If you know Heidi and Rob, email them for the link to their sweet slide show! (Regular blog readers, clients and friends, let me know if you would like to see it too and I’ll send you the link as well. It’s a really great one!)
I know I say this all the time, but I really do love this one!
Another fave.
I’m just going down the list of faves!
These cat’s eyes have not been photoshopped. They really are THAT green!
I planned for a lot of black and whites in this shoot. Heidi said she really loved black and white, so I looked for opportunities to capture stories that don’t need color.
I was loving that train and those skylights!
Family Unportrait
Hardwood floors are great for photoshoots because they always look so clean!
This is a sort-of-typical posed family shot, but what I love about it is the flow of motion from mom’s fun flowery flip flips up to the trees in the background. The tilt helps make this shot a little more interesting than if I’d hit it straight-on. I love all the angles and bricks and stairs too. Nice composition and texture. Plus, mom and dad look great and even though the kids aren’t looking at the camera, at least their faces are in the shot!
Believe me, this is quite a feat when there’s a full landscaping team across the street with huge lawn mowers making a serious racket! I might as well have been invisible.
Blink. When you open your eyes, Heidi, those boys will be taller than you.
Take it from a mom with two little boys, one of whom is a head taller than her now. I swear it was just yesterday that he was standing on his tippy toes to peek through a window with his little brother by his side.
Sure wish I had a picture of that.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:22 am
If you know Sharon and Mike, email them for the link to their ADORABLE baby-to-be slide show!
It was a beautiful day in Princeton.
Then again, with all that beautiful architecture, when is it NOT a beautiful day in Princeton.
I worked at Princeton many years ago. I LOVE being back on campus.
I think it’s especially nice there in early spring and early fall…
…except for the soft garden breezes that make me sneeze!
I could hang out in the Nassau Hall area for a week and not run out of interesting things to look at.
I love how Sharon and Mike decorated the baby’s room.
Best wishes, Sharon and Mike! It was so much fun hanging out with you at one of my all-time favorite places!
Put me on the call-list so I know when the baby comes!
Peace,
~jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 9:50 am
Just a few select images from Jennifer and Derek’s wedding!
St. Peter’s in New Brunswick. Beautiful.
Want to see these images (and a few more) larger? Go here. Click “portfolio,” then select the “couples” gallery. Slide show and lots more fun details coming soon!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:08 pm
And the $150 gift certificate goes to…
Dawn’s family!
Special thanks to all the people who voted for their holiday card! Their design won by a landslide! Happy Mother’s Day, Dawn! I’m SO looking forward to our shoot this October! Congratulations!
P.S. For even more blog praise (open to all blog readers), name the TV show I have in mind that featured the exact location shown in the above photograph on a recent episode. Hint: this is near New York City’s upper-something-side.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 9:06 pm
STACEY, YOU WIN!
Stacey correctly answered both
trivia questions! For all her efforts in checking the blog everyday, posting comments in each of my card designs, and then winning the tie-breaker, Stacey and her family will be treated to a free family session! And, as an extra bonus, I’ll add to that a set of 50 greeting cards. Congratulations, Stacey! Happy Mother’s Day! Call me asap to schedule your appointment because I have very few time slots left for the year!
BOB, YOU ALSO WIN!
Bob also checked the blog everyday, posting comments in each of my card designs. He and Stacey were entered in the tie-breaker contest to see who would win the free family session. But I swear Bob let Stacey win because he not only didn’t answer the questions correctly, he answered them SO wrong and I know he would have gotten the “little red wagon” answer because he’s the master of
Coffeedrome, where the whole
Tree Grower’s Diary began. Bob, you are the sweetest guy on the planet. So, because I know you have a very large family, I would love to come hang out at one of your family gatherings and take pictures for you — a free extended family session. So take a look at your calendar, and let’s figure out when the next big gathering is! Happy Mother’s Day! Say hi to everybody for me!
By the way, the correct answers were: “What is 15?” and “What is the little red wagon?”
Check back later to find out who won with the most votes for their holiday card design. My mom is spending the day tallying the votes for me. Thanks Mom! I love you!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:29 am
My sneak peak at the concert tonight…
I went to the concert this morning for the school.
The orchestra was really good.
The violin solo made me cry, it was so beautiful.
Bradley is on the back row.
There he is! The chorus sounded so good!
They all look so nice in ties.
The 7th grade band sounded really great too. I was so impressed!
(Audience participation during the William Tell Overture.)
She was very patient and especially appreciated the upbeat pieces.
So did she.
Do good tonight, everybody! You sounded great this morning! Now I’m going to take a really long nap because I have a terrible cold. Cough. Cough.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 1:27 pm
Wow, I love Alison’s hair in this picture — and what a great dip! If you know Alison and Rob, and would like to see their slide show, leave a comment or send me email and I’ll hook you up with the link. It’s so cute!
Don’t they look like a jcrew ad or what?
Alison and Rob live in the Washington area, and asked me to do some custom “postcard shots.”
Here’s a postcard of the happy couple!
I have my reasons for throwing things off center sometimes. More to come in a separate blog post next week about that. Meanwhile, can you guess why I do that sometimes?
I had such a great time hanging out with these two! I can’t wait for the wedding! It’s going to be so much fun!
Love this one! You may recognize this couple from last year’s Metuchen Memorial Day pictures. Rob was one of the Grand Marshals in the parade, with Alison by his side.
They wanted to include their pets in their engagement session. That’s Toby.
This one totally cracks me up. See, we were hanging out with Toby in the parking lot when all of a sudden this woman, a stranger to all of us, slams the brakes on her car, jumps out, runs over to Toby and throws herself completely around the dog in a long, tight embrace. I love Alison’s reaction! I’m surprised Toby didn’t bite her! He’s such a good doggie!
So, here’s today’s contest question. Win Alison and Rob a free 8×10 by posting a comment with the correct answer.
Hint. Q: How many pets do Alison and Rob have?
Sort of another hint. Hints all over the slide show though because Alison has plans to print close ups of her babies’ faces as 5×5’s and frame them in large white mats for the living room. I love that idea! I love how Alison and Rob planned their engagement session to incorporate some of the places and the little family they love so much.
Thanks again, Alison and Rob! Can’t wait for July!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 12:18 pm
My dogwood is still going strong! I love this tree in the soft morning light.
This one and the next one are cool. I was trying to capture how pretty it is when the morning sunlight filters through the petals.
Then I noticed that the sky is almost exactly the same color as …
… my neighbor’s house!
The blue background in the top picture is the sky. The blue background in the bottom picture is the house next door. You can sort of make out VERY BLURRY lines from the siding. So, there you have it: sky blue paint.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:21 pm
I took these pictures last November on leaf-raking day.
Congratulations to michelle, Steve G. and Dawn!
Each posted a comment in almost every card design in the STIFF COMPETITION for a free family session.
I went through and re-checked all the posts and found that Steve G. missed one, michelle missed one, and Dawn missed one. It was a very hard contest, I admit! Thank you all SO much for playing!
To show my appreciation to you for keeping that eagle eye on my blog, each of you may take 30 percent off the creation fee of your next family session! All you have to do to redeem this little “coupon” is reference me back to this blog post when it comes time for you to book your session. Just click the title of the post, then copy and paste the url of the blog post into your email message to me at the time of your booking. The coupon never expires!
So, this post is for bob and Stacey — the two remaining contenders in the competition for a free family session. CONGRATULATIONS, BOB AND STACEY! YOU ARE FINALISTS!
Bob and Stacey posted comments in every one of my card designs! WOW!!!!!
Thank you to ALL my readers for checking out my blog and helping me boost my google rankings!
Every time you visit my blog, google counts you as “traffic” to my site, and the more traffic a site gets, the more popular google thinks it is! Plus, every time a reader posts a comment, my site gets “updated” with fresh content in google’s eyes. This is another factor that keeps my site high in the rankings. Thank you to ALL my blog readers who give me lots of traffic and post comments! You’re the BEST!!!
So, on with the show, er, uh, the contest…
Bob and Stacey…
…to win the free family session, you must follow the directions EXACTLY.
1. Your response must be correct, as judged by me. If neither responds correctly, the one with the CLOSEST answers wins.
2. You must EMAIL your responses to me in the form of questions, like on Jeopardy, before midnight, May 8. My email address is shown on the blog, and within my main web site.
Here are the Jeopardy-style answers, both with visual hints within this blog post:
A) A non-growing item of special significance in the Tree Grower’s Diary.
B) The number of leaf bags Bradley, Gregory and Gabe accumulated on November 26, 2007.
Good luck, and there is no guarantee that ALL the leaf bags are shown in the picture!
One more thing: A very special thanks to Brad, Gabe and Greg for all that raking! You guys are the BEST!!!!!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 12:47 pm
She gets her picture taken once a month. This is her April set.
One reason for this is because she never ceases to be intrigued by my camera. And don’t we all love pictures of babies who are looking right at us?
I love this one! Bless you, sweetie, and your mom too! Look at that — it’s already May — time to schedule your next date with my camera!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:25 am
