Fall is Here!

 

It's been dreadfully hot here.  Dreadfully.  And super humid.  And I was complaining to Daniel the other day about how it needs to be Fall, because I'm ready for the cooler weather.  And to this, my nephew Jack jumped in, "Fall IS here!  I saw a leaf fall from a tree!  So it's FALL!"  To be honest, I don't really know when Fall officially begins. Oh, wait - Wikipedia tells me that in the US, it starts the day after Labor Day - so I guess Jack is right.  It's definitely Fall.



One place it's Fall for sure is the Arboretum.  It's beautiful there.  They put more pumpkins and gourds and pretty Autumnal displays out each year.

If you haven't seen the Chihuly exhibit there, you need to go - it is so cool.  Lots of whimsical sculptures all over the place that are so brightly colored and pretty.



Ginnie and my friend Sarah and I took Lucy the other day for pumpkin-rich portraits.

 

Ginnie was a huge help in getting Lucy to smile.



She's past the age of smiling just because you say her name, but she's not yet to the age where she'll smile because you ask her to. 



She's started saying "dowwww" this week - for "down".  She says, "dowwww," and we say, "Down, please?"  And she says, "Up plee!"  There seems to be some confusion about what "up plee" means.  Lucy thinks it means "help me" and "get me down" and "pick me up" and "give me that" and also "read my mind." 



This outfit from Gymboree was completely irresistible to me.



That is why I don't go into those types of stores very often.  I know my weaknesses, and brand new girly outfits is one of them.



I felt a little guilty having Lucy dressed like this in 90-degree weather, but my guilt was assuaged when it came time to play in the fountains.



I'm glad I took Lucy to the splash park a few times this summer, because it took her no time to get in and start enjoying the cool water.



She was totally pooped by the time we left.  I tried to keep her awake in the car with crackers, but she fell asleep, crackers in hand.  That--falling asleep in the car--has happened maybe 5 times in her whole life.  



I shot in aperture mode with a 50 mm/1.8 lens, and had the aperture about as large as it would go.



Viewing the results of my images was a learning moment for me.



I love, love, love some of these photos - but many could have been improved with a smaller aperture, so that more of the subject (Lucy) stayed in focus.

 

That's particularly true of the ones that were taken standing further away.  Every time I do portraits I learn something new.  I guess that is the joy of being an amateur photographer and not a professional--though I suppose even the professionals continue to learn while they shoot.   



The day after we did Lucy's portraits, I invited my friend Casey and her son to the Arboretum to shoot his portraits, and that was another learning opportunity!

 

I shot in manual mode that time and realized later that my shutter speed was too slow (1/60) - so many of the photos had motion blur.



But still, some of the photos came out great and captured his expressions well -- so I'm happy with them, over all. 



By this time next year we'll have a 10-month old and a 2 1/2 year old! Unbelievable.