It is fall, it is fall, the leaves are falling everywhere

The world is just so much prettier with the multi-colored leaves of Fall. I wish we had colors this vibrant on the trees year round. Because of the gorgeous colors on the trees, Fall is my favorite time of year to take pictures.

It seems like October and November became “learn the camera” months because of all the colors. I think I’ve taken more photos since October 1st than I did in all of the months I owned the camera before then. (7 months, if you’re wondering.)

I’ve been itching to have some family photos made, but time and money were making that difficult, so when I saw Jill’s tips for taking pictures of yourself using a remote and a tripod and I thought, “Hey…I can do that…”

Except I don’t have a remote. Or a tripod.

But I do have a Homer bucket and a self-timer, so that’s maybe the same thing, right?

I almost talked myself out of trying to take a family picture myself. I had to iron a shirt and the lighting would be gone. Or the pictures wouldn’t come out because I’d chop of someone’s head. Or they would be blurry. Or…or…or.

But? I can’t learn how to do things like this if I never try. So I took advantage of the remaining daylight and the pretty Fall colors and made everyone get dressed in under 20 minutes so we could hit the park.

I’m so, so glad I did.

The coloring isn’t perfect. And I could stand to read a tutorial or two, I’m sure. But whatever. I took a picture of my whole family. Without being behind the camera and without having a remote.

I put my camera on top of the 5-gallon bucket (and the wipes caddy from my diaper bag), set my exposure (f-stop, shutter speed, focus spot), made Dan sit so I could adjust the height, and had him hold Emma while Joshua waited to jump into my lap. Then I set the self-timer to shoot 7 continuous shots so I’d have a greater chance of getting one that wouldn’t suck. I actually got more than just this one, but this one’s my favorite.

I think we went through three rounds of self-timer shots, plus one when Joshua decided he needed to take pictures. Those are just of our heads because he angled the camera. But he had fun.

Once I was satisfied that I had a good family picture, we just enjoyed one of the remaining Fall afternoon/early evenings we have left. Joshua played on the playground. Emma was Emma. We fed some ducks.

Today was a good day.

I’m practicing editing in Picmonkey instead of Picasa since Picmonkey seems to be a bit more customizable. Here are more photos, for your viewing pleasure.

Oh, hello, my adorable, adorable offspring who look NOTHING ALIKE.

This is one of my favorite trees in our yard, a Japanese Maple.

Baby skinny jeans. I DIE, PEOPLE.

If I hadn’t given birth to her myself, I’d swear she wasn’t mine.

Joshua, as he ran off to feed some ducks, said “I like your boots, Mama!” And my heart melted a little.