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
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
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
All natural light from a window, camera right, and another one behind Bradley, camera left.
I turned the lamp on, and man, what a difference! Not sure which one I like better. Still, it’s interesting to study how light changes everything. I think the bottom one is more dramatic, and the top one is more natural. Hmmm, which one do you like better?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:42 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
Eleven days after Easter: Can you see the drama of the dogwood watch? From a distance, I would never have noticed that this tree is on the verge of beginning to blossom.
Zooming in on the same picture, I see a hundred bullet pointers! (That’s what pointers that have little round dots on the end are called in info-graphics.) Is it just me, or are you just as excited as I am to see all those dots turn into big beautiful flowers? It’s a yearly miracle!
What do you think: is that the moon above or the sun?
I was trying to get both buds in focus but seriously blur the background.
Shifting just a little in my frame, I get the fireplace blurred in the background instead of the arborvitae. Wow, it really changes the whole look of the picture. Backgrounds, even blurry ones, are SO important!
(This is the picture above, zoomed in really close.)
Months before we started to see leaves emerging, and the coloring up of the petals, and the slightest hint of the petals beginning to open, this one bud was inside that tree, ever so slowly pushing through. I think of trees as being asleep in the winter, almost lifeless. But that’s SO not true! The miracle is happening. I just can’t see it until the dawn of spring.
I wonder what other little miracles like that are happening all around me right now that I’m missing. What else is just below the surface? My dogwood is reminding me to slow down, rest, appreciate the miracle of starting again.
We have five super-official guesses as to how long it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter — April 13.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 days. (Since that milestone has come and gone, my alter ego is the big loser.)
Brad and Heidi both said 17 days — April 9.
Carolina Girl said 23 days after Easter — April 15.
Jeff from Linden said 40 days — May 2. (Love the symbolism of “40 days.”)
What’s your guess?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:15 am
Ten days after Easter: The baby leaves on the dogwood we’ve been watching are so colorful! We still have only 4 guesses as to how long it will take our dogwood to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 (not a chance).
Brad and Heidi both said 17. Leave a comment with your guess! (Or not. Brad, Heidi and I can duke it out over 17 days or not 17.)
Here’s why I love plant photography: I make myself get out of my comfort zone and shoot using settings I don’t want to “chance” when I’m photographing families (and don’t want to miss a great shot just because I was fiddling around with my tried-and-true settings).
In the one above, I was shooting at a very low ISO setting on my camera (LO.3, which is equivalent to ISO100) at f/11 on full screen metering, which means that the camera will average the light over the entire frame. I usually shoot at low f-stop numbers like f/2 for a seriously blurry background, and often shoot using spot meter, which tells the camera to adjust the light in the frame based on my focal point. This one worked nicely. I think I’ll try that at my next shoot!
Immediately after taking yesterday’s dogwood shot with that f/11 setting, I went to Bradley’s track meet and happened to come up on the coach’s group shot. Cool! That f/11 setting was perfect for that shot! Bradley’s in the center of this picture, but that’s less than a third of the whole team. That’s a huge track team!
I was shooting through a fence, which accounts for the strange light in these pictures. (Still f/11, but the coach is far closer to me than the team.)
So cool when I know somebody on the opposing team! Hey sweetie!
In case you’re new to the blog, Bradley is “the tall one.”
He’s also the one whose entire family stalked him at the shot-put event.
I have no idea what’s going on in this picture. CAPTION REQUEST!!! Leave a comment with a caption that makes us laugh.
This one may have something to do with the previous one. I really don’t know.
** Ok, CONFESSION TIME **
We stood there for, I swear, like 20 minutes in the FREEZING COLD waiting to watch Bradley throw the dang shot-put, and in an effort to pass the time and keep warm, Gregory ran around messing with Mike, and I took pictures of them, and when I turned back around, Bradley was back at the end of the line again.
I COMPLETELY MISSED IT!!!!!!!!!!
wait…
wait…
shiver…
wait…
…Mamarazzi’s doing the happy dance!
Gotcha, Bradley!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
Sometimes it’s hard for me to visualize how my pictures will look up on the wall. So I designed templates in photoshop that allow me to change the wall color, and put pictures up on a virtual wall so I can get an idea how they all work together.
Above, I’m showing Janet a layout for the sitting area at the top of her stairs. This is a family unportrait as an 11×14 print matted in a 16×20 black frame and three unmatted 4×6 prints in black frames.
Janet sent me a snapshot of the wall she wanted to put pictures on, so I had an idea of the space and where the light would come from. Here’s the snapshot she sent me, below:
I estimated the space needed to hang the frames at around 36 inches wide by 24 inches tall. In most of the examples shown below, my clients would purchase the prints from me, and buy frames from any standard decorating store or frame shop.
Janet sent me this one too, above, and I figured she could use another layout for the opposite wall.
This is a much smaller display, and could either be used on that opposite wall, to the right, or, it could be used on the window wall, to the left of the window, as a full corner of Family Art with the plan to decorate the opposite wall similarly after her family’s next photo shoot.
Janet sent me this one of a wall in the master bedroom above a couch. Isn’t that so cool she has a couch in the master bedroom? I love it! I love being able to visualize the available space, and what the photographs would be hanging above or beside.
In this case, I felt that simplicity was in order, so I chose black and white pictures, and emphasized the relationships between mom and dad and each child.
Isn’t Janet GORGEOUS? WOW!
The side images are ones I know Janet loves: one of her and her daughter on the trampoline, and one of her husband and son checking out trucks in the dining room. These are 4×6 prints matted in 8×10 frames for a larger white mat, giving that wall a little extra contrast and light.
Those frames can be found online and in many stores like Kohl’s and Michael’s. You can also buy mats with smaller mat openings for 8×10 and larger frames at places like Michael’s and Pearl Arts & Crafts.
Above, here’s another way to showcase those same images, but this time, the layout would work well above a king or queen headboard. I changed the wall color just to demonstrate how easy it is to visualize wall displays in different rooms. Notice also that I used 8×10 prints in 11×14 frames for the side images in this one.
Janet also asked for a layout of images for her daughter’s room. I poked through the image gallery from their photo shoot to see if I could remember what the wall color was, and I believe it’s a very soft yellow. I also remember that there isn’t a lot of wall space in her room because of awesome architectural details like angled ceilings.
But there was a nice empty space above the twin bed, on its long side (not above the headboard, but above the bed itself) and there was space above the dresser.
I like big prints because they look so awesome, but Janet could easily take this layout and use smaller images — a 5×7 as the centerpiece and 4×6’s as the side images. Still, I’m certain the larger display will look more like wall art and less like snapshots so I say GO FOR IT!
And then I started to think: What if they painted the wall pink since I was there last? Here you go! PINK WALLS!
Above, a layout for her son’s room. When I was there last, his wall was a neutral taupe color, but this layout would work on just about any color wall because the colors of their images were so great with the colors of the fall leaves!
Applying my new wall display system to other clients, I started to wonder what it might look like for a client who is stuck with white walls in an apartment where painting isn’t allowed. Above, look how easy it is for me to change both the wall color and the mat color in a consultation with my clients!
My new templates are SO easy to work with! I made a huge Photoshop file with masks for the actual sizes, and everything from the frames to the mats to the images are proportioned as they would be for an actual wall display. (Then I sized the whole thing down so it would be workable on a smaller scale.)
Of course, the actual frame size depends on the width of the frame you buy, but this gives you a great visualization of how it might look to put certain images together at various sizes.
Above, the last time was at Kate’s house, she asked for advice on displaying images of her children above her upright piano on a wall painted a deep rust color. At the time, I could only imagine black and white images working in that space, but now that I’ve put it together, I love the colors!
In this case, I used my favorite image/frame combo, a 19×13 image in a black 26×20 frame. I call this my “JWS Signature Print.” I special-order these frames because I LOVE them! Displayed under very high quality UV-coated acrylic, the print will last hundreds of years. It’s a very light substance, too, so even though it’s a large frame, it’s not heavy and is perfect for display in a child’s room, family room or playroom! (For blog readers who attend my church, this is the frame I used to display that awesome image from The Last Supper dramatization. It’s still on display in the Narthex.)
Here’s another focal point display idea for a richly painted wall. One large “JWS signature print” surrounded by 6×4 prints in 8×10 frames.
Bookmark the blog and come back often for more wall display ideas!
And remember: when you’ve got beautiful images of your family, you have no need for Rockwell! If you take the time to build a display, I promise that you will cherish your Family Art for decades. Think about all the benefits:
* Beautiful images of YOUR family.
* If you want, you can keep those images up and add to the display over the years, OR, you can update the images as your family grows.
* Trust me when I say that your friends and family will be WOWED by your Family Art! The bigger the better, I say!
Coming soon: more canvas gallery wraps, storyboard displays and other fun ideas! And keep in mind that if you’re having trouble deciding which images will work best together on your wall, send me a list of favorites, measurements of the wall space you’d like to decorate, the wall color or a snapshot of the space you’d like to hang your family art, and I’ll post some ideas for you too!
And to my wonderful clients, Janet and Kate, THANKS for lending me your adorable children and asking my advice about wall displays. I am so thrilled to be able to offer this service to all my clients now! You’re the best!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:13 am
My Lenten Promise has nothing to do with my dogwood tree, but I couldn’t resist posting that gorgeous picture of today’s bud! I’m having lots of fun every morning inspecting the tree for signs of blossoming.
For all you budding photography pros out there, I fully recommend taking pictures of plants and trees as a way to learn the settings of your camera.
And now…
MY LENTEN PROMISE
February 5 was the last day I let myself waste time doing senseless computer nonsense. Namely, this nonsense was in the form of a photography forum I visited quite often.
When I was first starting out, I needed that forum of professional photography colleagues to help me figure things out. It was a valuable business tool and worth the time I spent searching the forum for answers to the many questions I had.
But as my participation in the forum grew, and I developed friendships with people, I eventually came to realize that I was using “downtime” to sift the forum, entering into thread discussions that really had nothing to do with my business or my photography. In short, I was WASTING TIME!
Considering the fact that I work roughly 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, and still have a long list of tasks to accomplish, I CAN’T AFFORD TO WASTE TIME!
So I prayed about it, asking God to help me control my downtime. The answer came quickly: Ban yourself from the forum, child!
So I banned myself from the forum.
Starting at midnight at the beginning of Ash Wednesday through Easter, I promised myself I would not use downtime unwisely by going on the forum. That was my Lenten Sacrifice.
In my personal world view, though, Lent should not be a time of sacrifice solely for personal gain, but a time of sacrifice that ultimately betters the world or community around oneself.
At first, it was hard not checking out the forum because clicking over to the site had become a habit — something I would do when I just needed a “minute” to myself. Problem was, it was never just a minute!
The image above shows my computer screen and a sticky note I began as a diary of my addiction withdrawal. As you can see, I only wrote for the first three days. After that, I forgot all about it. While I do miss my forum friends, I can’t say that I miss the forum at all.
I’ve become so much more productive and focused during Lent, and I’ve found that I’ve been able to get so much more done! I completed several custom coffeetable book designs which my clients LOVE, scheduled extra shoots I didn’t think I’d have time for, designed birth announcements and thank you cards, revised my contracts, designed a new newsletter, and the list goes on and on!
But the accomplishment of which I’m most proud is the rehearsal tapes Web site I developed for my choir. Using rehearsal tapes provided by our director, I developed a system for uploading the music so that anyone can practice our anthems at home with the choir director singing each part — soprano, alto, tenor, bass — as a separate mp3 file! Members of the children’s choirs are enjoying it too because they can sing their church songs at home for their parents! It’s great for me because now I get to spend any “downtime” learning my alto part! The director loves it because she’ll be able to spend less rehearsal time teaching notes and rhythms and more time on precision and balance. I LOVE IT, and the feedback I’m getting from the choir members, from age 4 through 74 is that the rehearsal site is WAY COOL and SERIOUSLY HELPFUL! I can even download the songs to my iPod and sing on the train (inside my head, of course), and one of the choir members volunteered to burn CDs of the music for choir members who don’t have computers!
YAY!
My Lenten Promise turned out to be a grand success!
Plus, I’ve had more time to take fun pictures of the beautiful trees God gave us!
I don’t know about you, but I think that bud is dangerously close to popping!
Thank you, God, for giving me the Biblical example of Christ’s sacrifice, empowering me to thoughtfully examine my place in the world and what is expected of me, and to realize that Your gift of time on earth is not to be wasted.
Amen.
Coming tomorrow on my Walk: A Day of Reflections
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 3:12 pm
In the Living Dramatization of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” an event at my church last night, worshippers entered the Sanctuary just after Jesus spoke the words from Matthew 26:21 “…Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me.” This is the point at which Leonardo created his famous painting, and the point at which the dramatization began.
I was in the back balcony, taking pictures only during the songs with no flash. I took the picture above with my Nikon D3 on ISO 6400, f/3.2 at shutter speed 1/160 seconds. Focal length: 52 mm. The lights in the Sanctuary were very low; the actors on the edges were in shadows creating quite a lighting difference between “Jesus” in the center, and “Simon” on the far right and “Nathaniel” on the far left.
You can see the picture above as a 13×19 print displayed in the First Presbyterian Church of Metuchen Narthex on Easter Sunday.
This one realistically depicts the lighting, and how far back I was, except the camera makes it seem as though the chandeliers were bright, and they were actually dimmed quite a lot.
I could switch lenses and get closer too.
“Jesus,” right, stared straight ahead for entire length of the program.
The dramatization explored the instant emotional tumult the disciples might have felt just after Jesus spoke of the impending betrayal. One by one, each man broke his pose and delivered a soliloquy revealing his inner thoughts, ultimately questioning who the guilty one was, and each one ending with “Is it I?” before resuming his pose in Leonardo’s painting.
When I said I only took pictures during the songs, I lied! Yikes! I did take this one during “Philip’s” monologue as a way to illustrate the point of the dramatization.
We either need a slightly shorter table, or a spotlight.
In this one, I did a little photoshop work to see if I could even out the lighting by blending two versions of the same picture. I bumped the exposure up for the end with “Simon,” and darkened the side with “Matthew,” but I didn’t bother disguising the line between the two exposures because I think it looks kind of interesting, like a rainbow. I’m sure you can see it.
Here’s what it really looked like, with no exposure tweaking in photoshop. If you go back to the image at the top of this post, I bet you can’t see that line. I photoshopped it out on the picture I wanted to make as a big print. Sneaky, huh? (But it’s possible you can see a subtle line in the print.)
Click here for a little slide show of the split second after the actors finally were allowed to break pose.
To all involved in the production: EXCELLENT job! From the costumes to the backdrop to the acting, posing and music, it was a very moving service. Thank you for all your hard work!
Yesterday, I promised an update on the dogwood’s progress. Will she blossom in time for Easter? I seriously doubt there’s any chance we’ll see even a hint of blossoming by Sunday but I’ll keep watch, just in case.
Above, that’s her mugshot for today. Not much different from Monday, except the sun has gone away. Coming tomorrow on my walk through Holy Week: my Lenten promise.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:36 am
