When it’s not possible to hop on a plane somewhere tropical, even one night in a nice hotel in a new neighborhood can feel rejuvenating. And let’s face it—our post pandemic world has seen airline and travel prices soar, so a ten day trip to Italy may not be in your budget every year. But there are still ways to have a change of scenery that don’t require getting on a plane. If you’re in need of a romantic weekend getaway from Los Angeles, try one of these ten great options for staycations in LA or within a two-hour drive.
Located just across the street from the Malibu Pier, this 20 room stylish hotel has ocean-facing balconies and hammocks—not to mention Instagram worthy decor. Don’t miss the roof deck bar and restaurant—especially at sunset!
The Craft House Inn is a newly opened modern bed and breakfast (meaning you rent the whole house!) in a prime location in downtown Santa Barbara. Beautifully designed by Hearth Homes Interiors, there is a total of 5.5 beds and 5.5 baths. The main house is 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths (sleeps 8), Unit B is 1 bed/1bath (sleeps 2). It’s around 3000 sq ft, so it is a perfect getaway for friends and families to travel together without spending a fortune on separate hotel rooms.
A hidden five star property, Hotel Bel-Air is an iconic property known for its exclusivity and privacy—hence why so many celebrities make this their reatreat when they need to get away. When you’re craving the lap of luxury, this is your place. The spa is open as of Feb. 7th. Wolfgang Puck is open for outdoor dining.
Though Pasadena is in Los Angeles County, it still feels worlds away, and the Langham Huntington Pasadena is a luxury escape perfect for those winter blues. In fact, I spent my 30th birthday here. *The spa is currently closed.
Ojai Valley Inn and Spa is a sprawling resort that still manages to feel boutique. Everything you could ever need is on property including multiple restaurants, a spa, golf, and shopping, so you never have to leave. You can read my full review here. It reopens February 24, 2021 (keep in mind most resorts right now have closed their hot tubs which is a big bummer, I know)
With breathtaking views of the American Riviera, the Belmond El Encanto offers Hollywood glamour in a tranquil setting. The rooms are private bungalows with marble bathrooms and heated floors. Book a couples massage or lounge by the infinity pool and you’ll feel worlds away from the hustle and bustle of LA.*Reopens February 11th. Read COVID guidelines here.
Located in the middle of Santa Ynez wine country—Solvang—to be exact, this hotel was exactly what was needed in the area—modern decor with a luxe feel in a boutique setting. You can read my full review here. Their restaurant is open for outdoor dining and wine country is open and doing tastings.
An elegant coastal retreat south of Los Angles, Monarch Beach Resort is a family friendly resort in Orange County with a private beach club. We loved our large room that felt up to date, comfortable and luxurious. The Miraval Spa was closed due to COVID, but we were able to relax by the pool and enjoy the incredible infinity hot tub. Just arrive early to the pool if you want a seat. Our second day, the pool was at capacity in the afternoon after we arrived back from the beach. Don’t miss Bourbon Steak, Michael Mina’s steakhouse at the hotel. *In October 2020, Waldorf Astoria bought the property.
While this isn’t a short drive (close to seven hours), during a pandemic, you’ll do just about anything for a change of scenery. We only spent one night at this fabulous hotel on our way up to Mendocino, but we will definitely be back. We loved the attention to detail, the lap of luxury that was our junior suite, and the tasting menu at their Michelin star restaurant. *They are now offering California residents a $50 credit to FARMSTAND, their all day dining option (The Restaurant is currently closed).
There is no better time of year to visit Palm Springs than in the dead of winter. The flowers are in bloom, the air is clear, and after years of slumming it in the hot summer months—when everything is cheaper—I finally understood the major appeal. Outdoor dining is open.
The post 10 Romantic Getaways in Southern California in 2024 appeared first on The Sought After.
This is the time of year for personal reflection and gratitude, so we’re bringing you the following tutorial that demonstrates why you should be grateful for High Dynamic Range (HDR) editing. While photographic tips don’t compare to our feeling for friends and family, you’ll definitely appreciate how HDR processing will have a big impact on the look of your photographs.
Like with just about everything we do in Lightroom, Photoshop, and the kitchen, this technique should be approached with care and caution to avoid “overcooking” our images. When done right, your images will be tastier than ever.
Instructor Christian Mohrle is a fantastic landscape photographer and an equally adept image-editing expert. His goal for today’s 10-minute episode is to demonstrate “why HDR editing in Lightroom makes photos look so good.” And a meat thermometer isn’t required.
We recommend downloading the demonstration Raw file with the link beneath the video so you can make Mohrle’s adjustments yourself as the complete workflow is explained. You’ll also learn the basic global adjustments Mohrle makes to prepare his image for the HDR process that follows.
So what’s the big deal about HDR? Mohrle illustrates the answer by applying conventional edits to “fix” the under- and over-exposed areas in his shot. The histogram looks good but check out what’s apparent when you zoom in on the photo. All the information in the bright area is lost, “and there’s no way to recover it from this single Raw file.”
The shadows appear somewhat better, but they still they still appear “somewhat funny,” and they likewise can’t be significantly approved by just messing around with the sliders. Mohrle then explains that, “In order to get higher image quality what we want to do is merge and HDR file.” He notes further that, “luckily this is very easy to do in Lightroom” and he walks you through the simple steps for getting the job done.
All you need to do is to shoot an HDR sequence of scenes with a wide dynamic range—one image with a base exposure and a few others that are progressively brighter and darker. Then by following Mohrle’s advice for merging the files you’ll end up with one hero shot with a properly balanced exposure and nice details throughout the frame.
Mohrle demonstrates the initial global adjustments, demonstrates the masking procedure, and provides a few simple color-grading tricks that complete the transformation. A quick examination of his before/after images is all you need to be convinced.
After watching the video take a look at Mohrle’s robust YouTube channel for more great landscape photo editing advice.
You may also want to check out the tutorial we posted earlier from another accomplished pro, with a bunch of careless editing mistakes that will ruin your photographs, and tips for fixing them.
Take a look at your computer’s keyboard and what do you see? We’re not referring to the dirt and grime that’s long overdue for a cleaning, but rather to the modifier keys that can work wonders for quick and precise edits.
The video below reveals several “keyboard hacks” to accelerate the task of processing images so you can get back out in the field with a camera doing what you love most. Instructor Brian Matiash kicks off today’s Lightroom lesson with this: “I want to show you seven simple hacks that will enable you to be more effective with Lightroom with these modifier keys.”
Matiash is working on a Mac, so if you’re a PC user just remember that whenever he says “Option” that means “Alt” for you. Likewise, when he mentions “Command” you’re going to think of “Control.” Other than that proviso, everything works the same.
Matiash pulls up a landscape image to demonstrate his tricks, and the first one is very straightforward. As you’ll see, he’s already made a few basic adjustments with several sliders, and the photo looks pretty good. But there’s a quick keyboard shortcut for instantly resetting one or all of these sliders if you want to cancel a single enhancement or completely start over from scratch.
The second keyboard hack is particularly important when editing the tone of an image. As you’ll see, you can employ the Option key to advantage with five of the sliders within Lightroom’s Light panel; namely, Exposure, Highlights, Shadows, Whites, and Blacks. Here Matiash demonstrates the effect of holding down the Option Key when modifying exposure, and the trick works equally well while adjusting the other four parameters.
Matiash then turns to Lightroom’s powerful Tone Curve tool and demonstrates what happens when you drop a dot on the diagonal line. Normally when you do this and drag the point to the left (or right) the point quickly follows all the way to the margin. This is fine when you want to make “big edits,” but what if your goal is a subtle, more refined approach?
By first holding down the Option key your selected point will move much slower, lagging behind the cursor as you drag. As soon as you try this you’ll discover what Matiash means by precision “granular control.”
At this point you still four helpful keyboard tricks to go, and you’ll have to watch the video to see how helpful they are. But here’s a hint: they involve targeted adjustments with the Point Color tool, a faster method of accomplishing color-grading edits, how to fine-tune vignettes, and an accelerated technique for applying sharpening.
For more quick and helpful advice like this, just pay a visit to Brian’s instructional YouTube channel.
And for another timesaving Lightroom tutorial, check out the video we posted from an equally adept processing expert who reveals a one-click trick for batch-editing photographs for perfect exposure.
