Family Shoot at the Riverwalk

The Riverwalk is a beautiful site for a photo session.  There are so many paths and secluded areas to explore--not to mention bridges, stone walls, and other interesting architecture.  When you add autumn into the mix, you get a perfect location for a photo shoot.  Well, you do have to look out for all the visitors, especially on a warm autumn day!  Enjoy my favorite images of this family that it has been a true delight getting to know.

I've added a variety of editing, including an "aged" look, black and white, and burned edges (seen in the above image).  Any way I edit, this is a beautiful family!

I love the innocence captured in the shot above.  She is such a doll!  And, the below image is one of my favorites from this photo session.  It was the very end of the shoot, and we were hanging out at the rock quarry.  Everyone was talking and joking around, and Katie was sitting on the bench, laughing as her dad made faces at her (I got some good shots of that, too!).  I stood on the bench and aimed down at her while she was still looking at her dad.  Then, I asked her to look up.  And there it was.  The shot I wanted, and the late daylight hour made the light perfect.  In post-edit, I washed out the image a bit, then softened it to highlight Katie's eyes.  Beautiful!

 
Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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365 Project -- #337-343

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

December 3 - December 9

If you keep up with my family blog, you have already seen these images.  Instead of taking my Ellie out every day and just snapping "something/anything," I've purposefully taken her out to shoot things I actually want to remember, or to blog about.  I guess I've done that for most of this project, but now that it's winter, and I'm not running out and about much, I'm being more deliberate in my photography.  Since this "event" was pretty much the only major occasion in our home, it is all I shot and so I am repeating images here.

Anyway, if you want to read the full story of one of the ways our family (both us and our extended family) celebrates Christmas by giving to others, click here.  (Psst--you'll also see all of the photos I took that day.)  Otherwise, skip that post and scroll on down for the abridged version.  :)

 [337] Sorting names

[338] Sorting gifts

[339] Wrapping the gifts

[340] The gift receipt?!

[341] Line of gifts

[342] Bag of gifts

By way of explanation, the above bag of gifts went to my dad's church, where it will be given to the family we shopped for.  :)

Below is our family Christmas tree, all decked out and sparkly in this nighttime shot.

[343] The tree

Twinkling tree, shining lights, silver bells, frosty windows...  I'm so excited about Christmas this year!  I hope you are, too, as you look forward to the birth of our Savior.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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365 Project -- #330-336

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

November 26 - December 2

This week's images feature our crazy trip to Wisconsin with friends to find our Christmas tree.  I mean, who drives three hours to look for a Christmas tree???  We do.  This is our second year doing this--Lori invited us last year to participate in their yearly trip, and we looked forward to it again this year.  The weather was great--in the 50s, a little windy, and overcast.  The overcast was definitely a challenge for taking pictures, and I ended up experimenting with color and contrast in post-edit.  I usually don't edit my photos all that much, so it was good to explore my options when the sky turns out white and people are backlit no matter the angle!

Here's the documentary of our day...

Beyond this grove of pines lies the field of Christmas trees.

[330] CaPaul's Tree Farm

 [331] The trek to find a tree

We quickly found our Christmas tree, and Danny and Joseph helped cut it down.

[332] Cutting down the first tree

We also picked a tree for my brother.  That was harder, since he wanted a taller tree than ours.  We found the below tree, and our friend's son Bryan "marked" the tree with some weeds while we kept looking.

[333] Marking the best tree

Lori has two guys, and we have four.  That's a lot of testosterone!

[334] Eight men, two ladies, three trees

Danny climbed on top of our Suburban to secure the two trees, and we couldn't resist a goofy shot.  :)

[335] Tree Topper

Lori says that thanks to me (another lady) being with her last year, her husband let her stop at the Mousehouse for the first time.  And this year, we stopped again!  Plus, everyone actually went inside!  (Maybe that was a mistake, because my husband ended up buying a bunch of fudge and some cheese curds.  But it was all good.)

[336] Mouse House men

 All our strong woodsmen posed for us!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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365 Project -- #323-329

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

November 19 - November 25

Thanksgiving week is always a great week for lots of pictures.  We shared a blessed time with my family for Thanksgiving Day, and those are the images I'll be sharing here.  Don't worry; I'm sharing only seven.  I like to stick to the rules.  (I did break it once, on July 4...)

These images serve as a documentary to a fun- and laughter-filled day with my family.

We bought this turkey from our farmer:  23 pounds of free-range yumminess.

[323] Free range turkey

My dad likes to inspect the carving work.

[324] Slice it right

This is the first time in a long time that we took a family photo at the dinner table.  (My older brother and his wife spent Thanksgiving with her family, so we'll do this again next year when we're all together.)

[325] The table is set

Lots of activity going on after dinner.

[326] Thanksgiving games

Six pies.  Nine people.  You do the math.  :)

[327] Thanksgiving pie

My parents can be goofy.  Especially my dad.  I asked them to pose, and my mom did, ever so nicely!

[328] Yep, they're my parents!

Yeah, my mom can be silly, too.

[329] Whipped cream

I am thankful for my family.  They are the best.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Harrisville, and My Own Little Ritual

Tuesday, October 11.  Lake Bonaparte, upstate New York.  Foothills of the Adirondacks.  Last day at the Lake.

Part I -- Harrisville

After lunch, Mom and I drove through Harrisville on our way home from errands.  The scene below is what you see right before you hit the "business district" (really--that's what the sign says!).  This is the Oswegatchie River.  Beautiful!

So, below is the bustling business district of Harrisville--all four buildings.  Well, there's also a bakery and a library on the other side of the street.

In case you missed it, below is a more detailed look.  :)

From where I took the above image, I turned 180 degrees and jogged across Route 3 (which leads you to Lake Placid if you drive another hour or so).  Standing on the sidewalk along the bridge, I viewed the below--it is the same place where we had a picnic lunch last summer.

Now that more and more trees were turning, the colors were brilliant as they shone out between all the evergreens along the river.

And below is my absolute favorite shot of the day.

Back at the Lake house, I noticed a single tree along Hermitage Road across from the house.  First, though, below is a "before" shot.  I had inadvertently captured the tree on October 7 while shooting my tea mug (don't ask).  You can't see the tree well, since it's green.  It's that tall, skinny tree in the upper third of the image, right in the middle, outlined against the sky.

Here it is three days later, October 10, captured in another scene:

And finally, seeing it framed in the trees, I featured this pretty tree in an image taken on October 11, below.  It's amazing what three autumn days can do to a tree!

For the first time during that week, clouds scudded in with the promise of rain.  I thought for sure the sunset would be beautiful--clouds are a great reflector of color and add interest to a sunset image.  However, it was not to be.  Still, this quiet, nondescript sunset was pretty and calming to my spirit.

A little to the north of "sunset central," the colors peeked through a bit more dramatically.  I took a shot there, then headed back up to the house.  I would've stayed and taken more as the colors changed into night, but everyone was waiting for me--our pizza had been delivered for dinner!

Part II -- My Own Little Ritual

Wednesday, October 12.  Lake Bonaparte, upstate New York.  Foothills of the Adirondacks.  Last morning at the Lake.

The car was packed with almost everything, my dad and brother were finishing up the last of the winterizing chores for the cottage, and I had a few minutes to spare.  It was time for my own little ritual.

I plodded on down toward the docks, the overcast skies matching my melancholy mood.  Once again, a glassy Lake Bonaparte greeted me, quietly wishing me farewell until next year.

The colors across the bay were now brilliant and deep.

This is my ritual on the last morning at the Lake.  Right before getting in the car for the long drive home, I say goodbye.  It is my own personal ritual, though others in my family may also do it.  I need one last view--a lingering and remembering, a savoring and treasuring.  I want to get the picture clearly in my mind.  Then it's time to leave.

I will sing to the LORD,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 13:6 NASB

Previous Lake posts

Part 1 -- Autumn Lake Nature Walk
Part 2 -- Pontoon Panorama
Part 3 -- Saturday Scenes from the Boat
Part 4 -- Food! Glorious Food!
Part 5 -- People, Boats, and Pictures
Part 6 -- God's Hand Across the Sky
Part 7 -- One Last Ride in the Cadillac
Part 8 -- It Must Come Out!
Part 9 -- One More Boat, One More Campfire
Part 10 -- Walking Hemitage Road
Part 11 -- Water, Sky, Trees, Leaves 



Capturing the moments of life.

Christine

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365 Project -- #316-322

This is the time in my week when I look back at the images I've captured

throughout the previous week, and choose my seven favorites.

These seven--one for each day of the week--are featured below.

November 12 - November 18

Slow is a good word to describe last week, photographically speaking.  Ellie sat a lot, but that's okay--I was busy in the home, which I like to be, and didn't get much chance (or didn't think about it much) to pull her out and take pictures.  I have a few random shots of those few times I did get Ellie out, and then a small event with our son, Jacob.

Soooo...I made pico de gallo with most of the rest of my garden tomatoes that had ripened.  I ended up with about eight cups of salsa, which we enjoyed throughout the week.

[316] Pico de gallo

Okay, the below is a really bizarre shot.  One night we noticed that the moon was really low, heavy and full in the sky.  I've experimented with moon shots before, so I figured I'd do so again.  After trying different angles and exposures, I finally just set Ellie at f40 and took a 25-second exposure.  In post-edit, I had to jack up the fill light to see everything, and this is what I ended up with.  (The white streak is what showed up from a plane flying by.)

[317] Moonscape

The rest of the images below were taken at our son Jacob's induction ceremony for Phi Theta Kappa (honor society for two-year colleges).  We're so proud of his hard work at school, and we're really hoping that his brother Danny will follow in his footsteps.  We met a couple other homeschool graduates after the ceremony, and enjoyed some fantastic appetizers made by the Joliet Junior College culinary students.

 [318] Phi Theta Kappa

 [319] Ceremony program

[320] Inductees

[321] Signing the register

[322] Phi Theta Kappa member

That was a very nice ending to our week!  This week I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving; I'm determined to take as many pictures of family as food!  Plus, we're going on a crazy trip to Wisconsin with dear friends to get a Christmas tree.  I know for sure Ellie will produce a bonanza of great images this upcoming week!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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