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
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
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
Wow, I love Alison’s hair in this picture — and what a great dip! If you know Alison and Rob, and would like to see their slide show, leave a comment or send me email and I’ll hook you up with the link. It’s so cute!
Don’t they look like a jcrew ad or what?
Alison and Rob live in the Washington area, and asked me to do some custom “postcard shots.”
Here’s a postcard of the happy couple!
I have my reasons for throwing things off center sometimes. More to come in a separate blog post next week about that. Meanwhile, can you guess why I do that sometimes?
I had such a great time hanging out with these two! I can’t wait for the wedding! It’s going to be so much fun!
Love this one! You may recognize this couple from last year’s Metuchen Memorial Day pictures. Rob was one of the Grand Marshals in the parade, with Alison by his side.
They wanted to include their pets in their engagement session. That’s Toby.
This one totally cracks me up. See, we were hanging out with Toby in the parking lot when all of a sudden this woman, a stranger to all of us, slams the brakes on her car, jumps out, runs over to Toby and throws herself completely around the dog in a long, tight embrace. I love Alison’s reaction! I’m surprised Toby didn’t bite her! He’s such a good doggie!
So, here’s today’s contest question. Win Alison and Rob a free 8×10 by posting a comment with the correct answer.
Hint. Q: How many pets do Alison and Rob have?
Sort of another hint. Hints all over the slide show though because Alison has plans to print close ups of her babies’ faces as 5×5’s and frame them in large white mats for the living room. I love that idea! I love how Alison and Rob planned their engagement session to incorporate some of the places and the little family they love so much.
Thanks again, Alison and Rob! Can’t wait for July!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 12:18 pm
Nine days after Easter: I ran out yesterday to snap a few quick pictures of the dogwood we’ve been watching. Thanks to Brad and Heidi, we now have 4 guesses as to how long it will take for her to reach full blossom.
I said 21 days after Easter.
My Gemini alter ego said 11 (not gonna happen).
Brad said 17.
Then Heidi said 17 too. (Copycat.)
This bud has been brutally ripped open, probably by a squirrel or bird. Interesting to see a cutaway. It was probably something just like this that inspired the world’s first cutaway info-graphic.
I like this one because of the blooming honeysuckle in the background. It’s spring!
It’s challenging to keep taking pictures of dogwood buds. How do I keep it fresh? I tried to get a shot showing how windy it was, but it hasn’t worked just yet. Coming soon: nighttime shots!
When I came inside, I caught Kaptain Karl napping on my keyboard! Ugh!
He redeemed himself by posing for me.
“Turn this way, dip your chin slightly, now lift your left paw as if to plead, ‘Come hither, Twirly.’”
Twirly is too agile for the Kaptain.
This was the object of Karl’s affections yesterday.
If only he could get outside.
NOT gonna happen.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:38 am
This is Bradley’s aptly-named biosphere fish thingie, Tiny Tim. He’s a great pet. Requires ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, except basic daylight, and he comes to you if you call his name. “Tiny Tim, Tiny Tim!”
He fetched every one of those sticks in there. Seriously.
Meanwhile, out by the dogwood tree we’re following…
Eight days after Easter: It was a rainy day today, the eighth day in the dogwood countdown. Thanks to Brad, we now have three super-official guesses on the number of days it will be after Easter that the dogwood reaches full blossom.
I say 21.
My Gemini, overly optimistic, alter-ego says 11.
Brad says 17.
WAY TO GO, BRAD! You’re a KING for registering a guess and making me feel less lonely in my quest for guesses!
See all those seeds on the ground underneath the dogwood? (Feast for a chipmunk.) Thanks to the squirrels (who dump the seeds out by the grubby-little-clawfull) and the rain, my troubled little dogwood (read about her anthracnose and chlorosis troubles here) will be competing with a hundred different varieties of weeds later this spring! Whoopee!
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:33 am
Seven days after Easter: Kaptain Karl watches birds in the dogwood tree at sunrise.
This is Sunday’s picture of the dogwood we’ve been watching. We’re counting the number of days after Easter she blossoms. Still only one guess — mine. I said 21 days. This is not much of a guessing pool. Hey wait. I’m a Gemini. That means I get a guess for my other personality. My alter ego is far more optimistic — 11 days.
Sometimes I am so jealous of the Kaptain.
He gets to lay around and do nothing ALL the time.
It’s not fair.
Karlito is a little big for that cat tower though.
He’ll let you know in no uncertain terms if you get too close.
See?
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 6:30 am
Grandma Minnie’s family celebrated her birthday recently with a photo shoot! Lots of pictures below, and if you didn’t get a chance to see the sweet slide show yet, please email the family for the link. What a beautiful gift for the person who has everything!
I love the picture above! One of my new faves!
The room was totally dark except for a few candles on the cake and that table lamp way in the background. I took this shot with a high ISO and low shutter speed, with the camera just hand-held. (No tripod.) I love my new camera!
Isn’t Grandma Minnie beautiful? I love this untraditional portrait because of the children just hanging around in the background. Those are two of Minnie’s great grandchildren.
This one was taken earlier in the day with just window light. Again, it’s not a traditional portrait, but that’s what I like about it. I can’t help wondering what the baby is looking at.
We set up for some informal shots of the individual families, but I like to swing around and see what’s going on at the sidelines! I love this shot! So much depth and motion going on here, nice angles and I love the posture of Grandma Minnie and her grandson, John, sitting criss-cross on the floor. I wonder: how many times over the years has John sat at grandma’s feet just like that?
This is more of a traditional posed snapshot. What I love about it is the blurry people in the background.
We were so lucky that it snowed a few days before our shoot!
The kids had fun sledding.
See?
Sledding makes for great natural smile shots!
And I love the girls’ snow suits and fun hats!
No shortage of happy smiles, and these girls are getting used to the photo shoot routine. This is their third shoot with me!
Love the light in this one, and his sparkly eyes.
Later in the evening, he went around the room collecting $5 bills. NOW he’s smiling a natural smile! Love it!
Snow is a natural reflector. It really adds nice sparkles to eyes!
Of course, it helps if you have gorgeous eyes, like these two.
I love the snowball fight pictures with grandpa too.
This one is a classic. I remember eating off of a TV tray at my Grandmother’s house in Atlanta 30-something years ago, but I don’t have any pictures of that. I love this shot.
This one is my new favorite of all time! The little boy peeking from behind the piano is Grandma Minnie’s great grandson. Nobody prompted him to go back there; he was just hanging out listening to the music. And isn’t it SO COOL that Grandma Minnie still plays the piano at 97 years old!!
May we all be so blessed.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 11:05 am
If I had to pick a “best” season for headshots, it’s NOW. Why? Well, let’s take a moment to reflect on Kate’s cat, above.
She is perfectly happy sitting in the sun for her headshot. If it were summer, she’d be too hot. December? Too busy buying cat treats for kitty friends. Spring? Too many new little critters to chase around in the pale green leaves (which cast an icky reflection on human skin. Ew). Fall is good too, but second to fall, NOW is a great time!
If it were summer, do you think I’d be able to get Kate to wear that GREAT red sweater?
Plus, since I come to you for headshots, you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home (read: full access to your wardrobe). AND, I can’t help capturing the animals while I’m there. Check out the pets portfolio on my main web site. I LOVE shooting animals!
Wait. That didn’t come out right.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 1:01 pm
Squirrel swarm = day-at-the-matinee.
Besides these two duking it out for the coveted perch spots on my “squirrel-proof bird feeder,” there were at least two others pecking the ground for cast-offs of the best seeds.
So much for bird-watching, but at least Kaptain Karl is finally entertained. All he needs now is some cat-nipped popcorn.
posted by Julie Walton Shaver at 7:55 am
