Click the picture above to get to the VBS entry page. Let me know if you need the username and password! Enjoy!

The “Tuesday” VBS show isn’t quite ready yet, but I thought you all might like to see a picture of ME once in a while, special thanks to my talented photography assistant, Lindsey. Remember everybody: “Shout and yelly for the fish named JELLY!” Woo hoo!

I’ll let you know when the new show goes up, so check back soon! And don’t forget our Bible verse of the day: “Trust the Lord!” (Psalm 27, verse 14).
Peace, mon!
Love, Jelly
Personal Assistant to Mr. Starfish

Click the picture above to get to the VBS entry page. Let me know if you need the username and password! Enjoy! And don’t forget the Bible verse of the day: “Care about others as much as you care about yourselves.” (Phillippians Chapter 2, verse 4).

I’ve been holed up in front of my computer all week writing scripts for the new series “Starfish and Jelly,” starring our very own Bradley, oh yeah, and me. Bradley’s “Mr. Starfish,” the star celebrity of the sea, and I’m “Jelly,” his personal assistant. We’ll be performing all week twice a day at Vacation Bible School, and taking pictures in between performances of our sea guests. You’ll need a username and password to see the shows. So shoot Jelly an e-mail. Peace, mon and we’ll see you on Monday.

Click the picture to jump to a slide show of Laci’s album design. For those of you who aren’t running Flash, here’s a few spreads. Above, the wrap-around cover on the little 5×5 coffeetable album. I love it!



This is one of the inside spreads. It features Laci playing on the beach with her grandmother and mom.

All my books are custom-designed by me now. I don’t use templates anymore, and I don’t make soft-cover books anymore. For the last year or so, my clients loved their template-designed soft-cover books, but the thing is: I want my photography presentation to be unique to each family, and to have an heirloom quality, and for that to be the case, I needed to be able to design the books myself, and I needed books that would last a very long time. Hence, I simply HAD to find a book printing company that met my requirements.



Four generations of women were present at Laci’s shoot. I love this spread because this spread alone makes the book a family heirloom to be passed down for generations.

Each spread you see here measures 5×10 — the pages are designed as 2-page spreads. The center of the spread will be inside the gutter of the book, which is why you never see anything important (faces, for example) in the center of the spread.



I love this spread because it’s simple and clean and conveys a sense of one moment melding into another.



I sprinkled some quotes throughout the book, to encourage viewers to linger on the pages and perhaps contemplate what the photographs might mean, and because sometimes words are worth just as much as pictures.

This is a press-printed book, meaning the pages are printed through a printing press and bound like a book you might buy in Barnes & Noble. When the actual book arrives, I’ll post some pictures of it so you can see how it came out!

Coming soon, an example of a flush mount design. My flush mount albums are covered in full-grain Italian leather, with pages that are photographic prints. When a flush mount book is open, it lies flat and you can barely see the gutter in the middle of the spread. The pages are similar to a child’s board book — rigid, with the images professionally mounted directly to the board, creating a book that will last a lifetime. (The company even guarantees the flush mount albums for your lifetime!) Can’t wait to show you one of those! Be on the lookout in the blog for the design I’ll be submitting. It’s SO cool!

Click the picture for Funk Thunder’s new song presentation, Telefunken!

(The picture above is my current favorite picture!)



That’s Steve, with the umbrella, and Kid Sicily, with the guitar, which, by the way, he made himself.



Loyal blog readers may remember these guys from The Captain, a slide show I put together for them last fall.
(Wow, I really love my new logo way better than that old one in that slide show!)



This time, we went on location to Manhattan, covering from Wall Street at Noguchui’s Red Cube to the bandshell at Central Park where we met this guy named Rob. My guys just sat next to him and started jamming. Pretty cool. Too bad the song doesn’t have a djemba beat though.



The new song is about the question of life after death. I think.



I’m not entirely clear on how this old radio relates to all this. Maybe there’s an explanation on Funk Thunder’s site.



I just like this one.



And this one, taken from the roof of a building at Central Park West.



The obligatory Abbey Road shot. (The original is way cooler though. It’s not like I had an assistant to block traffic while I was standing in the middle of Liberty Street.)



The guitar is one of the character actors in this little skit. Funny how the song doesn’t really have much electric guitar sound. Lots of bass though.



Steve’s rings are really cool. I put this one on the iron gate at Trinity Church to get a shot of the engraving. Kinda goes with the song.



This one is Kid Sicily’s fave.



This picture, and the one at the very top of this thread, are two of my all-time favorite urban portrait shots. Very cool.

If you didn’t click over to the slide show yet, here’s another link to it. Thanks again, Steve and Kid, and Rob too, for letting me shoot you! So much fun to shoot in NYC!

Check out more Funk Thunder here!

Oh, and here’s a little contest. The first person to leave a comment with the correct answer wins a $10 iTunes gift certificate delivered via e-mail. Steve and Kid — you’re not eligible.

Here’s the question: The inside of Steve’s ring is featured in the slide show. It’s engraved with a famous quote.

What is the quote and who said it?

Still no winner on this one. I’ll open it up to ALL my 2007 clients. Come on, SOMEbody’s got to know the answer. It’s SO easy!

Still no winner on this one either, though I’ll give you a hint. Elaine is really close!

And the BIG PRIZE, the free family session, goes to SWC for making me laugh out loud on my birthday! I had a great time reading everyone’s captions! Thanks SWC! So, on your info packet for your family session in October, just write “complimentary” on the price line. Remember that free sessions don’t include a print credit though, so if you want to pre-pay for some prints, go right ahead! Congratulations!

Oh and one more thing: Back in early June I sent out an e-mail to all the people who had contacted me about photography in the last year or so promising a “special reward” for the person who left the most comments in the blog during the month of June. Well, we had a tie. So, Pat and Tracy, and Heidi, you are my winners! I promised “something you will love” so for Pat and Tracy: I know you want a large print from your shoot, so I’m adding a $100 print credit to your account! Heidi, I know what you want: so you get a free family shoot with YOU in the pictures. So, when you get back from Montana, let’s set a date!

That’s Kid Sicily on the guitar, jamming with Rob on the djemba in Central Park, Sunday, June 24, near the bandshell. Rob? Rob? Are you out there somewhere? I have some cool pictures to send you! Respond with a comment — that will give me your e-mail address, and I can write you that way, or, contact me through my “contact” page on my main photo site. Oh, and be sure to come back here soon because Funk Thunder’s new Telefunken video will debut any minute now. Oh, and you’re in it! Hope to hear from you soon!
Peace,
~jules

Click the picture for Donna’s slide show. I’m warning you though: I cried the whole time I was making this one.

For those of you who aren’t running Flash on your computer, here’s a few more of my favorites.



Donna’s co-workers gave her a gift certificate for a maternity session and a newborn session. What a kind gift! I humbly wish my pictures are what they were all hoping for.



When my 12-year-old son, Bradley, saw this picture, he said, “She looks like the kind of person who is naturally a really good mommy.” Isn’t that sweet of him? Donna and Dylan are so cute together.



I love the emotion in this shot.



In this one, Donna is daydreaming about her new baby, relaxing in the summer heat … waiting.

A little bird told me Donna’s husband likes black and white pictures, but they’re not all black and white. I really love this slide show and I can’t wait to meet the new baby! He’s due any day now! May God bless you and your family, Donna.

You tell me. Does this picture tell the story of a high school senior, or what? I love it!



Every two years for the last, oh I don’t know how long, Jane and Ed have organized a portrait session with their extended family. It’s interesting to look through all the pictures they’ve had done — to see their grandchildren growing up is really cool. Some of the portraits are beautiful!

So when Jane asked me to shoot this year’s installment of family portraits, well, I felt a little pressure. I don’t really do portraits, at least not in the traditional sense. But I felt honored at the opportunity to keep their family tradition going and give them some decent group shots, pictures that would show the relative growth of the young generation, but I also knew I couldn’t deviate from my un-portrait style too far. Plus, my main goal was for the family to have such a good time, and have such a good time watching the slide show, that they’d remember this photo shoot for the rest of their lives.

Hopefully, they’ll remember it fondly!

The kids might remember it for the sore feet they got from jumping! In any case, I thought the shoot was really fun, and I hope it lives up to the tradition! Thank you SO much, Jane and Ed, for having faith in me and letting me add to your portrait tradition by bringing some lifestyle pictures into the mix!



The children loved the playhouse in their grandparents’ backyard when they were little. It’s a little small now. (I love this Alice-in-Wonderland shot!)



What a nice-looking family.



I tried to give each one of the teenagers a cool shot — something I would have liked when I was that age. This is his GQ look, toned in the style we’re seeing in magazines these days — the washed out look that gives it a classic touch.



She’s the first one of the grandchildren going away to college this year. I wanted a bold, ubermodern tone for her to bring out all her accessories — the earrings, the jacket, the headband. So cool. She’s gorgeous!



The reason I chose the song I did is because of this picture. I asked the kids to vote on which one of them was the most reserved. They couldn’t do it, agreeing that they all had very outgoing personalities. (I wanted everybody jumping except for the one who was most reserved. In the end, I picked the one who seemed the least reserved to play that part.) The little discussion we had about their personalities led me to the conclusion that they’d all love a fun, upbeat song.



I love her eyes!

Their slide show is private, but if you know Jane and Ed and would like to see it, just give them a call!