Photography lessons meets slot canyons

Had to get down low for this shot

So, I took a photography class about a week ago and then went down to Southern Utah with the family to camp and explore slot canyons.  I tried to use my newly learned skills and try to not use the auto function, which took a long time to adjust every time in those dark slot canyons.  I felt like I missed some really cool shots, but it's fun to know how to finally use my camera.  I don't really have an eye for what's a great shot or not, but I feel like I got some cool ones, but I'm not even sure what I took would have been better than the camera being on auto.  Here are some of the ones I thought were the most interesting...not necessarily good photos...because I'm really not sure.  Tell me what you think...

Trying to get some light and shade on Henry's face.  I think it was too bright.  How do you change that?

I like getting his character on film.  He's so cute!

This one is overexposed, but I like her eyes her expression is because she bobbled a little bit and she got scared of tipping over. 

I got this one of the fire crackle.  I tried a million times to get another one somehow, but this was the best shot of the fire.  The kids wouldn't hold still enough to get them un-blurry. 

For some reason I like this photo a lot.  I like the sky and trees in the background with Clementine standing there, the glow of the fire and the movement of Henry's face.  It tells a story. 

Ok, here are the canyon shots.  The entrance to the slot canyon was really amazing.  Tons of arches. 

I could see the light streaming in through these rocks and finally got it captured on film a little bit. 

I loved this bright stripe of light coming through.  It was really tough to get the light just right in this shot. 

I didn't have time to get this shot better, but I thought the bumpy rock flow was interesting.  Had to document it. 

I really like Vivi in this shot.  She was the only one who easily fit through the canyon....very slowly.

Family Halloween Pic

Here is the whole crew this Halloween.  I didn't spend a penny on the girls' costumes since they were all just some version of ballerina, but I actually sewed Henry's costume this year, which I have never done.  The kids at school were laughing at him, which I think was just because his costume was funny, but he thought they were being mean.  Personally, I like it that he wanted to be the Lorax and not a zombie or super hero.  He's such an innocent little boy still and we're going to try to keep it that way.