my little man is 5 years old

No more diapers... I can hardly carry him he's gotten so big...  where did my baby go?  I know when he was a newborn I must have been told over a hundred times to "cherish the days - they go so fast".  I guess I blinked, or was too sleep deprived to realize how fast time was moving, because now he is a little man.  Full of independence and opinions.  The evening before his birthday we went down the street to take pictures just before sundown to honor his "last day of being four".  I've never seen him so excited or so willing to let me take pictures.  Maybe because he knows 5 is a really big deal.  Or maybe it had something to do with the monstrous pile of rocks and train tracks.

We got the very last of the evening light, some beautiful sunset colors.  It gave me a chance to catch some silhouette pictures:

Silhouette pictures are best done at sunrise or sunset on the beaches of Hawaii or some tropical island.  I was on the beaches of Hawaii at sunset but I didn't know the technique to achieve a silhouette (though I did get one or two by pure luck).  Want to know how? Just in case you find yourself staring at a gorgeous sunset (hopefully in Hawaii). 
PHOTO TIP:  The strongest silhouettes have the sun in the frame, either visible in the sky or masked behind the subject (as in my photos above). Make sure your flash is OFF.  Point your camera at a bright portion of the sky - not directly at the sun; its a no-no - and press the shutter button halfway.  Then recompose your picture to include the subject and fully press the button.  This is the most basic how-to instructions.  There is a lot of information out there just waiting to be googled if you're interested.


Happy Birthday little man, you'll always be my baby.