Picture Perfect Day

Sunlight on my Shoulders Jigsaw Puzzle

I LOVE the New River.
I LOVE the sunlight at this time of year.
I LOVE taking pictures of sweet families.

This past Saturday, I got all 3 of those things at the same time. How great is that?
My friend, Michelle, organized a portrait party for me. It's a cool deal for everybody. Each of her friends gets about 20 minutes of my time shooting in a beautiful location. Michelle gets free portraits based on her friend's purchases. I get to take pictures and market my fledgling business a little. Win. Win. Win. All except for one little mishap. At sunset, we were chasing the last dying rays of the sun right out into the middle of the river (which was still unbelievably toasty warm!!) when I lifted the camera strap over my head, knocking my glasses off their perch on my crown and down into the water. Thankfully, the river is extremely low due to recent drought conditions, so the current is slow as molasses. Never the less, it was still a mad scramble on everyone's part to retrieve them while juggling 2 cameras, an off-camera flash with pocket wizard, and my shootsac with another flash and accessories dangling at the water's surface. What suspense wondering which pricey item was going to end up in the drink!! In the end, it was the pocket wizard that was sacrificed to the river god. It seems we can never make it through a season of water play without paying homage to one of the water gods. Usually, it is David's glasses. Of all the possibilities, the PW was the least expensive, though. Phooey, anyway.

It's been over a month since we have taken the jet ski out. I should have stayed home yesterday and finished my editing, but the sound of the river calling my name drove me to irresponsibility. I knew it was my swan song to summer and it had to be played! So we dropped everything, rounded up a few spontaneous, hardy souls and headed to Byllsby for one last fling. Now the water was NOT as toasty there, but still tolerable. OK. . . I confess: I weenied out and wore my wetsuit, but everybody else braved it in their bare skin. I didn't take a camera, but Cindy was there clicking away, so I may have some shots as a post script to the last chapter of summer funness after all. Oh, how I wish I had words to describe how magnificent the light was! What a difference a month makes in the angle of the sun, and the quality of the light. It just feels more expansive and dramatic, and you can actually see down into the water. I really must get a water camera! I wish I could show you what it looked like skiing up the river into the sun, the jetski ahead of me silhouetted against a bed of sparkling diamonds, the wake a shimmering rainbow trailing behind. Alas, another "big one" that got away.

I hope you all want to see some of Saturday's pictures, cause here they come!