Autumn Leaves in Bakersfield

Autumn Leaves in Bakersfield
Originally uploaded by juliejordanscott

It was a disenchanting day. We started with a power outage and grumpiness. We couldn't find Emma's shoes, the only breakfast I could make was cereal since I couldn't cook without the power... and it was taking forever to be restored... or so it felt.

I was on the phone with people regarding Sam's educational situation and feeling frustrated to the nth degree...

And then - I remembered I wanted to take a self portrait for the Flickr self portrait goal with autumn leaves in the background. I ad seen a beautiful flood of flowers by the Guild House, Downtown, and watned to use them as a backdrop.

Sam loves the self timer on my camera. He was patient and interested as I tested and balanced my camera on the hood of my trusty Ford Explorer. I experimented with a Rumi book (what other book, I ask you?) my camera bag... not quite.. and then a combo of my flash drive and my keys... just so and set the timer and hunch down a bit to fit in the frame and

Beep beep beep beep... fla-flash!!!

And we got this fabulous shot. The smiles are so real because they ARE real... as it is such a silly, enjoyable process.

I adore the outcome, too.

How I love my Sam!