Silhouettes at sunset

***This post has been edited! You are NOT going crazy, lol! I replaced the first 3 pics with ones I have worked on- I think these are MUCH better! I burned in the shadows, upped the contrast, and increased the saturation on the sunset reflections in the water! Better?***

Trying something different... it doesn't help that I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing! I probably should have read up on silhouettes and where or what to meter off of, etc... but the opportunity presented itself this evening and I HAD to just take it and do my best!

The kids were driving me CRAZY earlier, so out of sheer desperation I loaded them all up and went to the park by the river to watch the barges go by (some were trash barges- yuck- some were coal barges). That occupied them for about a half an hour, then they got the bright idea to walk down the boat ramp and dip their feet in the water. By then, the sun was setting and they were being SO sweet to each other... I couldn't resist!







I think I did "OK" for my first try at silhouettes. I also got a pic of my favorite tree when we first got there. I'm planning on photographing this tree during all four seasons, then making a storyboard once I have all 4 pics. I don't really even know WHAT it is about this tree that I love so much. Maybe I'm weird.



Oh, and for good measure... here is one of the barges we watched go by (this one had piles of coal in front of it):





That last one I didn't get my focus as good as I had hoped, but I still like the reflection of the barge's lights on the water...

I hope everyone else had a nice, relaxing evening. I am EXHAUSTED! It's HARD taking care of the kids and everything all by myself! (Jason is out of town... his dad had a heart attack... long story short, J is down in FL right now but he is coming home tomorrow. Everything is fine, but if you're the praying type, my FIL could probably use all the help he can get). Anyway, I salute all of the single moms out there, I don't know how you gals do it day in and day out. It's only been 3 days and I'm going NUTS!!!