First of all, I have to say that fall is most definitely my favorite season. I love seeing all the beautiful fall colors as the leaves start to change! I can't imagine living in a place where you don't get to experience the lovely colors of fall, it seems so weird to me. With that said, when my sister mentioned that she was taking her 4-K class to a pumpkin farm for a fall field trip, I pretty much jumped on that opportunity and offered up my services to be her class photographer for the day.
My sister works at Cross Trainers Academy, a choice school for at-risk-youth which is part of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. It is a great school, with a really stellar, hard-working staff that pours their hearts into the lives of their students. I am so proud of my sister and the way that she cares for the little ones in her classroom, so it is always my honor and pleasure to be a part of what she's doing in one way or another. Okay, that's kind-of not true, it's not always my pleasure at first... I must admit I'm somewhat terrified of small children. Maybe terrified is a bit strong, but there was definitely an incident one of the days I volunteered in her classroom. At one point, the entire classroom of littles collectively mocked and laughed at what I had so kindly asked them to do. I'm pretty sure twenty 4-year olds successfully bullied this 20-something. hah. And, it may or may not have left me a little chicken to volunteer in the future. But I am working through that traumatic experience ;) , getting braver with each visit, and despite the fear, I really do enjoy being able to watch my sister in her element and spend time with the kids she loves on.
This field trip was a perfect fall day of fun. The weather was fantastic, and the kids had a blast. They were able to feed goats, go through a corn maze, ride on a hay wagon, and pick out their very own pumpkin to take home. And that's where my part came in. After picking out their pumpkin, each child came over by me to get their picture taken. They were SO cute as they proudly showed off their hand-picked pumpkin for the camera. I am soo thankful I was able to be a part of this cool opportunity and give them a piece of their experience to take home and show their parents, something that they don't often get to do.
It was a really great day. I got to work on my fear of 4 year olds, and also continue to grow in my hobby of photography. I was pretty proud of the pics I took (fully in manual! boom.) and look forward to my next opportunity to be the field trip photographer. Since I can't show you pics of the kids (for privacy reasons), instead, enjoy a few of the lovely farm.
P.S. If you are looking for a quick and easy to use tool to help you resize your images and have them web-ready, I highly recommend purchasing Blogstomp! I heard about it through Ariellea wedding photographer at the Influence Conference and I am so glad she told us about it because it is awesome. For only $49.00 you are able to quickly import your photos and in just seconds have them crunched to the right width for your blog. Also, you can easily adjust the borders, backgrounds, round the corners, and even add a watermark if you'd like. You should definitely check it out! [I'm sharing this quick review with you just because I thought it was great, no other reason.]