Dan and his son, Wally, were growing beards this summer before Wally heads off to college. But Dan is planning to shave his soon. We figured that it could be useful if he had a headshot with the beard, just in case it might come in handy someday.
These two are my faves for showcasing a certain “look” with the beard.
We were thinking of this shoot as sort of a practice session, since Dan doesn’t usually wear a beard. (Note to Julie: next time, move so the sidewalk isn’t a distracting element in the background of this otherwise awesome shot!)
Professor Dan
He doesn’t think so, but he’s really good at posing for still photographs. (Dan is a great actor!)
See what I mean?
Love it!
Dan has such a nice smile.
He was talking to Grex, my “VAL” (voice activated lightstand).
He’s a natural in front of the camera.
Before Dan shaves, we thought it would be fun to get some father/son shots of the competing beards…
Here’s Wally. (I think we woke him up too early.)
So, who do you think won the beard contest?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:42 am
Click the picture, or click here, for Chrissy and Todd’s slide show.
There’s a riddle in this blog post. Post a comment with the correct answer, and you’ll win print credits for Chrissy and Todd and lots of blog praise for you!
I love the picture above. She has the classic “Mary Ann” look in this shot. Think: Gilligan’s Island.
“Skipper!”
She is so cute, but not quite ready for a “Ginger” nickname. Check back in, oh, say, 15 or 20 years.
Love this mother/daughter moment.
Hey Skipper, I’m over here.
I think it’s so cool to show the relative size of parent/child hands.
Twirling. One of my favorite childhood memories with my own dad.
My wide angle lens came out for some fun close-ups!
Super fun!
Suh-WEET!
I got some nice pictures of the sisters too.
The girls have such pretty hair.
See? Love it!
Here’s the riddle. READY?
What’s the reason for the world?
The answer I’m looking for is one word. The correct answer (the one word I’m thinking of) posted as a comment will win Chrissy and Todd an 8×10 print. The person who posts that correct answer will win LOTS of blog praise!
This classic shot needed an antique look. Love it! Hope you enjoy your slide show, Chrissy and Todd. Say hi to the kids for me!
What’s next? Follow me on Twitter to find out!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:09 am
I love all the fun things this family planned for their session! Strawberry picking, walking around Princeton, ice cream, kayaking, playing in their very shady backyard. It was so much fun! (Even though it was a hundred degrees that day.) If you know this family, send them an e-mail to see their slide show.
In the image above, I wanted to evoke a sense of nostalgia in the beginning of their slide show. I used to work in Princeton, and the sense of history when I’m there is always on my mind. The image of mother and son comparing height against a painted corn stalk is timeless and classic!
Learning how to get the nectar out of honeysuckle. Timeless and classic.
I’m not so sure “timeless” applies to this one, but children (and students and adults alike) have been climbing on this Princeton University sculpture for decades. It’s called “Oval With Points” by Henry Moore. It was inspired by an elephant skull. Now that you know that, you’ll have more to think about next time you climb on it!
This one of a child being swung by his parents as they walk is timeless and classic too but I wanted to keep the color because his eyes and rosy cheeks are ADORABLE!
It was SO hot in that field. But at least there’s no other people to clutter up our pictures! (I like the old farm truck driving down the road in the background.)
Walking down Nassau Street in Princeton, I noticed this classic image of a guy sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. You probably can’t see in this little blog-size picture, but the ad on the back of the paper says, “The places you will go, for almost no dough.” That’s one of the great things about hanging out around Princeton. There’s lots to do that doesn’t cost very much!
Riding atop dad’s shoulders, you can see far!
The Continental Congress met here, at Nassau Hall, in 1783. This is where members of Congress received news of the peace treaty that gave independence to the United States. (See what I mean? I can’t stop thinking about history when I’m in Princeton.)
I wonder how many children have sat on those big bronze cats guarding the entrance?
We also went kayaking on the Delaware and Raritan Canal.
The canal is really cool because you can also bike or hike along the edge of it. Great way to take pictures of people in boats! (Here, the family is checking out the train bridge that takes the little Princeton train shuttle down to the Northeast Corridor line.)
I’m sure the water was cool but man, I was SO hot walking along that trail!
Here’s detail of that awesome capture of the water trail made by the paddle. I love it!
After kayaking, since no one else was there that day, we spent some time learning to skip rocks in the water. And I kept my eyes glued on his feet, which seemed dangerously close to the edge of the dock! Yikes!
Isn’t skipping rocks one of the best summer activities? I love skipping rocks.
You know me! I love to capture those true “day in the life” scenes! Here’s a little photo tip for all you mamarazzi’s who read my blog. You GOTTA figure out your camera so you can get some really cool shots of the kids in their car seats. We all spend SO much time in cars and one day we won’t be able to remember what all that was like.
Love it! The fun mirror at Thomas Sweet!
That very day, my own family had been relaxing at home watching “Coneheads.” No kidding!
After our Princeton excursion, we hung out in their backyard playing with their adorable doggie.
Love the look on dad’s face in this one. LOOKOUT!
If you’ve not yet had the experience of a day of shooting with me, here’s a warning: when our time together is over, you’ll be exhausted!
Here’s something new! You can check out what I’m working on each day by following me on Twitter. Now that SWC’s shoot is edited, who’s next? You can find out there!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:34 am
Click the picture, or click here, for a slide show from Jack’s first birthday party.
It was one of those hazy, humid summer days. All Jack had on his mind was walking.
As long as he was up and walking, or rather, being walked around by a helping hand or two, he was a happy birthday boy.
He was very interested in anything he could hang on to. He was a walking machine!
And so our dreams of a happy Jack with happy smiles behind his 1st birthday candle were dashed. He wasn’t very interested in eating cake. Ahhh, there’s always next year, Jack!
But hanging out on the floor with a cousin and a new toy: not bad at all.
Posing for a family picture was the last thing on Jack’s mind. But we tried anyway. We always take Jack’s picture from this spot.
Above, that’s Jack from his newborn shoot! So cute!
He’s got such beautiful eyes.
Ok, truth: I’m sad. I love this family. They were given a “year in the life” package as Jack’s newborn gift, and this would be their last official shoot in that package. Here’s hoping their extended family takes advantage of my gift credit program so they can do lots more shoots with me! I’m head over heels for Jack’s eyes!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACK!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:00 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
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
Click the picture, or click here, for a fun slide show of MY family! I’ve been really busy lately, and missing my boys so much, that I took lots of pictures of our day.I have to admit, I was following my family around like serious paparazzi, using the flash like lightening on continuous burst shooting. The picture above is THE MOST PERFECT “MAMARAZZI” PICTURE EVER! I love it!
I was trying to prove to a photographer-friend that sometimes a little fill-flash is just right. In the slide show, almost every single picture I took outside used fill-flash. Not all of them are perfect, but keep in mind, every picture shown is straight out of the camera with no tweaking in photoshop.
Take this picture, for example. The flash is set so low it barely makes a difference. It looks perfectly natural, and yet, there’s just a bit of sparkle on the plum. (That plum came off our purple leaf plum — the one that some people swear is a fruitless variety. Uh huh.)Tree fans — also note that there’s a new picture in the slide show of a zelkova at Borough Hall. We lost one last year, but the remaining 13 are looking great this year!
Here’s another great example of a picture that benefited from fill. It was about 3 in the afternoon and the sun was very bright. Without a subtle flash, the shadows on Bradley’s and Gabe’s faces would have been much darker. The fill lightens them up just a tad without making the picture look like it was taken with an on-camera flash.
Speaking of Bradley, he won the Memorial Day poster contest for the 7th grade! Yay Bradley!All of the winning posters are displayed in the window of the Metuchen Savings Bank downtown. Bradley’s is a detailed split screen drawing, war on one side, Arlington Cemetery on the other.It says, “From war… to memory. But something never fades.” (His poster is hard to see in the window because it doesn’t quite fit the window opening.)I’m so proud of him!
Bradley’s friend, Gabriel Francobandiero, won the contest for the 6th grade. Gabe’s was chosen as the overall winner! Congratulations, Gabe! His design will be used on the cover of the Memorial Day Ceremony program.If you’d like to come to Metuchen on Monday for the parade, here’s some details:The parade starts at 10 a.m., rain or shine, at the Pearl Street parking lot. It travels north to Middlesex Ave, then turns right on Main Street, right on High Street, and right on Lake Avenue. The parade ends at Memorial Park, and will be followed by a brief ceremony.By the way, I fully recommend Memorial Day events in Metuchen. It is a highlight on our calendar, and puts us on the worldwide map as a small town that won’t forget the sacrifices that give us so many freedoms.
We love downtown Metuchen! There are so many fun things to do. What’s the Scoop is our favorite place for ice cream.
Variety Village is our favorite place for just about everything else! In case you haven’t heard, there’s going to be a new owner soon.I was in the store today and Tommy (the owner, always smiling, above) was telling me about the expected changes. Tommy, I know for a fact that my kids will never forget the joy of walking downtown to go to Variety Village. It’s so sad that you’re leaving, but I wish you well on your new adventures, whatever they may be.
Back at the Shaver yard, here’s another “mamarazzi” picture. I love it, fill-flash and all!
Speaking of fill-flash, this picture simply would not have worked without it. When you’re working with children, you have to be prepared for anything! And believe me, they don’t give you very many second chances if you miss the shot the first time. (Well, at least my kids don’t.)
Gregory took this picture! Didn’t he do a great job? This one is a prime example of a picture taken at the worst time of day — high noon in full sun with half the subject’s face in shadow. Yuck! But, thanks to Gregory’s subtle flash, the picture isn’t a total loss. I get precious few with me in them, and even fewer with Bradley actually smiling! Thanks, Gregory!
See ya’ll at the parade on Monday!
Peace,
~jules
P.S. The fun day you see in my family Memorial Day weekend slide show was created entirely on foot. I did not spend a dime on gas or get inside a car except to look for my missing flash.
I LOVE LIVING IN METUCHEN!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 12:01 am
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
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
