NOW is the perfect time for photos!
It is my favorite season. The colors are stunning, the weather is usually that perfect mix of warm days and cooler nights and I get to wear sweaters. I love sweaters! Big, fuzzy, warm sweaters! And coffee.
Fall is also my favorite time to get out and take pictures! There are so many reasons to get pics of your kids, family, extended family, yard, community, favorite spot, furkids, grandparents…. oh I could go on!
Grab your camera and go! Capture your day!
Things to do in the Fall with your loved ones, you and a camera!
Photo Ops 1-21
- Sunrise and sunset are always amazing, but in the Fall they are extra amazing!
- Late afternoon will give you longer shadows which will really add character and depth to your photos.
- Is it cloudy or overcast? That’s ok, head out anyway! Get close to your subjects. That’s the great thing about digital, you aren’t out any film! Just delete the pics you don’t like, but have a great time taking them!
- Make a mirror reflection photo! Find a calm, clear lake with trees around it. Take a pic with the trees reflecting in the water. Most cameras have a timer, set it and jump in the photo!
- Look UP – Shooting through the leaves of trees is so much fun and so pretty!
- Up through buildings,
- Up at a bunch of balloons
- Up at your kids
- Up the staircase
- Up the bark
- Up the brick wall
- Up the old gnarled tree
- Put the camera or phone on the ground and have everyone stand over it looking down at it. SNAP!
- Look DOWN – Looking at things with a new perspective can be great fun!
- Down at the grass
- Down at the fallen leaves
- Down at the insects
- Down at your feet or the feet of your children
- Have everyone put one barefoot (or in shoes) pointing towards the middle with toes touching and snap the photo!
- Down at toes (baby ones, painted toes, new shoes, fall shoes etc)
- Down at the puddle while jumping in it with big splashes!!! NOTE: Suggestion – use a disposable digital camera for this one, just in case it gets dropped 🙂 Authors Note: I highly advise puddle jumping with BIG splashes! So what if they get dirty, make a mess, get wet or get water everywhere everything washes and amazing memories are priceless!!!
The memories will last a lifetime and the dirt will wash off immediately.
I treasure the times we made messes, fingerpainted with pudding, jumped in the mud puddles, ran in the rain and made messes. I regret the puddles we didn’t jump in, the times we didn’t have a food fight and the times we avoided messes. ~ Tammey
A Little Planning Goes a Long Way!
- Plan a day out with a picnic or grilling at your favorite park, campground, neighbors house, granmas farm, whatever. Take your camera and capture the fun!
- Visit Family! Now is a great time to schedule a visit BEFORE the holidays and the hustle and bustle that comes with it.
- Pumpkin Patches!!! Pumpkins are so cheerful and easy to photograph and the colors are awesome!
- Little kids squatted down over a big, fat, orange pumpkin!
- The delight on their face as they find that perfect one!
- Photos of them trying to pick up one almost as big as them!
- *** How about a photo of YOU helping them pick it out?
- Hayrides, mazes, photo ops or other attraction make for a good time! Get pics of YOU and them enjoying it!
- Walk around your neighborhood and look at the decorations or be inspired by your local nursery. Have the kids point out what they enjoy and share what you love with them. Get a group photo and journal what you loved about the day.
- Halloween – Getting ready, Trick-Or-Treating, Parties, Carving Pumpkins, Handing out candy, Carnivals etc
Take The Time To Be Present – It’s The Best Gift of All
It’s not really about taking the time as much as allowing it. Summer was crazy and Winter is full of holidays and rushing and shopping. Fall is the time to slow down and breathe. Sip a little coffee and enjoy that sunrise.
ACTION: Breathe in deeply and hold it, exhale as hard and fast as you can. Let go of all of the tension, blow it all out! Do that three times and remind yourself of how blessed you are. You have a delicious beverage and can watch the sunrise. You can feel the breeze/sun/chill in the air.
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- List what you are thankful for.
- Say it out loud. There is so much power in spoken words!
- List the people you love
- List what brings you joy
- Say it, write it, photograph it 🙂
How To Slow Down and Allow The Present
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“Surround yourself in what you love and speak life into it.”
A friend told me that once and I didn’t understand what she meant. Until I did. One day it just clicked. I was so busy rushing from one day to the next, from one project to the next, from one event to the next, I forgot to stop and enjoy the moment. I was dragging my kids through my crazy life with me. Rush, rush, rush. Get dressed, eat your dinner, get your PJ’s on, go, go, go. So much to do when you’re a single mom with no real outside support.
Rush, rush, rush….
No.
Stop.
Hold them.
Brush their cheek and tell them how amazing they are.
- Find or make the puddles to jump in. Yes, it will make a delightful mess and a beautiful memory! Have fun!
- Find or make the pile of leaves to jump in! All of you!
- Find the trees to climb together.
- Find the perfect pumpkin, who/what does it remind you of?
- Look in the paper, online or ask around for events in your area. Many are free!
- Pick apples and bake or decorate with them
- Make a scarecrow or other festive decoration for the yard or paper ones for the windows
- Find a beautiful spot outdoors for a family photo
- Set the camera and the timer, place everyone in a big tree and SNAP away!
- Zoo, aquarium, museum, etc
Ask them what their favorite part of today was and then actually listen. The shopping list will wait. The laundry will wait five more minutes. Kids don’t wait, they keep marching to adulthood. That magic time is NOW!
Inspiration – Look for local events to save on travel expense!
Visiting the aquarium – Zoo in Minnesota 
Butterfly Gardens – Sioux Falls, SD 
Tiger Enclosure – MN Zoo 
Aquarium – Mall of America 
Visiting Minnesota – Don’t forget the state signs make for awesome photo ops! 
Renaissance Festival, Minnesota 
Renaissance Festival, Minnesota 
Perfect for the kissy face photo! 
Action photos tell a lot! 
Imperfect, yet perfect! @Steam Threshers Reunion, Rollag, Minnesota 
The little guy being held by dad now towers over him! Steam Threshers Reunion, Rollag, Minnesota
Love Languages Spoken Here!
In teaching scrapbooking over the last 20 years, I’ve learned that although you would think those we love would just know how much we love them, they often don’t. I was so shocked and heartbroken when I learned this fact and I’ve helped others through realizing it as well.
Sometimes, you have to say it, not just show it. Other times you have to act it and then there are times it needs to be written. To add to the fun, some find it in the gift getting.
Here is awesome #40 – if you’re counting!
40. Learn their Love Language. Â Act on it and make a layout about it!
- Words of Affirmation: Tell them how proud you are, they don’t always know. Write it in a note for their lunchbox, car, or on the fridge.
- Receiving Gifts: Give them a small gift, a token of how proud you are and tell them what it means to you. A framed photo of you doing something fun together, a necklace with a charm representing a special memory or some other gift special to them.
- Quality Time: Take them to lunch/coffee/the zoo or their favorite place to celebrate how wonderful you think they are. Be actively engaged, listen and ask questions.
- Acts of Service: Do something for them that they keep putting off. Organize their (toys, socks, closet, garage, etc).Â
- Physical Touch: A pat on the back, tucking hair behind the ear or a hug goodbye in the morning go a long way for this group.
Scrapbooking Preserves YOUR Story!
Scrapbooking is the chance to save precious memories, laughter, joy and special moments.
It’s not about the bauble and glitter and flowers and the latest craze, it’s all about love. You don’t have to be a great writer, just Kiss it! Keep It Simple Sunshine!
“We had such a great time splashing in the puddles today! It was so much fun laughing at Buffalo State Park, MN. It’s so hard to believe little Katie is 5 already.”
That’s simple, right? It tells the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE and WHY! You can add more details about the day or have ‘Katie’ do it! Handwritten notes do not mess up the page, they add priceless content to it.
GO – plan a fun day alone or with others.
Be Present – The Best Gift To Your Children
We remember what we see over and over.
My children have many great memories and because of me, their dad is in them. I’m not. I was waiting until I was… whatever, the list is pretty long.
I never got there and I never got in their captured memories because I was always waiting for that perfect tomorrow! Now I’m older with much more gray and they are grown and raising their own families.
I have tons of photos of my kids growing up. Their dad, family members, and friends are in them. Do you know who isn’t? ME!!! If I don’t get anything else across in this post, please, please get in the picture.
GET IN THE PHOTO – I’m begging you!
Everyone sees you, they know what you look like. Think about it. Do you have pictures of your loved ones? How precious are they? Do you care they are in the wrong outfit, making a face, hair isn’t done perfect or are overweight? NOPE, you don’t.
The important thing is you have a captured moment of them.
Same goes for you.
Don’t forget to get selfies too! ADD yourself to your albums for your loved ones.
“I have tons of photos of my kids growing up. Their dad is in a lot of them. Do you know who isn’t? ME!!! If I don’t get anything else across in this post, please, please get in the picture.” Tammey Brown
