When the sun goes down...

...the heroes goes to work. Cuz you know, the thieves and robbers like to operate in with the veil of darkness as their ally.

The day after Halloween, the kids wanted to wear their outfit. Actually, it was Terrence that wanted to wear his costume...but he also wanted the Spiderman outfit for Jason to wear as well. Pretty demanding these 3yr olds. We figure these costumes will only fit once and it allows me to get some better photos of them. They get so much attention going out with them on in public so it's certainly a treat for everyone. Fun and cute.

The setting sun always makes for gorgeous photos. With the sun lower in sky, the rays of the sun has to go through more of the atmosphere, scattering and diffusing the light, resulting in flattering photos. It's my second favorite time of the day. But the lower the sunlight, the quicker the light changes, eventually losing it completely.

So I was only able to get a few shots off before Terrence was joined by other neighborhood kids and the whole lot of them ran around uncontrollably. :)

Sunlight streaming through the trees. Side lite foliage is a fav of mine to shoot againsts. The colors are awesome.

Getting set up and had Terrence run down the aisle. He took off and was not seen by my camera lens until much later.

Oh well. At least I have one more subject I can shoot.

But that didn't last long. Having lost all my subjects and the sun quickly disappearing, I aimed my camera towards the trees instead, trying to capture the warmth of the sun's rays through it.

Once we were able to round up the kids, we did get some cute moments out of them.

Buzz likes to hug with wings and all.

I love this one.

I love this one. Wait, I already said that. :)

Here's a photo I had on facebook. But much clearer since Facebook heavily compresses photos, making it look so soft.

Such a perfect pose for a little spiderman.

Here's a clearer shot of Terrence that I shared on Facebook.

Here's an alternate, higher contrast version.

It's been an unusually warm Novemember thus far. So we were able to enjoy the soft glow of the reminding sunlight while getting these last few photos. We didn't stay much longer cuz my remote trigger battery is no more.

I'll leave you with one more shot of Buzz Lightyear. Three years old and growing fast.

Local park...

Denny and I took the kids out and stopped by the local park on the way back. We txt'ed Florence to see if Charlie was available to play. Funny thing is they were already on their way back home from the same park. Their house happen to be across the street, but they took the long way home and got my msg just in time. So they stopped by and we all hung out a bit to let the kids play. Denny took a few photos of the kids at play.

I like how Charlie and Jason had coordinated camo on.

The each took a turn down the slide.

I like this moment Denny caught of Jason. He took Charlie's hat and put it on his head, and prepared to slide down.

Terrence was busy going around in circles with Charlie's tricycle.

He wanted to push Charlie. I am there to ensure no obstacle gets in their way. You know how those pesky bushes likes to jump out at you.

On the way back from dinner...

Some photos on the way back home from dinner at Luna Grill. The adjacent neighborhood of Del Sur has nice parks and gardens nestle within it's community. I thought I'd introduce Julie to the area since she drives by the area on her way home from work practically everyday, most likely oblivious to it all. :) The light was just gorgeous so I just had to take advantage of it with a few snaps while the kids run around.

Terrence likes to pick up things like leaves and show the camera. Actually, he likes to hide from the camera behind it.

Terrence in a full run and I had the camera down low to the ground to get this vantage point. The setting sun was gorgeous and since Terrence and the sky is lit by the same light, you get perfectly exposed skies. Only thing I have to do is make sure I snap focus on Terrence while running full on backwards and shoot without the ability to look through the camera. These shots were all at f/1.4. The shallow depth of field allow for the nice blurred background.

My two cuties.

Something lurks in the background.

My other cutie. Love him.

Auntie Erica visits...

Julie was in a 3 day class so I had the kids all to myself all of Thursday and Friday. Luckily, on Saturaday, Erica came down to help watch the kids. After each of the boys woke up from their noon nap, we fed them and took them to the park. After the early morning rain, the blue sky and sun returned to San Diego so we took advantage of the setting sunlight with some photos.

Jason is not walking yet, but he's just about there. Aunt Erica helps him practice.

I see similarity with Erica's younger brother James in this photo.

It gets fun when the camera is pointed towards Erica a lone without the kids to hide behind.

Didn't know my sis-in-law was so camera shy.

I explain to Erica that I aim to capture the "moments in the in between" borrowing a line for Jasmine Star. Which means, the photos I try to capture are the ones in between moments you think I am taking the photos. Your smiles, emotion, demenor are more authentic. Compare...

Here's a photos when Erica was ready for the picture to be taken. Stance is nice. Hair is beautiful. Smile is there...but the eye's aren't smiling. I usually toss these types of photos out on a paid shoot. People don't smile for the camera the way they smile in life. My aim is to capture life...and your unique way of smiling.

One doesn't need to be looking at the camera to get a good picture made. Looking away can add lots of feeling to an image.

Add some golden light and the image makes itself. I like this technique for vacation photos more than the typical look at the camera, stand in front of the scene and grin. Remember this tip the next you're on vacation.

I love this b/w one.

The grass was soaked. So we didn't get to play on it.

You're probably wondering where Terrence was. He was off playing, climbing and doing what boys his age does best.

And a last shot of T planting the tip of a tree branch. He looks really excited with his accomplishment. I like the way the sunlight hit the leaves.