Happy Holidays to all of you! 
We’re Stirring Up Some Holiday Spirit !

We are a bit late getting out a holiday card this year. Not for lack of planning however. I had the idea for this card in June while Shauna, Cameron, Cora, and I were rafting on the Gunnison River here in Colorado. There was a huge rain storm while we were camping at the mouth of Escalante Canyon. You have seen Escalante Canyon on this blog before, here (this is from the same day) and here. It’s an amazing place that has recently been protected with Wilderness and National Conservation Area Status.

The rain caused Escalante Creek to flood. Cameron and Cora couldn’t resist jumping into a pot hole that was swirling with foamy chocolate colored  water. I couldn’t resist photographing them. It occurred to me while I was watching them swirl around in what looked like a giant vat of hot chocolate that I could put them in a cup and that it would make a great holiday card. I like the idea of a hot June day turned into a warmth filled morning on a cold December day.

The missing link for the image was Shauna holding the cup. I photographed Shauna in our Kitchen. I posed Shauna pre-visualizing the image paying attention to the orientation the cup so that the photo of the kids would match. With a little Photoshop magic I placed the image of the kids into the cup. Below are the two seperate shots.