Sand Dollar Christmas Ornament
A Christmas Beach Star
A painted sand dollar ornament serves as a star on our beach Christmas tree.
After we had our beach Christmas tree set up, Laura found a few more ornaments that we had tucked away in past years that would be perfect for the beach tree. This was one of them. The red adds just the right splash of color to the tree. Plus, the natural star pattern in the sand dollar is perfect for a Christmas theme, and I like how the paint brings it out here.
Sand dollars are pretty cool, especially if you happen to find one yourself. Christmas trees are pretty cool, too. So if someone paints a sand dollar in Christmas colors and you put it on your Christmas tree, that is doubly cool. Or maybe even cool times cool, which is cool squared. But then cool people don’t bother with debating coolness amounts, because that wouldn’t be cool.
Good Memories
Besides the fact that it looks cool, the ornament also reminds us of fun times. It may be hard to see, but the red ribbon at the top of the ornament indicates that it is from the Bahamas. More specifically, this ornament came from the Straw Market that we always visit when we are in Nassau.
Remember that time that we were at the beach at Christmas?
Actually, we were not there on Christmas day, but we were at the beach the week before Christmas. Everyone back here at home was going through a cold snap, and we were wearing short sleeves and bathing suits. That was the good life! And that good life was two years ago on our Christmas Disney Cruise with the Riedels. While the cruise stopped in Nassau, Laura bought the sand dollar ornament that you see here in the first photo. So among other things, that ornament reminds us of a great time with our friends.
My favorite ornaments usually have a dual purpose, reminding me of some person or past event in addition to reminding me about Christmas.
I hope you have some good Christmas memories as well, and that you are making some new memories this year, too.
Bible Verse
And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. - Matthew 2:9
About the Photo
You might not be able to tell much difference, but I processed this photo using a different software tool. I had been using Aurora HDR for a couple of years, and I have really enjoyed the photos I have produced with it. However, that program was really meant more for combining multiple exposures into one HDR image and then processing that image. I just used the processing tools on one Raw file image to get what I wanted.
I processed this photo using Luminar AI. Luminar and Aurora are made by the same folks. But Luminar AI is more for processing a single image than for combining exposures. And although it can use some AI to process photos automatically, you also have complete control over what you can do. Most of the controls are similar to Aurora HDR, except that they are arranged a little differently. Plus, Luminar has some cool features that I have not spent much time with, such as sky replacement. More about that some other time in a photo that actually has a visible sky.
It is pretty fun to try something new, just to change things up a little.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Luminar AI. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS lens
Date: December 14, 2020
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee
