the good old summertime

With the summer comes lots of sun, water and sand. The combination doesn’t sound like the best one for photographers. However, the carefree days at the beach or even around the house can make for playful, fun photo moments. When it comes to capturing the best of the best summer moments, the key is photographic experimentation and not being afraid of getting your feet wet.

Shooting into the light is nothing new around here (just check out these shots from bee bee mod, monamegs and and kristybee) but what about when you add water to the mix? My girls were sprinkler hopping the other afternoon and I was having a blast with my camera jumping in and out of the water sprays, clicking pix of my girls as they frolicked in uninhibited summer glee. The sun and the water only added to the magic.

As we kick off the start of summer, share with us some of your wet and wild photo moments (without the topless stuff, ahem).

And since its Sunday, we’re putting all of the comments posted here into the random drawing for a free copy of America at Home with a custom cover to boot! You have until midnight on Monday to comment.

Congrats to last week’s winner of the book Corey (aka Divrchk)!

Comments

[Andrea Scher]

What a perfect shot Tracey!

[patricia]

i love summer because children enjoy it soo much! :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/patreesya/1600081181/sizes/l/

i took this photo of children living in Boracay Island, Philippines. they're lucky, they have this beautiful beach to themselves every single day. :)

[Mama DB]

Love summer, but our a/c just went on the fritz again. Brutal.

Here's a shot of my daughter enjoying the kiddie pool.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3222/2411047087_f681dd3874_b.jpg

[melody]

Our beach trip is still a month away, but the boys are living at the pool. And on the rare occasion they're not, here's something they do...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melsphotophun/2599817898/

Fun sprinkler leap shot, Tracey

[Hay]

Here in New Zealand, summer feels like a lifetime ago. But thanks for the chance to flick through some sunny archives. This is my all time fav water shot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hippyhappyhay/2248478064/in/set-72157603822565324/

[julie]

Happy Summer!

http://rubie-tuesday.blogspot.com/2008/06/summer.html

Julie

[Angella]

You picked one of my photos! I am honored.

I need to post some more to Flickr, and I will be sure to share them.

[Cocoa]

We caught my son puddle jumping after church, in his nice clothes of course! In the summer you can't wait for silly things like getting your swimsuit on.

http://flickr.com/photos/7914841@N08/2472894270/

[Corey]

love the action sprinkler shot.

here's my sprinkler in the sun:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3270/2600013158_cdb5111775_o.jpg

[laura - dolcepics]

Tracey, I LOVE that shot! Perfect timing. I shoulda picked up that baby pool at the toy store today!

Mine's not splashing around in a pool just yet, but this photo's still super juicy!

http://www.dolcepics.com/dailypic/summer/

[Marcie]

Aaah summer.Bring it on!
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/index.php?showimage=433

[Landya]

Spent yesterday at the beach with my kids and extended family. Kids do not seem to notice the ice-cold temp of the water. I could barely stick my toes in comfortably.

[cloudscome]

Here's a shot of the fountain at the zoo. and a video of the polar bear playing in the water. Good ol' summertime! http://sandycovetrail.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-day-of-summer.html

[e.darcy]

Here, in Ireland-summer takes a good long while to wake up and give us a reason to run through sprinklers (we've plenty of rain).
By chance, one spring evening it was warm enough...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/edarcy/2403876931/in/set-72157604745133686/

[divrchk]

Thanks so much! I have no idea how I'll pick a photo for the cover :-) Here's one of my favorites from last summer http://www.flickr.com/photos/divrchk/823067471/ .

[abbey]

I just love summer!!!
http://www.photoblog.com/abbeyh13/2008/06/17/beach-day-2.html
especially the beach!!!

[Jeanine]

Gorgeous photo. I've been away from Shutter Sisters for too long and am so happy to have found my way back. This site is a true inspiration. Here are a couple of my favorite shots from my 30th birthday party a few years ago. Nothing like a bunch of adults doing the whirlpool. I love the second shot of my sisters and I being chased by our friend Doug. Good times.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15607464@N03/2195057516/in/set-72157603670495631/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15607464@N03/2599921249/

[Ginny]

Here's my little guy "helping" me water the other day!

http://monkeymemories.blogspot.com/2008/06/boy-noun-loud-noise-with-dirt-on-it.html

[Melissa B (aka - PhotoMom86)]

The kids were having fun in the sun and sprinkler just yesterday. They love the warm weather.

Here are a couple from Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24035778@N04/2600006258/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24035778@N04/2599996478/in/photostream/

With the day's events blogged here: http://aphotomom.blogspot.com/2008/06/summertime-sprinkler-fun.html

Happy Sunday and Summer to you all.

[Heather]

I have just the photo. This book looks super, thanks for the chance to win.

[kathleen]

i live in baltimore city. here, when it's hot, the hydrants are (illegaly) uncapped and everyone jumps in. this photo is taken from a set taken a coupla' years ago. i took it on a day when schools were closed early due to the intense heat.
i saw the water in the street while in my school, and knew i had to grab my camera, fast!
kids were even riding a shopping cart through the blast of water.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kookooface/157938539/in/set-72157594152393470/

for the set:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kookooface/sets/72157594152393470/

happy summer, ladies!

[anna]

I had to dig through the archives for this one - the weather here in Vancouver is nothing like summer at the moment. It's not wild, but it's wet.

http://vancouverhometown.blogspot.com/2008/06/knee-deep.html

[Kathleen]

Yippee! Summer is finally here on the east coast. Hopefully, this will be the first of many happy beach pictures I take: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23630286@N05/2599983549/

[Specs]

Awesome shot!

[Kirsten]

Not sure if this one fits but it was summer water fun...just inside a NYC theater.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/somethingcheeky/2539035612/sizes/l/in/set-72157605379632590/

[Sheryl]

Here's my son practicing his skim boarding -- dreaming of the beach.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monsoonaz3/2501301722/in/set-72157603608758359

[Michelle]

We love the sprinkler!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26029966@N02/2600821097/

[Tracie]

This is a photo of my daughter floating in the pool. I love her little toes.

http://tracienolesross.com/sketchbook/?p=129

[Deanna]

I'm new to this website and this is my first post ;) Here is a shot of my older son on the slip in slide. They love this weather!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buneluvr/2600863501/?eOrig=2600753317

[*pixie*]

I knew that was your daughter before I saw who wrote this post. She is so spunky!

[Kati]

Summer really is the best time of year. I love it!

[camerashymomma]

love that sprinkler picture tracey!! here's what i love about summer:

Big skies
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/2574212549/

Water play
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/2579367642/

ice cream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerashymomma/2577702499/

[kristin]

love you sprinkler picture with the flares, oh how i love the flare! wish we oculd get warm enough to turn on the sprinkler, come on July.

here is my at home shot... weekend mornings we spend at the table, us with our coffe mugs and the little ones in their booster seats, eating a muffin no doubt, and spinning some tall tale for us.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/2581697325/

[mayalu]

Love that sprinkler shot! We love summer so much...most of all for the swimming and the long days...this one is a shot of swimming until the sun goes down...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24553035@N04/2596049800/

[sarah]

http://flickr.com/photos/27313038@N06/2602754430/

Fun picture!

[Malia]

I wish we could use water here! We are in a drought. That looks like so much fun!

Malia

[Misty.Creek]

I'm in awe of the photographer posted here, and intimidated. But here's my little offering--my daughter was so excited by the hot air balloons as they were inflated and kept saying Ooh! Here's a shot of it--

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mymistycreek/979178495/

[kayla]

I love photos shot into the sun! The water is really adds to the shot too! Great pic!

[Jennifer]

Here are some water play pics from just the other day. The kids had so much fun.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25067796@N08/2602959916/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25067796@N08/2602129137/in/photostream/

[leigh]

we had the perfect summer day, together as a family picking blueberries at the local farm.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/2602337509_9209a386db_b.jpg

[Christina]

That photo is AWESOME! I wish I could master shooting into the light...I love it, but just can't seem to make it work

As for summer fun at home...nothing beats watermelon eaten this way. :o)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinator/2593951534/

[Tracy]

Here are a couple of my niece Catherine, who I love to photograph because she's so funny!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/1343963511/in/set-72157601904445524/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31417716@N00/1344874070/in/set-72157601904445524/

[Rachel Haynes]

I have only recently found this blog and I really feel like saying.. "Where have you been all my life" It seems so fun and lively. I'm hooked good!

[Elaine]

OK, so that was a blast. I just typed "Water" into my Flickr search and came up with so many awesome memories:

At the beach: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerlane/268288890/
in Mexico: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerlane/1802594774/
at home: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerlane/766695324/

All so much fun!

[Stephanie]

Here in South Texas it is HOOOOTTTT in the summer, so we try to play outside in the mornings and evenings. This is one of the activities my kids like to do every evening...even though it scares me to death to watch them careening down a concrete hill:
http://slsmithphotgraphy.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/06/big-wheelin-big.html

[kat]

here's one of my dog jules - playing with the hose. it's one of his favorite things to do: http://www.flickr.com/photos/k_a_t/2599198823/

and a whole set devoted to the dog's ability to jump high for a taste of the hose! http://www.flickr.com/photos/k_a_t/sets/72157605776404173/

[Kristybee]

cool photo! Also thanks for putting a link to my photo in the paragraph about sun shots :) Greatly appreciate it :)

[Abra]

It took several summers and many setbacks before my son got to the point where he overcame his fear of getting his face in the water. SO of course I was there to document this achievement thoroughly with my camera. :D

http://artistryinfocus.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-fun-in-sun-and-waterplay.html

[LivinginChicago]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/livinginchicago/2606508464/

Water + Sun = Speedily snapped rainbow from a car window

[mika]

buying a reasonably priced underwater case for my P&S camera before my trip to hawaii was one of the best decisions i've ever made... here's my shot for this one...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/msquid/2404467051/

my favorite part of the photo (aside from the fact that i was able to take it underwater) is my cousin's orange fins :)