I was so excited for this week's I HEART FACES challenge because I love me some solar flare in my pictures. My favorite time of day to shoot is late, late afternoon right before dusk when the sun gets golden, the world gets glowy {ignoring the fact that glowy may not be a word}, and the sun dances beautifully across your subject. wraps it's ethereal glow around it. embraces it in warmth. Hearing about this challenge, I instantly started going through my archives for the 'perfect shot' to enter. I had couples kissing in a wash of sun. Little girls giggling in a field of wildflowers with sun spots dancing across my lens. A ballerina dancing on a bridge with the perfect star flare over the sun. But I stopped myself.

Part of the fun of these I Heart Faces challenges (for me at least) is the 'challenge' part. Going back through my older images may get me the textbook perfect shot I want for a particular week's topic but it is lacking in the challenge department. So I decided to see what I could come up with today for the sun flare challenge. Thank you God for actually giving me sun in Michigan today! :)

I waited until the sun was starting to hang a little low in the sky; and at the moment it looked like it was about to take a rest on my neighbors garage I pulled my camera out and enticed my son to come outside and play for a few moments. I was not sure if the images would come out blog worthy, however my son made it easy for me by choosing a cute outfit. Not that I would have had a say in it...In an independent, non-negotiable, throw a meltdown moment that only a three year old can have...he decided he would only go outside if he could be dressed as a fire fighter. Or a 'fighter fighter' as he calls it. He dressed himself, complete with boots on the wrong feet {and HECK NO I didn't attempt to switch the boots so he could walk properly}, and grabbed his vacuum cleaner 'fire hose' and out we went into the backyard....Jamerson in search of fires and mom in search of the perfect shot. Fifteen minutes later, with dog poop on my knee {so busy trying to get my son AND the sun in the shot that I obviously wasn't paying attention to where I was kneeling....ACK!}, I think I got the perfect shot. Maybe not as glowy as I would normally like, but I love the softness of the sun almost spotlighting him in the yard.

Be sure to check out I HEART FACES for lots of fabulous pictures! Thanks for visiting!! ~jen