CrazyBusy - Walking The World's Rim

CrazyBusy

Aug. 16, 2007

Walking The World's Rim

We had an absolutely wonderful day today! My husband's sister and her husband are here visiting from Ohio, and as is custom when we have people visit, we took them on a hike.

It was a beautiful day, although my husband did scold me a little for merely mentioning the fact that it was a little bit TOO hot for our hike. We've had HORRIBLE weather this summer but today was a gorgeous, sunny day. (ssshhhhh, don't tell DH but I actually prefer overcast, cooler days for hiking.... and picture taking. that's all I meant)

I have hardly done anything this summer but work on preparing for this upcoming school year. So it was nice to be able to get out and do something ACTIVE, let some energy out, get some fresh air... and get to play with my camera.

And of course the best part of it all was the company. I've always admired Kenton's sister. She's 10 years older than Kenton & Kim's youngest child was born the year Kenton and I got married... which means she's FOURTEEN! Back when we were first married, I was in AWE that Kim had FOUR children! And not only that, they were extremely obedient and incredibly SWEET children! They still are! Their oldest child got MARRIED last summer, and we drove (yes, drove!) to Ohio to be there. Sweet, sweet family.

So anyway, today we took them to Hurricane Ridge. Cousin Kim, this is the hike we took you guys on last October! Except the Camp Robber birds (Gray Jays) were NOWHERE to be found! Boo! And we brought bread to feed to them too.

PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS FOR SHOOTING IN FULL SUN: Shooting in full sun is hard. You get very harsh shadows, squinty eyes and the color gets washed out easily. If you're out to get a nice portrait in full sun, there are things you can do to improve your chances of getting a good photo.

Move to the shade. Yep, move your subject to the shade. Move them as close to the edge of the shaded area as you can. This will allow the available light to bounce off of the ground, building, mountain or whatever is near you and onto your subject.
Watch for splotchy light. You know the bits of light that shines through trees? That type of light is very unflattering and distracting. Watch the light around your subject (especially the light falling ON your subject).
If shade is unavailable and you have an all-in-one reflector (which I HIGHLY recommend- it's one of those "must haves" for photography, IMO), you can use the translucent lining to soften the light by holding up the reflector frame over your subject in the direction the light is hitting them.
Use your reflector to help bounce light back onto your subject. I prefer to use the silver side as it adds contrast and reflects light better than say, the white side and is not as flat. (I don't take my reflector on hikes )
If you have a SLR (single lens reflex camera), you could use the "sunny 16" rule. You set your aperture to 16, and your ISO and shutter speed at either 100 or 200 (the same number for both).
You can also use your flash to fill in the shadows. However, I admit, I am a flash-a-phobic and very, very rarely use my flash at all.

Of course, you don't want to skip taking pictures just because the lighting isn't in your favor. It's not just an art, it's preserving memories. Better to have lots of snapshots than only a handful of portraits.

Okay, I am way too tired to be writing up tips, so on with the pictures! LOL!

Aunt Kim, Kenton & my boys and Uncle Mike, at the beginning of our hike. Kim is so skinny! Just like my DH & their other sister. NO FAIR!:

Pretty.... weeds? Flowers?

I got ONE picture of Gabe on this hike. And NONE of Alek (except their backs in the first pic). I had to hang back with my littles most of the hike. See those skin blow outs I was talking about? But, I'm keeping it since it's my ONE picture of him from today.

Josiah needed to rest. And then he wanted to "cake pitchoors". He never wants his picture taken. Goof!

After Josiah & I caught back up with everyone, Kenton had him ride in the backpack for a while.
Miss Millie had a bit of a 'tude today so she stuck with me the rest of the hike. We went off & had a little talk. It worked, don't you think? Doesn't she look repentant?

A meadow with the mountains as a backdrop.

Don't get dizzy! Looking down on the trail we just hiked up!

As Millie & I were hiking UP the mountain, the rest of them were hiking DOWN. Here we caught up to Gracie and then she joined us back up to the top of the mountain. Gracie's a hiker.

We're a little slow for her.

This is why Gracie wanted to go back- she wanted to play in the little patch of SNOW! There are glaciers on these mountains. This is just snow though. Doesn't it look like they could just slide down the mountain on it? Eek. It did feel good though. I put a handful of it on my neck.

An Olympic Marmot! We saw a few on our hike, but from a distance. This one was several feet away from this patch of snow. I didn't have a zoom lens on (rarely ever do- just my primes) so I'd take a pic, walk closer. Take a pic, walk closer. I got probably 4 feet away from him! He'd retreat to his burrow when I'd take a step closer but would come back out once I stopped. It was pretty big! Smaller than a beaver but much larger than a prairie dog.

One more of this handsome devil, different angle:

See the little tiny people on the far off trail?

We caught back up with Josiah and Kenton. I guess everyone else had already started to head back to the van.

Sass:

My girls were in the mood for pictures today! It was so fun!

I could've lingered for a couple more hours if I didn't have so many people waiting on us. The flowers were just beautiful and were *begging* to have their picture taken!

And then we spotted this butterfly:

Another pretty shady spot:

Walking the World's Rim:

Girls being goofy:

Millie fell back into the grass and was inspecting a bug she saw:

And the rest of these I took when I got home. Please stop here if you are of the weak stomached variety. These are pretty gross.

Okay, I warned you. :)

Banana slugs.

Josiah inspecting the above banana slug:

Okay, this one's really gross. Banana Slug on a Stick, courtesy of Gabe. Self-marinating. See that gooey snot looking stuff sticking to it? It's their protective mechanism (but their slime has other more useful functions). When we first moved here, the children were SO excited to see these slugs, so they picked them up & brought them to show show us. That slime, I swear, is what they must make Super Glue out of! It is EXTREMELY sticky! It seriously took Kenton about 20 minutes to wash it off of Gracie's hands. G-R-O-S-S!

He was very obliging letting me photograph him so much. And then Gabe found him a playmate and that was it. They became extremely shy and retreated into their.... heads?

There they remained for a few minutes, so I gave up and went inside.

That's all for now!

• Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!

Comments

Aug. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by daffodilmama

I recognize the world's rim! I'm sorry the birds weren't there... but it looks like you had a great time anyways! I REALLY need to take some pics of the girls....

• Permanent Link

Aug. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Anonymous

YEA!! More pictures! And TIPS to boot! I am so glad to hear that you are almost done preparing for the school year. Hearing all about it make me plain EXHAUSTED and I have nothing but respect for you and all the other that have the patience, knowhow and dedication for this rewarding experience. I loved all the pictures and OMGosh those slugs are GROSS!! BUT interesting! As long as they weren't spiders! ROFL

So... about the full sun tips. I was checking my camera and if I am in manual mode I don't have the option to set my ap at 16... I can only get to 8. If I set to 8 can I then set my SS to 200-400 and get the same results? What is your ISO set at for these settings?

Thanks a bunch and I look forward to hearing from you more! Take care! Love ya!! ***HUGS***

• Permanent Link

Aug. 16, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by springdayzee

Yikes... I guess I forgot to log in. That last comment about the picture tips was from me! :D Love ya!!

• Permanent Link

Aug. 16, 2007 - Great tips!

Posted by mom2two

Thanks for sharing some great sunny day photo tips. I just love that first picture of Josiah. I love pictures like that!

What a beautiful area for hiking!

Yvonne :o)

• Permanent Link

Aug. 16, 2007 - Hi,

Posted by YahwehISAlmighty

Looks like you had fun!!!!! Those are really nice pic's!!!!

Your tagged, come by my blog to read the rules.......

Rachel ;)

• Permanent Link

Aug. 18, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Haflingerhorses

This is some photo shoot! Wow!
Such gorgeous pictures! I was trying to decide which one is my favorite. Very hard thing to do. I love all the mountain ones. I loved the one with your little girls walking on the snow. And if I had to pick a favorite, I'd pick Josiah in the meadow with those blue flowers and the blue mountains in the backdrop.
I love the picture of your sister-in-law with her really pretty dress.
Antoinette

• Permanent Link

Aug. 19, 2007 - Keep those tips coming!

Posted by Anonymous

Hi there! Thank you so much for the Shooting in Full Sun tips! We have plenty of full sun here in Texas!

I sure do enjoy all your hints and tips in the photography arena. Maybe now that school planning is done you can bless us with more tips coming soon! :)

Have a blessed day!

-RaShell

• Permanent Link

Aug. 20, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Haflingerhorses

I left a pm for you -
Antoinette

• Permanent Link

Aug. 23, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by crazybusy

Thank you, Ladies!

And I must apologize that I haven't posted more tips this summer. I had NOOOOOO idea how long it was going to take me to get ready for school. I gave myself till the end of this summer (for the photo tips) thinking I'd have a TON of time and would be able to get around to it, but it just didn't work out. I will just have to work on it when I can, I guess.

Love, Alyssa

• Permanent Link

Aug. 23, 2007 - Untitled Comment

Posted by henryteachers

I missed this entry somehow and just read it. Great pictures. You live in such beautiful country. Reminds me of the Von Trapp family climbing the hills in the sound of music. My kids enjoyed looking at your banana slug pictures.

• Permanent Link

About Me

Hi and welcome to my crazy busy world! I'm Alyssa, pronounced A-lee-sa. Hubby & I have been married for 15 years and we have 5 wonderful children and one on the way! Their ages are 11, 8, 7, 5 & 3, with the latest model due early July! Spend any amount of time here and I'm sure you'll quickly learn that I love photography! You'll find quite a mix of posts here- lots of photo blogging, some photography tips and tutorials, posts about home schooling and posts that will give you a glimpse to the goings-on in our lives. I hope you enjoy your visit! Thanks for stopping by!