Click the picture — or click here — for a sweet little slide show from Jack’s baptism.

When the show is finished, it will jump back here where you can leave a comment for Jack and his family, AND have the opportunity to win them a free print.



I like to hang back at events like this and watch what the rest of the family is doing. I love this shot.



I also like to focus on something a little unexpected, throwing the usual focal point into a blur.



My point in shooting a family event like this is to capture the spiritual emotion of a baptism. To me, part of the story is how everyone pays so much attention to the core family on that day. Someday when Jack’s all grown up, he might like to know who took that posed picture at the end of his baptism. She’s the one in the blue dress, Jack. (I, on the other hand, showed up in dirty blue jeans because this shoot happened on the same day as my trip to the pumpkin farm. See post from yesterday. I barely made it to the cathedral in time! Yikes! Good to know the church welcomed me, dirt and all.)



I did take a few posed shots. (They’re not all in the slide show though.)



I love this one. Jack is such a cute baby!



I tagged along, yes, in my farm-dirty-jeans, to the Cornerstone for lunch. This is another of my favorite shots. I like candid pictures that show connections, and nothing shows that better than spontaneous hand-holding!



Beautiful.

I love the song in Jack’s slide show. It’s one of those songs that when we sing it in my church, I can’t help but get a little teary-eyed.

CONTEST: Win Jack’s family an 8×10 print by naming the song and giving us a few lines of the lyrics. I’m looking for the lines that make this an especially good song to use at a baptism.

Have fun!

Click the picture to jump to Sarah’s slide show. Be sure to turn up the sound! I love this one! (I love them all!) When the slide show is finished, it will jump back here where you can read about some of the pictures. Above, Sarah, with her proud parents.



Sarah was poised, articulate and beautiful on her big day.



Steve Kaplan provided the wonderful classical guitar music during the ceremony.



See those tiny things flying through the air? It’s a family tradition to shower the celebrant with candy! How fun!



I love this shot of the grandparents…



…and this one of Sarah with her friends.



Sarah’s brother somehow managed to get the first taste of wine. Gotcha!



It was difficult to get pictures of Sarah at her reception because her friends are all so close!



But I did manage to get a few cool shots. I love the light in this one.



Sweet!



Another sweet one!



This kid can dance!



See?



Sarah’s sister seemed to be having a great time!



The following week, we all went to Avon-by-the-Sea.



The family loves the beach and wanted to do their family shoot at a place that would bring back memories of beach days and family vacations.



Don’t know how I managed to make it look like we were the only people there that day because the beach was really crowded!



I love this one of Sarah.



And this is my favorite family shot — my signature “unportrait.” Love it!

I hope you all enjoyed your slide show! Congratulations, Sarah!


EDIT: Ooooh! Totally forgot to mention that prints from Sarah’s full gallery are available in my online store. The passcode is the family’s last name, all lowercase. Enjoy!

Click the picture to jump to Carol and Jim’s slide show. Be sure to turn up the sound and watch the whole thing because I LOVE the ending! Above, that’s one of my favorites from the vow-renewal ceremony. Same church, same pastor, same bride and groom!



I love this picture. It had been pouring rain during the ceremony, but stopped just in time to take a few shots outside the church. The lighted cross inside the narthex shines through the reflection of Carol and Jim on the glass door of the church, a symbol of how their love for Christ shines through in their lives. Carol and Jim’s family and friends can also be seen through their reflection. Guess you can tell I tend to study my pictures a LOT.



This is one of my favorites from our trip to Avon-by-the-Sea.



Carol and Jim’s son is not shy!



I had so many great dance shots, it was hard to choose the ones to put in the slide show!



Lots of competition for me, too!



I love the expression on Jim’s face!



She is so cute!



Here she is again, watching the first dance intently.



The shoes never stay on at a great party!

Thanks again, Carol and Jim, for having faith in me! I really enjoyed being a part of your anniversary celebration. Here’s to 25 more! I hope you enjoyed the slide show. I LOVE IT!

Oh by the way, even though my friend, Sid, couldn’t be there, I managed to get a picture of him in the slide show. Can you find it?

Carol and Jim are my first clients to be able to take advantage of my NEW ONLINE STORE! Woo hoo! The galleries are loaded and ready for family and friends to purchase prints from my fantastic lab. Remember, all prints 8×10 and larger are mounted on mat board and look fantastic! Click here to get to the client login page. You’ll need to get the password from Carol and Jim though. (Or, email me if you just want to poke around in there to see how it works. So far, I love it!)

Carol and Jim celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last night. (That’s Uncle Eddie in the background. Hi Uncle Eddie!)



We started the day at the boardwalk in Avon-by-the-Sea. Jim is the grandson of one of my dearest friends, Sid. Sid couldn’t be part of yesterday’s events, so we took lots of pictures! Can’t wait to show them to you, Sid!



Then, after a well-timed burst of thunderstorms, Carol and Jim renewed their vows at the same church where they were married…



…by the same pastor.



They’ve remained good friends all these years.



I loved the creative display of photographs and albums. What a blessed life this couple has had!



The three children, ahem, were not at the first wedding 25 years ago.



What a fun party!



So many great expressions in the dance shots! I had a great time!



The DJ, Eric Miller, of Be Our Guest Entertainment, did a great job playing fun music (and lots of love songs) from the 1980s and today. I was surprised by the fact that the kids were singing along with pretty much ALL the music, even the “old” stuff from 1982!



I love it when I capture a special moment that is completely unposed and unplanned. Carol’s dancing with their son, Jim’s dancing with their younger daughter, and their older daughter, who has moved away to college now, is in the picture too, with one of her best friends.

Be sure to check back in a week or so for the really FUN slide show I’m going to put together for them! You’ll LOVE it!

Click the picture to jump to the slide show of the 2007 Tishe Conference. Above — the famous West Cornwall Bridge, built in 1864. That’s one old bridge.



Why was I in rural Western Connecticut?



So glad you asked!



I was at the Trinity Conference Center, a beautiful little retreat in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains…



…photographing the Tishe Conference. (Click here to learn more about Tishe.)



I am not a big fan of setting up off-camera lights, but this picture is a great illustration of how they can really bring a room to life!



Here’s another one.



Attendees were divided into groups for the week, so I was asked to do a shot of each one. Not being a huge fan of the stand-and-face-the-camera group shot, I thought it would be cool to ask each group to come up with a fun pose to bring out the personality of the group. Above, “cheerleaders.”



“Charlie’s Angels”



“Home Alone”



Can you guess this one?

The answer’s in the slide show!

Click the picture to jump to the slide show of Sophie’s baptism. Above — I love it — Sophie’s big sister mimicks our attempt at a “GQ pose,” below.





This is my favorite picture of Sophie.



This is my favorite one of Sophie’s family. Look! Even Sophie’s looking at the camera! Yay!



I caught this one as the family was walking up to the church. The timing was perfect!



We were fortunate it wasn’t too horribly hot for some family group shots.



Later, we discovered a room in the Hilton, where the celebration brunch was held, with nice window light and air-conditioning!



Yay air-conditioning! (And I really love the light. So much more interesting than overhead sun.)



I love this shot of dad looking on during the baptism.



Smart parents. They brought their own little ball pit for the toddlers to play in during brunch!



I love the shots of Sophie’s sister and cousin playing too.

I’m doing another shoot with Sophie’s family in October in New York. That’s going to be so much fun! I LOVE fall! See you soon!

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?

A large part of the success of my photography business can be attributed to this little sweetie, Lia. I’ve been photographing her since she was 1 month old, and all along the way, I’ve been getting fantastic images of her and her mom and dad for my portfolio. On June 30, she turned 1 year old. It was a great party on a beautiful day. Click the picture — or click here — to jump straight to the slide show. Turn up the sound, and when the slide show is finished, it will jump back here where you can read some details about some of the images and leave a comment for Lia!



This is Lia’s cousin.



This is the beautiful smiling face Lia sees when her grandmother visits!



This is the moment when everyone at the party was staring at Lia and singing Happy Birthday.



Instead of blowing out the candle, Lia reached out and touched the flame with her finger. This is the split second AFTER she did that. (We morose adults couldn’t help laughing at her reaction. She just sort of stared at the candle like “how dare you.” Poor Lia.)



Then she looked at me like “why are you taking pictures of this? Can’t you see I’m hurt here?”



Then (because mom is dying laughing with the rest of us), Lia looks to dad for comfort…



…which she gets (while mom steals a little chocolate behind her back).



Ok, not really. Mom was actually just getting a little chocolate on her finger so she could give Lia her first taste EVER of chocolate!



I’m not the only one documenting this moment. Lia’s grandfather is also shooting. (Hence the strange light in the “hugging dad” picture — I caught some of John’s flash!)



And here it is — the piece de resistance — the “first taste of chocolate” picture! (We’ve completely forgotten about the candle incident. Phew. Thank God for chocolate.)



This little boy was inside on the porch when I shot this picture. I love it!



Glory led a special blessing for Lia. It was really sweet.



You know I love the walking shots.

If you didn’t catch the slide show yet, I threw in a little surprise toward the end!

CLICK HERE!

I LOVE this slide show and I will always cherish my special relationship with Lia and her mom and dad. I will miss you all so much. (But you better call me for future birthday parties, graduations, uh, a wedding. You know I love those “getting ready” shots!)

Looking for the 2008 Metuchen Memorial Day slide show?
Turn up the sound and
click here.

Below, pictures from the 2007 event…

Memorial Day is dedicated to the
honor and support of United States service personnel,
past and present,
especially those in harm’s way.
Click the picture above — or click here — to jump to the slide show. Be sure to turn up the sound because we have a special guest speaker this year. When the show is over, it will jump back here so you can read the rest of the blog post.



I don’t usually use black and white images when I shoot events, but I felt so moved by the emotions of the day that I thought I’d give it a try.


He’s upset because his cousins had just left to go back home. I thought the image was touching because of the real emotion he’s feeling. His dad’s shirt hammers in the message.



I have always been anti-gun and anti-gun toys for my children. But with a house full of boys, it’s practically impossible. (Readers with baby boys: hear this — they will make guns out of anything. Pencils. Fingers. Tiny twigs and blades of grass.) I thought this image of the boy atop the cannon looking pensive gave meaning to my frustration over toy guns.



I didn’t shoot the whole day in black and white. I love this shot from the other side of Tommy’s Pond, also known as the seating area for geese only. (This will be clearer to you if you’ve already watched the slide show.) By the way, just after the baby geese picture, the momma goose honked at me to leave. Story of my life.


Blog fans may recognize Major General (Select) John F. Kelly, the reviewing officer for the parade. He was the featured speaker at the John Basilone Parade, which I shot last September. It was nice to see him again, and to hear him speak. General: I wish you well on your new command in California.



You may also recognize some of the young Marines shown. The man on the left was the cover of last year’s Memorial Day book. (The men are trying really hard not to smile at me. They did a good job!)



SPC Robert Murafsky of the U.S. Army was a Grand Marshal of the parade. He recently returned home to Metuchen after having been shot in Iraq, then spending several months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he met his fiance (left). His mom, Penny Murafsky, right, is a long-time member of the Memorial Day parade committee.



One of the things I love about shooting the Memorial Day parade is that so many people in Metuchen know me. Kids will smile, shout my name and wave. It’s great! Not sure what Liam was thinking when he said, “Mrs. Shaver, take a picture of this!” And he held up a dollar. In editing the slide show, I didn’t have the heart to edit George Washington. (Thanks, Liam!)



This is another face from the past: Basilone fans, think adorable baby in tuxedo. He’s grown a lot since September! I got some really nice pictures of him this time. (Mom and dad, if you’re reading, send me an email and I’d be happy to mail you some prints!)

This one was edited from the show because I thought little children would think he’d been run over. Nah, he was just resting in the shade. Here’s the shot of him earlier when he was watching the police unit march by…





In a traditional post-parade ceremony, Vietnam veterans salute their fallen comrades by pouring out their beer on the memorial at Legion Hall, followed by the playing of Taps.



This is my favorite shot from this year’s parade. Jan Margolis is the parade committee chairperson, planning the parade and memorial service for each of the last three years. While I have no direct experience serving on a parade committee, I can surely tell you that the planning is immensely complicated. From the military protocol to when the casson arrives to paying for everything and assuring that yellow ribbons and flags are all over town, it’s a year-long process that requires strength in leadership. As Rear Admiral Timothy Beard III put it when he saw this picture, “You can sure tell who’s in charge here.” (I took the photo as Jan listened to a speech about prisoners of war.)

If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the slide show, then come back here and leave a comment for the parade committee. They did a fantastic job because without them, Memorial Day in Metuchen would be nothing but a day off work.

Answer is a program based at Rutgers University that provides age-appropriate, balanced, comprehensive sexuality education. The program held a fundraiser at Jasna Polana in Princeton.



They asked me to come along and photograph the event.



Lucky for me, I also got to have some fantastic quiche!



Danene’s speech was really impressive!



While I was there, I shot new portraits for the staff and trainers.
(More in the slide show!)



I think all the portraits came out great! (But I don’t know where the guy on the right came from.)



I also did several group shots.







This one is cool. I need to do more shots with my wireless lights!

We had so much fun I made a slide show!
Turn up the sound and click here!