Life...

The other evening just before sunset the light outside was amazing... The kind of lighting that helps even a mediocre photographer with a decent point and shoot camera take some really great shots...

The problem? Nobody to take pictures of! I was so bummed... Katy, Allison and Dakota headed up to Augusta to run some errands and had just called to tell me they were planning to stop at the Olive Garden for dinner before heading back, so they were out... Jed & Paul had been trimming trees all afternoon and Paul was wearing old jeans, a faded holey tee and work boots... When I suggested he change so I could take his picture, he said he'd rather have a root canal and walked away... Jed followed him...

What would I do with such perfect lighting? Let it go to waste??

I did the only thing I could and took some nature shots...

These are the daisies my mother planted when I was just a little girl... They were within a day or two of going by so I am glad to snapped a couple shots. Daisies make me smile... They are not my favorite flower, but they are sweet and lovely!

I played around with the above two shots a little, but the next three I left completely untouched other than minor cropping to let you see the amazing light...

The world had turned an amazing soft amber color...

This is in the front yard looking at the driveway and street in front of our house...

These two shots are of a little wooded area on the left side of our front year... Mature trees surround the whole house but this tiny glen was my favorite place in the yard to hang out when I was younger. There was a little wooden swing right in the center of the last shot when I was a girl, but over the years it fell into disrepair and my step dad took it down... I keep bugging Paul to put one back up, even though the limb is now much higher and the girls are grown... This spot just needs a swing!

I felt like a real empty nester for the first time as I took these and felt foolish standing there in the front yard crying over the loss of "good lighting", but as any mom who has or is about to let her kiddos go will tell you, I was crying for so much more...

Thanks for listening,


PS. Julie's 20 days of giveaways is still going on over at "As Jules Is Going"... I do not get extra entries  or anything for blogging about it, I just adore Julie and want everyone to meet her and her super cute family!