Like a fairy tale

When I was visiting Wales recently, I made it a point to stop in the little town of LLanrwst, simply because I wanted to see this bridge and the little tea house across the river from it. I had seen a lot of pictures of this place, and it was just something I had to see. It’s very quaint and beautiful, and immediately made me think of something you would find in a fairy tale. When it came time to edit the image, I just ran with that whole fairy tale theme and had a lot of fun with it. That’s the beauty of digital photography - you can do just about anything to your images. It’s so fun!

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Enter the Fae

Fairies are real, just ask any young girl.  They are hard to see, because they are so quick, but believe me - they are out there.  I asked, and that is what I was told.  So, who am I to argue with that?  We were in Carmel, CA recently (as you have heard me say with a lot of my recent shots) and walking around in the various shops, which tend to run into alleys and disappear around corners.  It's an interesting place.  You can literally wander for hours, if shopping is your thing.  It ain't mine, though I was happy to snap a few shots as I meandered.  In this case, we were down some random alley that seemed to go nowhere, when we happened upon this door.  I love doors and entryways (another thing you may have heard me say here on the blog) and when I saw this one, with that interesting tree just past it, I knew my camera was about to come to life.  

After I got it home and looked at it on my large screen, I did my somewhat normal processing, which includes short stints in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro and Color Efex Pro.  When I was done, I felt like I was staring at a secret entrance to some Fairy Kingdom.  I just read a remarkable book which involves a young man who enters the Fae, and I guess it was top of mind.  For the record, I am not referring to a children's book.  It is part two of a three part series entitled The Kingkiller Chronicle.  Book 1 was The Name of the Wind, and book 2 is Wise Man's Fear.  They are by Patrick Rothfuss.  If you have not heard of them, I suggest you drop whatever you are doing (after reading the rest of this of course!) and get yourself to reading them.  If you are a fan of Lord of the Rings, you will enjoy these stories immensely.  I can honestly say that they are two of the best books I have ever read, and I cannot wait for the final book in the series!

The Tuck Box

Ok, so I am a few images into my Carmel theme this week, and I’m having a great time with these shots.  I hope you are enjoying them as much as I enjoyed being there and taking them!  I mentioned yesterday that today’s post would be a fairy-tale sort of thing, so may I present to you: The Tuck Box!  This is one of the many examples of fairy tale type architecture that is found in Carmel, CA.  Isn’t it fun?  To me it totally looks like it belongs in a fairy tale, or somewhere in the English countryside at a minimum.  I keep thinking that Tinker Bell is going to buzz around the corner.  I love seeing things like this, and doubly so through my camera. 

The Tuck Box is a small restaurant and English Tearoom, and it is great!  I had been there on my previous Carmel visits and I knew that if conditions were right that I wanted to shoot it in HDR on this trip.  I got up a little early one morning - especially considering it was a vacation - and since this was just one block from our hotel it was an easy first stop!  Luckily all the other tourists were still asleep, so I had it all to myself.  Later during our trip we had breakfast there, and being a huge fan of English Breakfast tea in the morning, I must say that their tea is excellent!  Be sure and stop by for tea when in Carmel!