Summer Vacations

We took two trips this summer, first to Nashville to visit family, then to Hot Springs, Arkansas for our anniversary. The Nashville trip was great, until we ventured into downtown Nashville, for a night out alone. I think we picked the wrong part of Nashville to visit, because there wasn't much to see or do that wasn't overly touristy. The Hot Springs trip wasn't much to write home about either. Overly touristy, incredibly hot, and the entire town appeared to be run-down. We enjoyed the Fordyce Bathhouse that's maintained by the National Parks Service, taking a couples bath at the Quapaw Bathhouse, and seeing the old buildings. Would have enjoyed learning more about the history of the town and having more of the historic buildings available to tour. I also would have enjoyed staying at the fancy, old hotel downtown, The Arlington, but it was very run down and we chose to stay at a chain hotel instead. Didn't enjoy the Duck Tour (WWII amphibious assault vehicle converted to tour bus/boat), the observation tower (can't see the town through the trees), or the endless rows of touristy gift shops.

In an attempt to create pleasant memories from my vacation photos, I've been playing around with them in Photoshop. Some are more successful than others.

Tilt-shift is a way of manipulating a life-sized photograph to make it appear as if it's a photo of a miniature scale model. It uses some kind of optical illusion sorcery that works best if you take the picture from a higher vantage point. You can either use a special lens for your camera or you can fake it in Photoshop, like I did.


Broadway; Nashville, Tennessee



St. Luke's Episcopal; Hot Springs, Arkansas



Park Hotel; Hot Springs, Arkansas