Autumn Photo Shoot - A Scrapbook Layout

Hello friends, happy autumn! The wheels of 2022 are spinning fast, don't you agree? I was able to finish this autumn themed scrapbook layout a few months ago and it reminded me that it's never too late to finish a project that's been on your bucket list, even if the project has been on the list since 2015!

That was the year Jimmy took the photos of me featured in the layout. It was a 'just for fun' adventure, where we went around town taking pictures in a few different areas. The photos featured in this layout were the best ones from that day.

I purchased the supplies to make this layout back in 2015 and they have been sitting in a folder all these years. So never say never, right?

First, though, the photos. I have been getting my photographs printed at Persnickety Prints for several years now. The owner, Chari Pack, is a scrapbooker that understands the unique needs of those that enjoy this craft. For example, there are three sizes of photos on my layout - a 4x12, two 4x6's and three 2x3's. I enjoy using a variety of photo sizes, especially on a double page layout, and Chari offers many choices. The large 4x12 photograph is the feature photo and the rest of the pictures add interest and tell more of the story.

The paper crafting products I used for this project are from the Bo Bunny Enchanted Harvest line. Although they were discontinued long ago, I found a website that still has a few of the items available, and so you can see what the papers, stickers and embellishments look like in the link provided.

I started with two sheets of the Gratitude paper, then mounted my photos onto plain white card stock and adhered them down.

I then fussy cut several leaves from the Foliage paper and scattered them around the layout.

The three squares are cut from the Autumn and Traditions papers and mounted onto the 'B' side of the Foliage paper.

As well, I fussy cut the word 'Autumn' from the Traditions paper and used a small section from the Autumn paper to mount it on. The rest of the title letters ('photo shoot') are from the Combo Stickers sheet.

I fussy cut the sunflowers border next to my profile picture from the Autumn paper and then added more stickers to the layout from the Combo Stickers sheet.

I inked all of the card stock edges in brown. 

The green gems on the left and right sides of the photos are from Queen and Company.

And that's it! I crossed this task off my list and added the layout to my album.

What autumn inspired activity is on your to-do list?

Summer Garden In Shadow And Light

Now that the autumnal equinox has arrived here in the northern hemisphere, I am beginning to lament my summer garden. Although there are still plenty of flowers to enjoy, the slow change into fall has begun, and the various plants, bushes and trees are turning from the many shades of summer green to the reds, yellows and oranges of autumn.

Throughout the summer I had fun taking photos of my garden on various days during the magic hour. The magic hour is that time of day when the sun is near the horizon, (roughly the first or last hour of daylight), and the light from the sun travels through a greater depth of atmosphere, creating brilliant colors and long shadows which add texture and depth to your photos. The intensity of direct light is diffused, and the result is an illuminated indirect light. These conditions, and the fact that I have a very small backyard and many trees in the neighborhood, make for a lot of variety in the kinds of light in my garden.  

Let's have a bit of fun here! See if you can guess which time of day each of my photos were taken - morning or evening - and at the end, I'll tell you. For example, the iris photo above was taken at 6:06 p.m.  Ready?

Almost everyone's favorite flower - at least on Instagram - a hydrangea:

Delicious strawberries:

This potted plant of an unknown variety:

Here's one of my echinacea plants with some sweet peas behind it:

Next are some blackberries:

Then the same blackberries in a more distant shot with some Shasta daisies and another kind of iris:

How about some roses?

Then those Shasta daisies again, on a different day and from a different perspective:

We're back to the blackberries again, this time just some of the leaves, and a week later than the last shot of them:

And now a blueberry branch that has happily snuck under the fence:

Here are those sweet peas again, a couple of weeks later:

I think this is the same hydrangea, about a month later:

I love this yellow daisy - in the autumn the birds, such as warblers and finches, come and eat the seed clusters:

And who can resist the intoxicating scent of a Summer Wine lily?  Not me!

And last but not least - a dahlia:

So, starting from the top - the first hydrangea, the strawberries and the unknown potted plant were all photographed on the same June evening between 5:57 and 6:20 p.m.

Moving into the month of July, the echinacea was photographed at 6:55 p.m.

Then both of those blackberry pictures were taken in the morning at 7:31 and 7:33 a.m. 

The roses and the Shasta daisies - 9:15 and 9:16 p.m.! Can you sense that warm pinkish-orange ambience? This was one of those evenings when the sky was glowing those colors and when you looked out at the light, all you would see is an amazing orange glow - a phenomena I've never seen anywhere else I've ever lived, except right here in Oregon. See the sky, below:

We're in the middle of July now with the blackberry leaves and the blueberry branch - both 7:32 and 7:39 p.m.  

The pea vines with bursting pods were photographed at 6:39 p.m.

The second hydrangea photo, along with the yellow daisies and Summer Wine lily - were all taken on July 24th at 7:42, 8:10, and 8:17 a.m.

And finally, moving into August, I photographed the dahlia at 5:53 p.m.

I hope you've enjoyed this exercise in shadow and light.  Do you enjoy photography? What are your experiences in capturing interesting light conditions?