Blue Ridge Parkway Fall Colors - Mt Pisgah, NC

We were able to go on a scenic drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, NC down to Mount Pisgah.  We had hoped to be there to see the best of the changing leaves and fall colors - we were not disappointed in the least!!!

---------------
Quote of the Day:
    A mistake is definite evidence that someone tried to do something!
           - Dr. Danny Whetstone

Mt. Rushmore - Before/After

I usually do not like to process my photos this heavily but for some reason, I liked the effect I got with this photo.

Here is the SOOC (straight out of camera) version:

I used PS Elements 7.

- Opened the image in RAW and made corrections for exposure, contrast, vibrance and clarity.
- Applied two textures from ShadowHouse Creations:
     - "Ruffed up 7" in Hard Light mode at 75% opacity
     - "Tone Texture 4" in Linear Light mode at 100% opacity
     - Slightly masked out a little texture on the faces of the monument
- Slightly adjusted Saturation for the individual color channels
- Flattened, resized for Web, and converted to Jpeg

And here is a side-by-side comparison:

Carmel-by-the-Sea, California

This week we went to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.  Yes, that is the real name of this beautiful little town that sits right on the coast of the Pacific Ocean!  Yes, the water really was that blue; we were absolutely amazed by the rich blue colors of the ocean here!   Carmel Beach is an amazingly beautiful coastline just south of Pebble Beach and we would definitely love to go back when we have more time to enjoy it!