just as i'd hoped...

we are spending a lot of time at the beach this summer. We tend to go to the dog beach for obvious reasons, but after today, we will definitely be spending more mornings on the local beach. For starters, we can walk there. Plus it's pretty much deserted, especially now that today marked the end of Christmas holidays for most people. And I'm not sure if it's a bonus or a curse, but I get to/have to push a pram up a steep hill afterwards.

Best of all, we can play with neighborhood friends on the beach. This morning we met Amelia and her dad, so the kiddos could watch the telephone pole repairs. Exciting!

After they went home, a friend, his granddaughter, and his sweet dog wandered past. The granddaughter just turned two and the pair hit it off instantly. It was lovely to watch them play, copy, hug, share, and smile at each other.

A little Photoshop talk. The photo on the left is the original. I was playing around and was very happy with the outcome. To get the slightly washed out look on the right... 1. adjust levels. (always my first step and 99% of the time that's all I do.) 2. duplicate the background layer. 3. convert the background to black + white. 4. change the blending mode on the duplicated layer to screen and keep the opacity at 100%. 5. this washed out the sky and hills too much, so i needed to select the sky and hills (with feathering at 10px) and adjust the levels and curves to get the blue and detail back.