and has a great eye and natural talent. She gave me some great tips as we walked around the lake and looked at different things. Thanks Amy!
The lake was beautiful, with lots of redwood and eucalyptus trees, rocks to climb, and lazy swimming ducks. The sunlight played happily with the shadows, and graciously warmed us in spite of the chilly breeze.
If you want to see more pictures from the afternoon, go to http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8CZtWblo1bsrQ
We had a much-needed mom's night out at this fun bocce ball/restaurant place. It was a really nice night. We played bocce ball inside this tuscan-looking restaurant and then went out to the patio for some dessert. It was a chilly night but they had an outdoor fireplace (for ambience) and gas heaters (for warmth). Good conversation, good friends, good food--need I say more?
When weather.com says it will be in the upper 70's at the beach around here, we go to the beach! Such was the case on Friday. It did not disappoint. We had pizza from Pizza My Heart for lunch. I highly recommend it. So good, but it's a challenge to keep the sand from sticking to the cheese!
It was our friends' daughter's first time to the beach and she was so cute
toddling up to everyone around us. Those aren't freckles on her face, it's sand! Isn't she adorable?
Josh served as a cute but reluctant model for some test shots...
We went to Stephanie and Skyler's house for playgroup, and the kids made their own pizza's. Can you say "fun"? I recorded it all with my camera and did a little fun editing with picnik, an online editing tool Stephanie showed me.
