We had so much fun taking photos today on our Letterboxing Adventure! I love this time of year!
Archive for the 'Shadow Portraits' Category
It’s no surprise that we love taking shadow portraits. We’ve been doing this for years, in all different kinds of locations. Just check out the Shadow Portrait Category to see what I mean.
I couldn’t wait to play around with this in Cozumel!
Claire and I played with the morning sun on the beach in front of our condo the first morning we were there.
iHola!
The three of us played with the waves and shadows.
Here comes the wave!
As I was sorting through all the images on the photo card, look what I discovered!
I think this one looks like...
...this one from California!
Granted, that was a couple years ago, and almost half a world away…
Did you notice the new blog header? Here’s the full version:
Three Shadows on the Beach
If you’re in a FeedReader, click on over and check it out.
This is a photo from The Great Road Trip of May 2009. I love the expression on Claire’s face. You can barely see it beneath her blowing hair, caught by the ocean breezes. This moment was captured by the camera and melded with our shadows. This was our first experience dipping our toes in the Pacific Ocean as a family, and it was awesome. Was our big 12-day adventure really back in May? Was May really that long ago?
Well, not today, it isn’t. I was tired of looking at the snow, as beautiful and sunny as it is here, I want to go to the beach…
…so let’s go!
Grab your sunscreen.
Grab your swimsuit.
Grab your flip-flops.
Meet me at the beach…if only in our minds.
If you’ve spent any time at all here at The Casual Perfectionist, you know that I love shadow portraits. I’m writing about that today at Mile High Mamas, the Denver Post‘s parenting blog!
Go check it out!
The comments are closed here, but I’d love to hear from you over there!
Back when I was writing about our trip to the Grand Canyon and beyond, I mentioned that we took other shadow portraits there in addition to the one I shared at the time.
The one I’ve had on the header of the blog since then is this one:
Shadows on the edge
I love it. I even made my business cards out of it, and I use it for my Twitter ID photo.
Well, you may have noticed that I just changed the blog header to another shadow portrait we took that same day. (If you’re reading this in a feed reader, click on over!) I may switch back and forth between the two every now and then…just to keep you on your toes!
See the three of us in the tree?
I love it!
The colors make me think of fall yet remind me of the summer. It’s the best of both worlds.
Yesterday evening, the three of us set out to walk around the lake. This time, we let Claire take her new tricycle, and she did great! Previous to this, she’s been trying to run over people perfect her skills in the house.
Well, it’s officially an outside-only trike now!
She pedaled that thing all the way around the lake (it’s over a mile!)…and up our hill!! I was going to make her get off and walk while we carried it up, but she told me in no uncertain terms that she could do it herself, and then she did!! I was completely amazed.
And, yes, she is 43-months old in that picture. Not that anyone is still counting in months anymore. 
As you know, we just got back from our 12-day road trip out to California via The Grand Canyon. We had a great time, and I’m sorting through all the photos and can’t wait to share our adventures.
We love to take Shadow Portraits wherever we go, and this trip was no different! (Click here to check out the other Shadow Portraits we’ve done!) In fact, to kick off this series, I’ve chosen a new blog header! (And, I changed my Twitter Page to match.) We took a TON of Shadow Portraits on the trip, and I can’t wait to share!
Here is the one I’ve decided to use first, and I’ll keep it up for a while before switching to the next one. Daddy and I have Claire between us, and we’re both holding her hands. I’m trying to take the photos as quickly as possible before any other sunset-viewers get in our way. This photo has not been altered in any way.
I LOVE this one! The backdrop was perfect. Our shadows are being created by the setting sun over the Grand Canyon. They are being cast across an open crevasse that plunges downward to what seems to be the center of the earth. It looks as though you could reach out and touch the other side, but the distances are so misleading through the camera’s eye.
As I mentioned, lots of people were gathered at this overlook to take photos of the sunset. This is the view that everyone else was focused on (in the other direction):
The best part about taking these shadow photos, other than being surrounded by a view that unbelievable was Claire saying “Cheese!” before each one.
Stay tuned for more posts about our adventures!
Yesterday was such a gorgeous day! The three of us were able to take a walk around the lake and play at the playground. On the way back, we took some new shadow portraits in the ice of the lake.
It was hard to decide which shadow portrait to use for the header this time, because I liked quite a few of them for different reasons.
Here is the one I chose. (Click over from your FeedReader to check it out!)
Click to enlarge.
Shadow Portrait January 2009
In this one, we are standing in Momma, Claire and Daddy order. Claire is playing with a new favorite stick she found along the way. Daddy’s just chillin’ on the side, waiting for me to take as many shots as I can before the shortest subject in our charge runs out of the frame and we move to the next location on my mental list of places to capture shadows on the ice.
I love the colors in this one: the golden-brown of the grass, the smoky gray of the ice, the crisp cobalt blue of the shadows on the white snow.
When we took these photos, the sun was shining and it was almost 60-degrees, but you can see where the waves are still frozen in time.
It would be naïve to think that Winter is over, and we’ve lived here long enough to know that it’s not. But, I’ll gladly suffer from the weather-related whiplash if it means I can take ice photos in shirt-sleeves.
Last December, the three of us traipsed outside with the camera and played around with the snow and shadows. The end result was this photo:
Click to enlarge: Snow Shadow Portrait
I love this picture! Even though it’s a year old, it is one of my favorite shadow portraits we’ve done to date, and you check out the Custom Image Header category to see the other shadow portraits we’ve done.
For this portrait, we are standing in Momma, Claire and Daddy order. You can see the skeleton of one of the apple trees, with a few vibrant red apples clinging on to the branch, refusing to admit that winter is here. (Yes, they’re apples! From this distance and angle, they look like berries.) You can see the green boughs of the junipers peeking out from under a blanket of fresh snow.
So, in honor of Winter Solstice, I’m giving this shadow portrait the prominence it deserves in the blog header, once again. (If you’re reading this in a FeedReader, feel free to click on over and check out the new header!)
From our family to you and yours, may this solstice be the beginning of positive changes in your life. May you be surrounded by those you love, and may the only shadows be those in a fun winter portrait. 
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