The golden hour is defined as the first and last hours of the day. This is because of the quality of light, and its effects on what you are photographing.
I have lots and lots of sunset pictures. When we lived in central Oregon we would see glorious sunsets on a daily basis. The Oregon Coast offers magnificent sunsets.
But I didn’t want to go that route. I wanted a new picture.
On Saturday we went to a friend’s house, they live on a Christmas tree farm, so there are lots and lots of land around them and I made sure to bring my camera. The big boys were paying with our friend’s bow and arrows, so of course Ian wanted to play too.
I love Ian’s expression after shooting the arrow. He was so excited!
They were shot at 7:38pm (sunset was 8:57 pm, so they were a little outside the golden hour, but close enough for me):
1/100 sec
f 5.7
400 ISO
55.0 mm focal length
I did not do anything to the pictures in Photoshop, but I think they could use a little adjustment. The pictures needed a little more light. But that’s how it is with kids, they decide to do something and you have no time to test the light before they are done.
I also had to include one of some plant life.
It was shot at 7:40 pm at 1/85 sec, f 5.7, 200 ISO, 55.0 mm focal length
We are in the middle of a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest. We went from sixty degree temperatures to ninety degree temperatures in about an hour.
OK, so it was really a day or two, but the change was drastic and quick.
Of course hot weather means we are spending our days at my moms in her pool.
Baby Sid LOVES the pool.
Of course all this hot weather meant I had to redo my menu plan.
I had previously planned for the whole month, but it is way too hot to use the oven. So I came up with a new plan, which, if I am honest with you, I might not stick to.
Menu Plan 7/1-7/7
Mon: We won’t be home, so I don’t know what we will end up doing
I have a second cousin who is about to have her first baby. She grew up in Hawaii and her parents are still there, but her and her husband live here in the Pacific Northwest now.
Since she has a plethora of family here, we decided to give her a baby shower. Some of my aunts, my sister, my mom and another cousin gave the shower. We all participated in the food, but I was tasked with making most of the decorations.
Baby Mama and Baby Daddy started calling the baby Little Fox. So we decided to have a shower with a fox theme. At first my sister and I thought about doing a Fox and the Hound theme, since Baby Mama and Baby Daddy are also dog parents.
The timing of the shower was really close to that of Ian’s birthday party, so I didn’t get a chance to get into The Fox and the Hound theme. So we just focused on a Little Fox & forest theme.
I of course started a Pinterest board for the shower.
My sister thought these cupcake in a box guest gifts were so great that we decided to give cookies in a box as gifts. We used this recipe, omitting the nuts, for our gifts. We also really like these fox treat holders. Neither of us own a Silhouette (yet…) so I had to make them in photo shop and just cut them out. My sister bought some lollipops and I made little circles to glue on them.
Of course it wouldn’t be a party with out personalized M&M’s! Which is what we put in the treat bags.
My sister really like this pop-corn-tree, she made the cones to hang from some branches.
My sister also made these wonderful acorn cookies from chocolate chips, Hershey Kisses and mini Nutter Butter cookies. She also made the stump for decoration on the plate (I really had to point that part out).
We always make food labels, and I really like how this post used pine cones to hold them.
I made this “Welcome Baby Jack” banner
And of course we made some pinwheels, after they turned out so great for Ian’s birthday party.
My aunt made this wonderful cake. It was as delicious as it was adorable!
We played gift Bingo, Guess How Many?, and Is the Price Right? games.
With Gift Bingo the guests get Bingo cards with gifts on them,which they cross out as Baby Mama opens it.
For the “Guess How Many” game, we bought a baby bottle and filled it with candy, the guests then need to guess how many candies are in it. I made these cards for them to write their guess on.
For the “Is the Price Right?” game, we bought some baby necessities for Baby Mama and had her guess what the prices were. The guests then decided if she guessed ‘too high,’ ‘too low,’ or ‘just right.’ I made some cards for this game too.
We were able to Skype with her parents in Hawaii, which was great since they couldn’t be there. That way they were able to watch her open the gifts.
I think it turned out to be a great shower.
Happy Party Planning
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I Tri and Craft 