Click the picture, or click here, for a silde show of Sarah and Ben’s wedding at the New Jersey Grounds for Sculpture. Read all the way to the bottom for a fun contest that can win Sarah and Ben free print credits!
I loved Sarah’s dress. So unique.
While I was shooting Sarah’s “getting ready” pictures, my friend, Matt Richman, was hanging out with the men. Matt does such an excellent job. I love this shot!
This one is my favorite that Matt took. I was taking the formal shots of the family, and Matt was capturing the very essence of shooting formal pictures at the Grounds for Sculpture. I love it! Thanks Matt!
Everything at the Grounds for Sculpture is so pretty and makes such a beautiful backdrop for artists! I love that place. I call it “New Jersey’s Best Kept Secret.” The picture above is in front of Rat’s Restaurant, where the reception was held. In case you missed Sarah and Ben’s preview post, which has some more of my faves from their wedding, click here for an explanation of how Rat’s got its name.
We strolled the grounds for a while before the wedding. I love those pictures!
The ceremony was held at the Nine Muses. In classical mythology, it was the nine muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who presided over the arts and sciences. The number nine is symbolic of completion and eternity. What a perfect site for a wedding!
This is my shot of the kiss…
…and this is Matt’s. I absolutely love that we were able to capture that moment from two angles. It’s also interesting as a study of photography and how different things appear based on where the light is coming from. (By the way, I prefer Matt’s angle by far! I love backlit pictures!)
If you’ve never been to the Grounds for Sculpture, I highly recommend it. There are a few places that can get a little bit muddy, so wear your favorite old walking shoes. Plus, there’s a LOT of walking to do. I went there once for a couple of hours and probably only saw a quarter of the grounds.
I concentrated on capturing lots of details for the album.
And I’m not kidding when I say the people at this place work hard to make sure every single thing before your eyes is an artistic feast.
See? Even if you look up at the ceiling in Rat’s, there’s a feast for the eyes.
Steve Kaplan played classical guitar at the ceremony and at the reception. He’s a pleasure to listen to! By the way, some of those other pictures on his site’s home page are mine too, from another event I shot where he was playing.
The food was pretty too. And instead of a wedding cake, Sarah and Ben opted for beautiful little desserts.
I love taking pictures here. There is no end of great angles and interesting textures and colors!
This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding because of the light, colors and angles. I thought it was really cool how the colors in Sarah’s dress went so well with the colors inside the dance pavillion.
Sarah and Ben could not have chosen prettier flowers!
In the preview post, I promised I’d talk more about the famous “red wine incident.” This is Sarah consoling the guest who spilled red wine on her dress. She was so gracious about it, and he felt absolutely horrible.
We all took lots of pictures!
We recommend WHITE wine in the future. LOVE this picture!
I had a great time taking pictures of Sarah and Ben’s friends. Such a photogenic and interesting crowd!
Leave a comment naming the New Brunswick bar where Sarah and Ben met their friends later that night. I’ll credit Sarah and Ben $1 in print credits for each comment post coming from a unique (and legitimate) e-mail address through July 5. You don’t have to leave your name if you don’t want to!
Enjoy the slide show everybody! I had a great time!
Peace,
~jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 2:22 pm
I was going to just put up a few pictures from the last day of school, but Mike said it would be cool to pull out various pictures from the whole year for a “Highlights of First Grade” show. So click the picture, or click here! We love you, Gregory!
HUGE thanks to Mike for taking pictures of Gregory and me walking to school one day. That was my birthday present and I LOVE IT!!
Check back soon for a tribute to Bob, our beloved crossing guard!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:04 am
(Photo by Daniel Snow.)
From Julie’s Web site: “Julie Steiskal will be remembered for her passion for photography and love for those around her.”
Julie, an active member of my photography forum, died yesterday while on a mission trip with her church. She had such helpful, experienced advice — always laced with a great sense of humor — for those of us who photograph children and families. Her love for God and her love for her family and friends was evident in everything she did. I extend my deepest sympathies to the Steiskal and Evans families, and all the people who knew and loved them.
To Julie’s family in particular, I have a feeling that you know how deeply Julie touched her clients and friends through the images she captured with her camera. Her love for photography was evident! But her passion went so much deeper than that in her willingness to teach and share with thousands of photographers all over the world who participate in our community. She will be missed.
(News links and memorial information here.)
From Julie’s “about” page on her Web site: “We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic.” — E. Merrill Root
Click here for a beautiful and touching slide show.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:51 pm
Click the picture, or click here, for a bittersweet slide show from some of the pictures I’ve been taking this week.
The picture above is from the First Grade Author’s Tea. This annual event is usually held on the lawn but just as the children were filing out to meet their audience, rain began to fall and the reading was moved into the gym.
This is my G-rex, the Destroyer, (regular blog readers know him as Gregory) and his best friend, Hurricane Shane. This was Hurricane’s last week in our close-knit little community. Just hours after the last day of school yesterday, he and his family moved to another state. We will miss you, Hurricane! I chose the music — “As If We Never Said Goodbye” — because I really can’t stand that they’re leaving so I’m just going to go into intentional denial about that fact.
(Check back tomorrow for pictures from our last-day lunch.)
I also included a few pictures in the slide show of kindergarten graduation. I still remember Bradley’s graduation from kindergarten. He got sunscreen in his eyes and was up on the stage BAWLING until I finally went up there and took him off the stage. It was awful! But Gregory’s graduation last year was absolutely wonderful. I still love that slide show more than just about any one I’ve ever made. It still makes me cry. If you want to see it, send me a message or post a comment and I’ll send you the link in e-mail.
Ooooh! And check back next year in late June for a massive slide show project of eighth grade graduation. I’ve got BIG PLANS! Bradley’s class better be ready to be seeing a lot of me next year!
COMING SOON: A TRIBUTE TO BOB, the best crossing guard in the universe! Keep your eye on the blog!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:23 am
Some friends of mine are looking for a caring home for their two cats.
Archie says, “They are mother and daughter: the mother is a beautiful long-hair Maine Coon and loves snuggling with you on the sofa. The daughter is a sleek, short-hair tabby who is playful, inquisitive and occasionally politically active. They have had their shots and have been spayed.”
If you’re interested, email me at julie@juliewaltonshaver.com, or leave a comment and I’ll hook you up with Archie’s number. He’s heartbroken to have to find them a new home, but trust me, there’s a really good reason that has nothing to do with the kitties.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:58 am
I’m on jury duty and I don’t have a laptop or a smart phone, so I won’t have access to my email on Friday.
Meanwhile, Justin hinted that he’d love a sneak peek at his headshots, so just for fun, I’m putting up my favorite of the “Justin is always working” shots. More later, court willing.
Happy Friday everyone! PLEASE pray that I don’t get picked for a trial. I already need 48 more hours in every day as it is!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 5:45 am
This was the last picture from Father’s Day. Isn’t that a sweet picture of Gregory, Mike and Bradley? It was a very long time in the making! Took me ALL DAY to get this shot!
This was the first one of the day, in Mike’s favorite (salad and breadsticks) restaurant, Olive Garden. Gregory was an unwilling participant in the pictures, saying, “I don’t know how to smile.” Yeah right. I have no problem getting natural smiles out of YOUR child, but mine, well, that’s another story.
He doesn’t know how to smile at my camera, the true child of a mamarazzi.
We were working on new headshots for Mike. Isn’t he cute!?
Here’s an outtake. (I’m a dead person for posting this.)
I love this one!
Here’s another outtake. Love it!!! (Lips tend to get dry during an intensive photoshoot, so occasionally I might say something like, “wet your lips.” But to my own husband, it might come out more like, “your lips look flat.” Hence, a really cute pucker and a major tummy smile from behind the camera!
Bradley was my photo assistant. His job was to hold the reflector. He did not enjoy this job at all. I think he was jealous of the fact that somebody else was the center of my camera attention, so when I turned the camera on him (after an hour or so of shooting his dad), he actually gave me a half-smile! Yay!
By the end of the shoot, Bradley was beat.
But being the mamarazzi that I am, I couldn’t resist trying to get a nice shot of all three of my men. Unfortunately, Gregory was not cooperating, and Bradley was too tired. (Reflectors are so heavy, you know.)
Mike was trying to get Gregory to smile. Meanwhile, Bradley was getting more and more bored.
Come ON, Gregory! If we get this done we can all go home!
Nope. (Focus, Bradley, just a minute longer…)
Nope. I love Bradley’s sequence of expressions in these — SO typical of his personality. But, as I said under the first picture, I did finally get the shot of my dreams, soon to be displayed on a desk near me! Yay!
Here’s Mike’s headshot. Thanks for your help Bradley, and for your patience, Gregory!
Here’s the second headshot. Always a good idea to have a couple of options. Isn’t he so handsome?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:35 pm
I posted one of Kate’s headshots the other day. Here’s a few more from the series.
Beautiful light in Kate’s home for portraits! And no special attention was paid to de-cluttering because it wasn’t needed. This would be contrary to the de-clutter frenzy I hear about for most of my family sessions. I love hearing the de-clutter stories because then I know that people will love me whether or not they love their pictures because they got a clean house out of the deal!
I still can’t decide whether I like the white shirt best, or the red turtle, or the blue v-neck. They all work on different levels. Which one do you like best?
Kate’s cat is a champion portrait poser!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:10 pm
Click the picture, or click here, for Meaghan and Mike’s slide show!
Happy Father’s Day, Mike!
The photo session was a gift for Meaghan last Christmas. I think she looks a lot like Andie MacDowell in this picture! Beautiful!
This was the baby’s first glimpse of me. He was waking up from his nap, and there I was. That’s got to be weird!
But he was only freaked out for about 10 seconds before the face of great expressions began! What a cutie!
Here’s that off-center thing I do again. I never did explain why I do that sometimes, so here goes: THIS would make an excellent beginning to a spread in a coffeetable book. The left side would be the left side of the spread, as is, and the right side would be the backdrop colors for an overlay of a storyboard of two or three black-and-whites (or color images as long as they all have the same basic color palette). For a framed print, this picture can easily be cropped as a vertical, cropping out the right side. Cool, huh? This would also work great for a Christmas card. I’d make this whole picture the inside spread of the card, and I’d put the message on the right over the reds and greens. Pretty! See how versatile that one image is? And all because of some creative in-camera framing!
Here’s another one that would make a really cool album spread all by itself. I love pictures that get me to stop and think about something. Maybe it’s just me, but this picture draws me in and I can’t help staring at it and thinking about how big those tiny feet will be someday.
Meaghan, was that a great Christmas gift or what? I think it’s so cool that the timing worked out for your slide show to go live on Father’s Day. It’s a gift for both of you! Er, uh, all three of you!
BONUS IMAGE and CAPTION CONTEST!
Post a comment caption for the image above relating to Father’s Day! Meaghan will get an extra print credit bonus in her store gallery for each comment posted and the first commenter to make me laugh will get lots of blog praise! (One bonus credit per IP address through June 30.)
It’s my birthday month, so that means I give out lots of gifts in June!
Happy Father’s Day to all my blog-reading dads, and especially to MY Mike — a great dad to Bradley, Gregory and Lauren! We love you!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:28 am
This is my desk at The Times. I have lots of pictures of my family on my desk, but as you can see, there isn’t a lot of space. Today, I have 3 new mounted prints I want to add to my collection.
Probably the single most common question I am asked is, “What is a mounted print?” Simple! It’s a regular print that is permanently attached to a flat surface, usually mat board.
This is a 5×7 print of one of my latest pictures of Gregory. I love the picture, so I want to put it on my desk. It would fit in any 5×7 frame, but I don’t want to take up any more space on my desk, so I’m just going to prop the print up on a makeshift easel.
This is my easel, a standard paperclip.
All I have to do is bend the paperclip…
…get a piece of tape…
tape the paperclip to the back…
…stand it up…
…Voila! A durable photograph displayed with no hassle and virtually no expense except what it cost me to purchase the mounted print. I get prints in various sizes for variety on my desk. 5×5, 4×6, 5×7, and sometimes I put up 7×10’s. That’s the other cool thing about the paperclip stand — I don’t have to worry about finding odd-size frames!
I love looking at pictures of my boys having fun!
Oooh! Little tip: be sure to write the date on the back of the print so you don’t forget when it was taken!
Even though all my prints are coated, I keep prints that aren’t covered with UV-coated glass away from direct sunlight. When they get dusty, I gently swish the dust away using a lint-free cloth.
With a little caution against bumping, paperclip prints should last for decades!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 10:11 am
