We had so much fun taking photos today on our Letterboxing Adventure! I love this time of year!
Tag Archive for 'Shadow Portraits'
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.
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. 
The Shadow Portrait is back in the header! (If you read this in a FeedReader, go check it out!)
This last Friday, we were able to play outside in the gorgeous weather and take pictures of the fall leaves in the backyard. Daddy had the day off from work and was working on landscaping, and Claire and I were having a great time helping him and playing hide-and-seek. It was a wonderfully warm, fall day.
As the sun got to the right angle, Daddy took a break, and we wandered around the yard playing with our shadows, trying to capture the wonderful autumn colors and our shadows in the same frame.
The key to getting a good shadow portrait is to just keep clicking the camera and sort them out when you have a chance to sit down at the computer. You never know which ones will look the best or capture the message you’re trying to convey.
I got a lot of good shots, and as I looked at all the photos, one just leapt off the screen.
Click to enlarge: Autumn Shadow Portrait 2008
Normally, I try to hide the shadow of the camera in The Shadow Portrait, and those pictures rarely make the cut. But, this one spoke to me. This shadow portrait captures exactly how I feel when I write. I try to capture bits and pieces of our lives and record them. I don’t want to forget the details. The everyday details are an integral part of everything. They make up our lives, but they are easily lost in the passage of time.
How can something so important at the time be forgotten? It’s because the tiny details are no match for the big picture. Many times, something happens, and I have the urge to write it down. Then, I’ll think to myself, “Okay…I’ll write about this…but how could I ever forget this!?”
But I do. Often times, I look through the archives of the things I’ve written and the memories come flooding back to me.
It just solidifies in my mind that I won’t remember these things on my own. I need to record this. I don’t want to forget the details.
That’s what this picture represents to me.
This picture, which was just a random moment, shows a typical shot of the three of us. I’m the recorder of the details (this time, my tool is the camera…and now my writing…). If you could hear what was going on when the camera captured this image, you’d hear the three of us laughing. You can see the interaction between Claire and Daddy. She’s showing him a stick that she’s found, and he’s answering all of her questions about it and the world around her. In fact, just after I snapped this photo, she bent down and asked us both why the reddish plants in the picture are called Dragon’s Blood. How did the Dragon get hurt, and why did he bleed all over the plants, and where is he now?
This picture is so us, and I love it.
I don’t ever want to forget the moment we had playing in the leaves, exploring all the colors of autumn, and explaining that no Dragons were harmed in our backyard. And, now, I won’t.
Autumn is officially here! Fall is in the air! This is my absolute favorite season of the year. Because we’re on the cusp, the temps have been rallying, and the leaves haven’t started falling yet.
But, they will.
The cool crispness will prevail.
The colors will explode.
I can’t wait.
It’s times like these when I have the urge to change my header, but Mother Nature hasn’t cooperated yet. There are no crunchy leaves on the ground to capture our Shadow Portrait!
Never fear! Last year’s photo to the rescue!
The header is the Autumn Shadow Portrait we took last year. I love it. It shows Daddy, Momma and Claire, and you can read about it, and all the other Shadow Portraits, here. And, until we can make a new one for this year, it adorns my blog.
If you’re reading this via a Feed Reader, feel free to pop on over and check it out!
Today, Claire, Momma and Daddy were able to go to a nearby nature center that specializes in butterflies. While there, we took some new shadow portraits!
And, here’s the one we chose for the blog header! (It’s cropped on the header, but you can click on the above photo to see more detail. Clicking a second time will enlarge it even more.)
You can see Claire (and her baby-doll, Daisy), Momma and Daddy. We were hoping one of the thousands of butterflies would grace our photo with her presence, but it wasn’t meant to be. (And, I’m not good enough in my skills to make it look like one did.)
Butterfly or not, I love it! I love the detail, and the different shadows created by the three of us, the plants below us and the plants above us. I love how it captures our personalities…and you can’t even see our faces.
And, we tried to get more glorious color in the frame, but the sun wasn’t at the right angle yet. We’re all about reality here…so what you see is what you get.
So, here is the new header…until the three of us find something else that strikes our fancy.
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