Maple Leaf Festival

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Maple Leaf Festival Baldwin KS

Hi, October is one of my favorite time of the year. The third weekend in October is always marked on my calendar. It’s a tradition of mine to go every year with a family member. Some years it has been all of them and this year my son, son-in-law and grand daughter was with me.

The atmosphere is just awesome; people, crafts, food, the smell, colorful leaves and plain ol’ fun.

maple leaf crowd
Maple Leaf Crowd
maple leaf food
Maple Leaf Food

The best part of the whole day was my souvenir. Yes, each year I like to buy one item to remind me of the day. This year was the best to date.

The Forever Hands booth. Once I spotted the Forever Hands booth I knew I found just the souvenir for this year. This was one of the very first booths we stopped at. Typically we walk throughout all of them and then I go back to the one I liked the best. There was no question or doubt, this was it.

A sculpture of my grand daughter’s hand- to last a lifetime. What a memory! Clickable gallery below.

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The last image in the gallery; I was worried Brie’s plaster hand was going to have a huge thumb! She was wiggling her fingers in the mold. Once the mold was set and Brie’s hand was removed; we were told to come back in a couple of hours while the plaster set. Upon our return; I was quite pleased……

handweb

Forever Hands

This lovely sculpture is at home next to my computer. I look at it often while working and remember our Maple Leaf day together.

Have you ever preserved your children/grand children’s hand-foot print? Please do share!

Best Wishes,
debra

Perfect Family Picture

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Hi, I have mentioned Fall is the time of year for family pictures. Most will have an idea what they think a perfect family picture is. I bet it’s different than what I consider a perfect family picture. There are no guarantees with young children!

The best advise I can give to parents, do your best to make sure your children are well rested and well fed prior to your session. Trust your photographer. Go into the session with the thought that no matter what happens, the end result will be awesome. The more comfortable you are, the more comfortable your photographer will be and the children will be comfortable too- creating that memorable family picture you will enjoy for the rest of time!

Perfect Family Picture

From funny expressions……….

family picture
To someone looking away……….

The more people there are in a group picture, the more difficult it is to have everyone looking at the camera at the same time with a pleasant smile.

Sometimes the best pictures are when no one is looking at the camera…..
picture perfect

More images from this photo session.

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So many different expressions!
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A real beauty.
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And handsome!
johnnie

Remember- when having your family pictures taken; either by a professional or setting your camera up on a tripod and using the self timer, you are creating a lifetime of memories for you and your family. Be relaxed and have fun. Your images will show your happiness and love for each other!

Below is my favorite of the family. I like it best for several reasons:
1) Everyone is looking at the camera;
2) Everyone has a pleasant smile;
3) It tells a story.

Do you see what the middle child is doing? He’s holding one of the juicy fruits the parents brought for the kids. Even the littlest is holding one. I’m not sure just how many they went through that day, but it was alot!
fav family picture

What are some of your favorite memories from one of your family photo sessions? I would enjoy hearing your story.

Best Wishes,
debra

Click here to view more family pictures.

Lunar Eclipse

lunar eclipse

Hi, did you see the Lunar Eclipse last evening? I grabbed my grandma camera, tripod, a chair and made myself comfortable in the backyard. The evening was nice, cool and entertaining.

My husband mentioned the lunar eclipse to me earlier in the evening. I Googled moon camera settings. One website recommended a 500mm lens, which I do not have- using manual mode 1/200 sec, f/10, ISO200 with a tripod. The longest lens I currently have is the 200mm. Below are three images taken with my gmaCamera!

Lunar Eclipse

This image was taken at approx. 9:00 pm Central time.

lunar eclipse

Approx. 9:10 pm Central time.

lunar elcipse

Approx. 9:15 pm Central time.

lunar eclipse

At approx 9:20 pm the moon was totally in shadow. My image was black. Nothing to show. What a fun evening I shared with family afar on Facebook. Three of my sister-in-law’s were sitting in their yards looking at the same moon as me from different parts of the country. It’s amazing how we can be so far apart, yet share a moment like this via the world wide web!

Who did you share the lunar eclipse with? Please do tell- I enjoy reading the comments!

During my time in the yard, gazing up at the moon- I thought of the movie, Ladyhawke. I’m going to have to see if it’s playing on Netflix. Good movie!

Best Wishes,
debra

Meet Up Monday Link Party 38
Meet Up Monday Link Party 38