Fall Foliage

I love fall.  And I really miss the midwest when this time of year rolls around.  I always feel a strong desire to seek out some gorgeous fall foliage.  This year we finally found more than just a pretty tree here and there along parkways.  So we decided to take some family photos.  With a tripod.  And a remote.  See that little black thing I'm holding in my left hand?  That's the remote.

I like this family photo, but it was the only one that made the cut.  And there are some things that I don't like about it.  But if you don't notice them on your own, I certainly won't spoil it.

As much as I like having a tripod and a remote, it's just too hard trying to TAKE the pictures and BE IN the pictures at the same time.  I can never quite get the shot that I'm after and pretty much always end up disappointed.  And the whole process is just not fun for anyone because it takes ridiculously long running back and forth between the camera and the group.  We really should just buck up and pay for a photographer.  Maybe next year.

It's ever so much easier taking the photo from behind the camera.  I love this picture.  It simply a better photo.  And if I ever get around to actually editing it and correcting for the slight color cast, and cropping it--it will be great.  I always think that I'll edit my photos before posting them, but I always get impatient and just post them as is.  Which is probably the only reason I post photos at all.  I WISH I had time to fiddle with them.  I hope someday I will.  But this is not that day.

Despite the frustrations of trying to get the perfect family shot, we had fun playing in the leaves.  And I enjoyed getting some individual shots of the kids.  I think the shot of R as an actual tree hugger is my favorite.

And taking the wagon was sheer genius.  It came in handy in so many ways.  It may well be featured in many, many photos in the years to come.

I didn't get a very good shot of J when we went on our leaf quest.  But here he is a few weeks later when we were cleaning up the back yard.  And he's so much more in his element.  He doesn't need to stay clean.  His hair did not have to be combed.  He did not have to stand in any certain place or face any certain way.  And a pile of wet leaves on his head was a good thing--even in my book.

And to top it all off, he found a wonderful little potato bug with his grubby little hands.  It came very close to being the perfect day.