Early sunsets and chilly weather

 It seems like only last week it was summer- and now fall is here. I have been having trouble waking up in the mornings now that it is not light until nearly 7am and, over the weekend, I caved and put the heat on. But the thing that really brought the change of seasons home to me was a Homecoming session I photographed for my granddaughter and her best friend a few days ago. Maddy is a High School freshman and this was her first Homecoming dance. I was delighted when she asked me to take pictures of her before the dance, all dolled up in her special dress. The two girls chose the lake as a backdrop for the pictures but the "Golden Hour" at this time of year is more like the "golden 15 minutes" and we had a combination of seasonably cold weather and fading light to deal with. Of course, the girls were wearing cute dresses, a little larger than a pocket handkerchief, so they were Really Cold. We rushed around to a couple of different spots, with the girls wearing puffy padded jackets over their dresses between shots. By 6:20, the light was almost gone. I was happy with the pictures but it was definitely a rushed shoot. When we are indoors, working, zooming or fixing dinner, it's easy to miss the earlier sunsets.

It was nice to do this impromptu shoot because my work recently has been heavily in the restoration side of my business. Clients have been showing up with pictures for me to scan and restore and videos to send to Forever. I'm definitely not complaining-business is business! But photographing live people is my jam and I will always enjoy that just a little more.

In a couple of weeks time, Rick and I will be on our way to Oregon, to see the grandkids. It is hard to predict what the weather will be like there-probably rainy and a little warmer than here. I have big plans to photograph the West Coast grands so, of course my cameras are going along. Our son has shared custody of his children and it takes a certain amount of persistence to get a time slot for a photo shoot but persist I will!  This will be the first test run for my new "travel camera", the Mirrorless Canon R7. I am liking it more and more as I learn to use it but the DSLR is definitely my choice for portraits, while the travel camera is great for taking out hiking. I will probably end up taking both. 

In the end, it's all about making memories with the family and taking photographs helps us to keep the memories alive long after the trip is over. I don't see the West Coast grands nearly as often as I would like, so you'd better believe that there will be a photoshoot in their future! Stay tuned!