4th of July in Review (and a Quick Photography Tip)

I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July!  We had a great day.  It started off with a fun church activity--a pancake breakfast at the park.  Of course, Boo was only interested in the playground.  (We fed her ahead of time--the breakfast was a little too late for her tiny tummy.)

I really need to take pictures in the mornings more often.  I think this lighting is just beautiful!  The sun is behind Boo, lighting up her hair prettily and not making harsh shadows or squinty eyes.  I also like the effect the backlighting has on the background.  Everything just has this nice, soft, golden glow.

So my photography tip from today:  Shoot portraits in the morning, and face your subject away from the sun.  (Supposedly this works in the late afternoon, too, but that hasn't been my luck so far.)  Set your camera to Spot Meter if you can--this will tell the camera to determine the exposure based on just the center of the picture.  Then when you focus on the person's face, the camera will expose for their skin tone, rather than being distracted by the brightly lit background.

And what's Independence Day without fireworks?  We just got some little fireworks from the grocery store, but Boo loved them!  She kept telling us, "Again," and "More."  

And after the fireworks, there was still a little time to play in the pool before bedtime.  Boo loved for her daddy to pour water from her bucket so she could splash in the waterfall.

Have a great week, everyone!