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
If you know Mike and Tracey, email them for the link to their slide show. This is their sweet puppy. I love the reflection on their beautiful hardwood floors.
This is their sweet baby girl.
They’re such a cool family.
As would be expected, Mike is totally head over heels for that little girl!
I think he’s head over heels for both his girls! Aren’t they beautiful?
The baby’s room is adorable!
Here’s another angle. Brown and pink with TREES as the main theme! I LOVE IT!
LOVE that tree decoration!
I love to document the scale of the baby with some special object that will remain the same size as the baby grows, but will always be important in her life — mom’s and dad’s wedding rings.
I absolutely love this image! Thanks Mike and Tracey. I’ll see you again in the fall!
Peace,
~jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:33 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
Click the picture, or click here, for Jack’s latest slide show. When the show ends, it will jump back here where you can answer a question and win Jack’s family an 8×10 print!
I love Jack’s eyes in this one especially because it makes me stop and wonder what he’s thinking. LOVE Jack’s dad peaking around the corner! So cute.
Speaking of eyes! They’re all gorgeous!
I bet Jack will be tall like his dad.
They’re such a sweet family. This is “our photo place.” We’re planning to take a family picture here every time we do a shoot, or at least every time we do a shoot at their home.
This is Jack’s 5th photo shoot since he was 10 weeks old. I spent a lot of time at this shoot just trying to capture the essence of what it means to be 10 months old and experiencing the first taste of freedom and exploration. In this one, Jack enjoys crawling into the space under this side table. He sits there a while before crawling out. In case you were wondering, THIS is lifestyle photography at its best!
A 10-month-old who has just learned to crawl and pull himself up to standing enjoys this activity even more when there’s a reward on the table.
He will investigate what’s on the table from all angles.
He especially enjoys getting to go outside in the wagon…
…with mom by his side in the pretty light of near-sunset.
Today’s question: Be the first commenter to answer this question and you’ll get bookoos of blog praise and win the family a free 8×10!
The hat Jack is wearing has a specific name in fashion terms. What kind of hat is that?
Have fun! And to Jack’s family: see you all soon at Jack’s birthday party! I can’t wait! But I also can’t believe the year has gone by so fast!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:30 am
The winter contest rules stated that the three holiday card designs that received the most comments would be entered into a finalist round. We ended up with FOUR finalists because there was a tie.
So, pick from the numbers below and leave a comment with your vote for the ONE CARD DESIGN YOU LIKE BEST.
What’s at stake? The family with the card design that receives the most votes will win a gift voucher for my online store worth $150! It can be used toward anything in the store, or toward a new family session in 2008. So tell your friends to stop by the blog and vote for your favorite design!
To enter a vote, click “comments” below, enter your valid e-mail address, then your first name, initials or nickname in the “name” field. Type the NUMBER of the card you are voting for. You may vote ONCE per e-mail address. In case of a tie in the voting, I will add in the number of comments from the original card posts to determine a winner. Voting ends at midnight-NJ-time on Saturday, May 10.
GOOD LUCK!
There was also a competition among blog readers to leave the most comments relating to card designs. The person who left the most would receive a FREE FAMILY SESSION in 2008. You guys are GOOD because there was a 5-way tie! So, I’m going to keep counting and just see if any one of them falls out of the contest by not noticing this post. Sneaky, huh? If there is still a tie, be on the lookout for a tie-breaker in the form of a trivia question. I will post the question as soon as I determine that there’s still a tie.
ALL WINNERS will be announced on Mother’s Day!
HERE ARE THE CARD DESIGN FINALISTS 
DESIGN #19: “JACK’S FIRST CHRISTMAS”
Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!
Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#19″ in the comment field.
DESIGN #3: “BEAUTIFUL IN BLUE”
Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!
Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#3″ in the comment field!
DESIGN #5: “CENTRAL PARK”
Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!
Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#5″ in the comment field!
DESIGN #11: “EVERYDAY MIRACLES”
Click here to see the rest of this card and read the original comments on its design. Be sure to click your browser’s “back” button to get back here!
Click “Comments” below to vote for this design. Write “#11″ in the comment field!
Want to send this contest post to your friends? Click here to link to the post or to copy and paste the url.
Oh, and by the way, these contests are meant purely to drive traffic to my site and increase my Google rankings. I DO NOT harvest email addresses from comment posts in order to send you email messages about my business. If you would like to subscribe to my newsletter, click here.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:07 am
Click the picture, or click here, for Ed and Susan’s slide show. When the show ends, it will jump back here where you can answer a question and win the family an 8×10 print!
The little sister is adorable!
See? (Love that pokey lip!)
The big sister has an unmistakable “Shirley Temple” look.
She was digging through the costume box by the window. None of those pictures are posed. I was just hanging out on the couch chatting with Susan while we watched her daughter putting costume pieces on. I love every one of those shots.
It’s always a good idea at a family shoot to plan a family activity like dying Easter eggs.
I think people sometimes feel a little awkward at family shoots (at first) because they’re not sure what they’re supposed to do.
Other than dying Easter eggs, here’s some ideas: have a tea party, build a gingerbread house, roast marshmellows on a chiminea, play a game like Twister or CandyLand, dance to some lively and slow songs, play catch, make up silly rub-your-tummy-and-head-at-the-same-time-as-you-wiggle-your-toes games, tell jokes from a silly jokebook, have a box of accessories handy and have fun trying on different looks.
Young children pretty much ALWAYS love to read books with mom and dad. I love this picture of the little girl on the way down the hall with her books.
I have fantastic memories of playing in the hallway with my brothers when we were children. We would turn off all the lights and shut all the doors so that it would be completely dark. Then we’d turn the lights on our Hess trucks and pretend we were on the highway at night. Little did I know I’d grow up to live that scenario every night for 20 years! (I used to drive home on the Turnpike every night at around 2 a.m. Now I leave earlier so I get to take the train! Train beats the turnpike ANY day!)
So many people ask me what I did to a picture to make the eyes so bright. Here’s my secret: LIGHT must be shining deeply into the eye. That’s what brings out the color. In this case, the only light source is a large window, which she is facing. If you were to look really closely at this picture, you could see that there is a little tear under her right eye. I just love how expressive she is. (She wanted some of her toys that had been banished to the basement in the “great photo shoot house purge” that most of my clients, a-hem, enjoy. That’s what I need to do — hire a photographer to come to my house so I’ll be forced to clear away clutter!)
One of my goals at any family shoot is to get a picture of the whole family. We try to get that out of the way early in the shoot so we don’t have to worry about missing the opportunity. I personally challenge myself to get a new “unportrait” for my collection of family unportraits. Above, there’s one.
LOVE this one!
This one’s my fave.
This picture would get the “clip stand” treatment if it were my family! I’ll explain the “clip stand” treatment in a blog post soon. You’ll LOVE it, so be sure to bookmark the blog.
Win Susan and Ed an 8×10 print! Here’s today’s question: In the slide show, there’s a close up of the older daughter’s hand with her father’s hand. What does the sticker on the little girl’s hand say? (They were looking through her 1st year scrapbook. It’s such a cool shot!)
Susan and Ed, I hope you love your slide show as much as I do! Your girls were so much fun to work with!
Peace and happy Sunday,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 8:26 am
This picture of Harry is so cute! He has a great expression. His hands are perfectly positioned (no thanks to me — sometimes I get lucky). The colors are bright and bold. And best of all, the lighting is perfect! What makes it so perfect? He is laying on the floor in front of a large window with sunlight streaming in onto the hardwood floor nearby. Harry is looking in the direction of his mom, who is standing in front of the window. Look how sparkly his eyes are!
We photographers LOVE eye sparkle!
And sometimes it’s awesome when the light comes from behind!
Sometimes we don’t really care about light because what’s happening is the more important thing. I tried desperately to get Lily to look at the camera, but she was SO into her jewelry box that I finally relented and just took pictures of her playing. The result: a classic shot!
I brought lollipops with me. Note to self: when bringing lollipops to a shoot, make sure to reveal them AFTER all the close-ups are finished!
Harry was baptized a month or so before this shoot, so we thought it would be cool to get some shots of him in his baptism outfit. Don’t you just LOVE this child’s hair? I swear to you, it really does grow like that! It’s AWESOME! Unfortunately, Harry had been in his white outfit for only a minute or so when a minor disaster struck…
…and he needed to be immediately changed. That happens.
Andrew was being all shy with me when I first got there. So I played his game and hid under the counter too. Gotcha!
He wasn’t shy for very long though.
So basically, here’s how to shoot for sparkly eyes: HAVE AS MUCH FUN AS POSSIBLE and just go with the flow because happy children have happy eyes, and happy eyes are sparkly eyes!
Peace,
jules
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:02 am
Click the picture
— or click here —
and turn up the sound for Nicole and Brian’s slide show. When the show is over, it will automatically jump back here where you can leave a comment and answer a question to win the family an 8×10 print!
He is easily one of the smiliest babies I’ve ever photographed!
Everybody loves bath time.
He looks like the frog! Love it!
This kitchen gets a daily scrubbing. Look how much water is on the bench from the baby’s splashing.
The kitchen is not the only thing that needed scrubbing.
After the bath: I love this one.
It was one of those days when it was raining so hard that every now and then Brian would go look in the basement to make sure it wasn’t flooding. There was no chance we were going outside, not even for a minute. So, we made do with an entirely indoor shoot, capturing various activities of their son’s day.
I love this one.
Love their beautiful wood floors and furniture too.
Here’s today’s question: Nicole and Brian were in the same kindergarten class. To win them an 8×10 print, leave a comment telling us which ones of the children Nicole and Brian are.
They didn’t realize until just before the wedding day that they had been in the same kindergarten class. Isn’t that the sweetest story?
Thanks Nicole and Brian. I can’t think of anything more fun to do on a yucky, rainy day than hang out with such a fun, smiley family that laughs so much and has so much fun together!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:02 am
Her grandpa flew in from Texas, and since I had pictures of Grandmomma from another shoot, I had to give equal time.
I think this may be the cutest picture I ever took. Look at the sweetest little smile on the baby’s face. Melt time!
Love this one too.
Those EYES! Wow. I’m lucky she is so intrigued by my monster size camera.
When I was taking this picture, I was telling the family that I really wish I had pictures of my grandparents and me. I love this picture because he’s holding her so tenderly and his crossed hands, doubling for added protection, are a clear expression of love.
This one, and the one below, are examples of how I choose to present a picture in black and white or color. This one is black and white because stripping out the color allows us to focus on the pure emotion of the shot, the gaze of his granddaughter’s eyes into his. That’s all we see. We don’t evaluate her pink outfit. We don’t scrutinize the background. We don’t notice a variation in skin tones. All we see is what she’s doing, and what she’s doing is the important thing.
This shot is similar, taken only seconds later. In this one, it’s her eyes we want to gaze into. The color is so pretty that stripping it away wouldn’t make artistic sense to me.
Thanks, David, for letting me come hang out with you and your beautiful granddaughter for a little while!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 1:38 pm
Remember Sophie?
Mom’s maternity session is here
Sophie at 8 weeks
Her baptism
On Halloween
Her Christmas card
Oh, and she was Baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant too!
So be on the lookout for “Sophie’s First Year” baby book coming soon to the blog!
Above, take a good look at that pretty red sweater because in a minute it’s going to be icing.
But first, the “1″ candle is very tasty.
Look at that! She’s offering her cupcake to her big sister!
YAY!
I think she likes it. Hey Mikey.
YAY!!!
Happy birthday, Sophie!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:48 am
