| 11.01.2004 | emma's halloween 2004

So the big day has come and gone, and Halloween 2004 was a great success! We had fun last year, of course, but this year we were really looking forward to trick-or-treating - Emma included.


emma's halloween 2004

There was an exhaustive search for a costume that was fun yet affordable. It seems silly to pay so much for something that will only be worn for a few hours at most, but apparently Halloween is now all the rage. We finally found a "pixie fairy" costume at Ralphs, of all places, for a song.

You could feel the excitement in the air as it grew dark outside. Emma couldn't wait to get into her costume and go out on the town and "get some treats." (I know the pictures don't look like she was having fun getting dressed, but believe me, she was having a blast.)

At last, the costume was on and The Pixie Fairy was unleashed! We posed for a few snapshots with the jack-o-lantern and we were off to gnab some loot. (Pictures of punkin' carvin' coming soon.)


the pixie fairy unleashed

Emma-car strutted her stuff down the street with wand in one hand and her pal, Duck, clutched in the other. I figured there was no way the neighbors could resist The Pixie Fairy's charms (her powers of cuteness were unstoppable) and we'd make out like candy bandits.

Alas, it was not to be. After the fourth house she was done.

She had dutifully walked to the door and proclaimed, "TRICK OR TREAT!" and then said, "Thank you!" after they'd given up their candy, before turning to go. (It was actually more a barely audible "trick or treat...." but what do you expect from a 2 year old?)

But after that fourth house all she could talk about was getting back home to show Mommy "all of your candy."

All of your candy, indeed. If only we could all be satisfied with a few Tootsie Rolls and some Smarties life would be good.

@ 10:30 PM by TNorthcutt | Comments (4)

Comments

On November 2, 2004 6:02 AM Jessica Northcutt said:

Very cute! I love love LOVE LOVE the new bangs!!!!!!! They are definate keepers! You get cuter and cuter by the day! Enjoy all of your candy!

On November 2, 2004 2:01 PM Jamie said:

Heh, those are great shots. Looks like you did some Photoshop work to add a bit of twinkle and glimmer.

On November 2, 2004 9:36 PM Todd said:

The only one with Photoshop (other than normal color correction) is in this one. I took an "overexposed" one on the left and an "underexposed" one on the right and layered them with a mask. (Technique is called digital blending.)

You'd be doing a lot of dodging/burning if you were doing traditional development. I was really shocked to learn just how much of this went on in the fine photography of years gone by.

The freaky trails in the outdoor ones are courtesy of firing the flash to "freeze" the subject and then leaving the shutter open get a more natural background. After the flash I asked Emma to run and twirl to get her outline blurred. Most of these were ~ 1 - 1.5 second exposures with the flash firing at the beginning of the shot.

On November 3, 2004 9:13 AM Jamie said:

Cool. I picked up a book on Photoshop for digital photography and have been learning a few tricks. Mostly sharpening, color/brightness correcting, etc. It's amazing what that program can do.