We went to the Arboretum Pumpkin Village with my parents before they went back to Denver on Saturday. Every fall the arboretum blows me away with its beautiful display of pumpkins.
Everyone was very patient and accommodating with me as I practiced using my camera.
Alice had to sneak out early to go to a birthday party so Norah got some quality one on one time with Grandma. Together they completed the great pumpkin search and found every variety of pumpkin displayed.
Last week my mom and dad came to visit and help me with the kids while Bryan traveled to Germany for work. Just a day or two after they booked their tickets Bryan’s trip was cancelled but I’m still so glad they came. It was a welcome break for me. My photography teachers arranged for rooftop access for their students and friends to take some pictures of the Dallas skyline. Bryan and I were able to go together on account of the free baby sitters. We enjoyed a nice dinner in Deep Ellum afterwards.
The light was the prettiest when we first arrived. This is my favorite shot because of the beautiful sun rays but I had used a f/6.3 aperture to get enough light. I think it would have been better if I had used the tripod and used a narrow aperture to get some more detail. There was so much light at this point I think I could have used f/22. It was kind crowded on the roof and I had to choose between a spot where I could use the tripod vs a spot where I could see the whole skyline. I learned how to adjust the highlights and shadows in lightroom last night and it made a huge difference for this picture.
This was a tripod shot much later in the evening. The color from the sunset was mostly gone and it was much darker but I had cranked up my ISO to 800, f/8 aperture and slow shutter speed of 1/20 and it looks like daylight. I feel like I learned so much from practicing adjusting my manual settings over and over again that night. It was incredible to me what a huge range of exposures were possible in such low light.
This shot was taken about the same time as the above one with an ISO of 200, f/8 and shutter speed 1/5
Alice has been friends with Oliver for three years now. We had our first play date with Oliver (and Norah and Frederick too) at Coffee park. This past week we returned to recreate a picture from our first playdate.
Then (courtesy of Brooke Berger)
Now
I’m taking a photography class and I took these photos of Oliver and Alice using manual settings on my camera. I don’t think I’m as good as the camera’s processor yet but hopefully I’ll surpass it soon.
One of the little details of life that I thought about during Freya’s pregnancy was whether or not she would share a room. Norah and Alice have shared a bedroom since we moved to Texas when Alice was just 6 months old. I love overhearing the conversations they have together in their room and I worried that Freya would miss out on that if she had her own room for too long. I also didn’t want Norah to off all alone so soon. By June Freya was sleeping through the night consistently enough that it seemed like she was ready to be a roommate. We bought an Ikea crib on craigslist that fit perfectly at the foot of Alice’s bed. She immediately laughed and clapped her hands when we stuck her in it the first time. Maybe it was just because we were all staring at her and giving her attention but I like to think she was genuinely excited to be in the big girl room. Now three months later it still makes me so happy to see them altogether. I love peaking in and seeing three little girls asleep in there and I love hearing them talk to each other in the morning. I do think Freya sometimes wakes up a bit earlier than she would if she had her own room but it is worth it to hear her big sisters tell her good morning and ask how she slept.
I took these back in early July – this isn’t a great picture but it shows how their room is arranged in case they are curious when they’re older
