WHY

* You love autumn in New York.
* You love unique beautifully designed Christmas Cards.
* You’re totally bummed that my fall schedule booked up so quickly this year.
* You’re psyched at this opportunity to take fall pictures of your family in Central Park!

WHAT

Because I love autumn in New York as much as you do, I am hoping to schedule five mini family sessions on that day. It’s a win-win because you get beautiful pictures to share with family and friends, and I get to take beautiful pictures in Central Park! As a bonus, you also get 50 custom-designed holiday cards!

WHEN

Sat., Nov. 3, 2007

WHERE

Central Park, at a specific location to be announced.

WHO

You and your family or small group of friends, up to 6 people.

HOW MUCH

$395 includes 45 minutes of casual lifestyle photography, a unique Christmas Card pre-design and 50 printed cards with envelopes! Cards are printed on luxurious art linen paper. No two card designs are alike. My clients and their extended families and friends RAVED about my holiday cards last year. Your card can include black and white images, color images, your custom message, a storyboard, and can list the ages of your children if you like. But, not to worry if this sounds too complicated for you. Julie does EVERYTHING! All you have to do is smile and say, “that looks good to me!”

THE DETAILS

Each mini session will include 50 unique greeting cards custom designed by Julie. In addition, 15 to 20 images will be presented in a private online gallery. Your gallery will include group and individual pictures of your family or friends created in Julie’s distinctive style. Print prices begin at $10 for a 5×5 mounted photograph, lustre coated and printed at Julie’s favorite high-quality professional lab and ready in time for holiday gift-giving. Gorgeous canvas gallery wraps and other large print and framing options are also available. Greeting cards are available in sets of 25 with envelopes, so if you need more than 50 cards, please ask for a custom quote.

SCHEDULING YOUR SESSION

I will schedule five sessions on Nov. 3, each beginning and ending on time, so don’t be late!
*9-9:45 – booked and confirmed
*10-10:45 – booked and confirmed
*2-2:45 – booked and confirmed
*3-3:45 – booked and confirmed
*4-4:45 – booked and confirmed
I know traffic can be a problem, so plan to arrive a half hour earlier than your session time, using any extra time to relax, have some water and a snack, and tidy up before your photography begins. Sessions will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis, so choose a time slot and e-mail me today! If your chosen slot is available, payment in full is required within 4 days. (If not received in 4 days, the slot opens up to another family.) I accept credit card payments through my online store, so if you’d like to pay by credit or debit card, just let me know.

THE RAIN QUESTION

If it’s cloudy or misty, we will shoot anyway. Bring colorful (solid color) umbrellas! But if it’s a deluge on Saturday, we will shoot on Sunday, Nov. 4. KEEP BOTH DAYS OPEN! If it’s raining that date too, all money will be refunded. Cancellation policy:
* Full refund for reservations cancelled with more than 7 days’ notice.
* 50 percent refund for reservations cancelled within 3-7 days. If your time slot can be filled, you will receive a full refund.
* No refund for reservations cancelled with less than 3 days’ notice unless your time slot is filled by another family.

Call today to reserve your time!

EDIT: My good friend, Brad, just e-mailed to point out that Nov. 4, the back-up date, is the day of the NYC Marathon, so if it rains on Saturday, I’ll give you a choice of doing the back-up session on either Nov. 4 or Nov. 11. (Thanks, Brad! You’re such a sweetie for checking my blog!)

Watch this space closely because I’m working on a plan that will hopefully give five more families the chance to book me this fall for a very special Christmas Card offer. Save the date: NOVEMBER 3! Check back tomorrow!

I’m also working on a mini-session plan to help you get some beautiful magazine-style pictures of your little ones in their Halloween costumes. Be on the lookout for that.

And, realizing that the contests from last June were SO popular, I’m planning to continue that by posting random questions for fun prizes once in a while, so make sure you check in every day! Heidi, I have your $50 Olive Garden gift card so start planning your family dinner OUT! I’ll give it to you on Sunday!

One last thing: IT’S ALMOST FALL! And you all KNOW how I love beautiful pictures of autumn trees, so check in daily for those little random eye-feasts as well.

Ok, back to editing Sarah’s Bat Mitzvah. Can’t wait to show you those pictures!

Yesterday at church was what we call “Habitat Sunday.” That’s the Sunday when the youth group returns from their annual summer mission trip. This year, somewhere around 60 young people and 20 adults went to Cleveland to build houses with Habitat for Humanity.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of them, and all the adults, for putting their lives on hold for a week to go out in the world to help people. I am humbled by your sacrifice and grateful for your safe return.

Sunday morning, most of them were in church telling stories about how their lives were changed by the experience. To hear young people talk of doing something to make a difference in someone’s life, well, that’s one church service I can’t get through without a tissue. And while it’s wonderful to help others by building a safe and secure home, the mission trip is about far more than that.

Part of the reason for going is to inspire the youth to make it a life-long habit to pay attention to those who may be less fortunate, and to do whatever they can to help. Another reason is to educate the congregation at large about how we can use our resources — manpower, physical space, financial resources, prayer, building supplies, time and talent — to extend the love of God far beyond the walls of our church. There are many other positive aspects of the Habitat mission trip, and you can read lots more about that on the Habitat Web site.

As for me personally, I look forward to two years from now when Bradley will be old enough to go. I know the experience will be fun and educational for him. But also, secretly, I hope I get to go too. Bring on the rain, bring on the heat, bring on the tears — that sort of emotional story is just the kind of story I love to tell in my pictures.

So I figured I’d get an early start on my personal committment to Habitat by giving the Vacation Bible School parents the opportunity to support this wonderful cause when they buy prints from the VBS galleries.

HERE’S HOW TO ORDER PRINTS
Each VBS slide show has a gallery icon at the bottom right corner. It looks like a square with a bunch of little squares inside. Click that icon. Then click on any thumbnail image. That allows you to see the pictures individually. Each picture’s filename is shown at the bottom. It looks like this: “vbs-thu-053.”

Each print will be mounted on mat board. This makes it easy to frame, or you can simply stand the print up at your desk at work with no frame or stick a magnet on the back and put it on your fridge. Way more durable than an unmounted print!

Suggested donation for a 5×7 is $10 each. Suggested donation for an 8×10 is $20 each. You must place your order with me by September 18.

Make your check out to: “First Presbyterian Church” and marked “YOUTH MISSION” in the memo field. This insures that your donation will directly benefit the Habitat mission project.

Send your check, along with the filenames of the images you want to order to me (Jelly) at 610 Main Street, Metuchen, NJ, 08840. Make certain you tell me what SIZE you want! Please include your phone number and e-mail address in your letter!

(Please keep in mind that no toning changes will be made — if the image is presented as black and white in the gallery, it can’t be printed as a color image.)

On September 19th, I will send one big order to the lab. When the prints arrive a few days later, I will send a mass email letting everone know the prints are in, and you can pick yours up at the church office in the First Presbyterian Church Social Center. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Let me know if you need the username and password to get into the slide shows. And I can’t wait until I can go on the Habitat trip myself. Now THAT’LL be one awesome slide show!

All my love, Jelly

The good new is that my business has really taken off, thanks to so many wonderful referrals by my previous clients! Thank you all SO much!

And thanks to that increasing demand (I’m booked through August, and have limited availability in September and October), I’ll be raising my prices as of July 15.

So for all of you who have been considering booking a session, call me now and you can still take advantage of current pricing!

Check out www.juliewaltonshaver.com send me e-mail (julie[at]juliewaltonshaver.com), or give me a call — 732.261.1075 today! I’ll be happy to give you the link to my current info packet. But hurry because spaces are filling fast!


Thanks again for all your support!

Just a reminder that I offer gift certificates. Here’s a sample of a customized card. If you are a former client of mine, I’ll use a photo from your session, and we’ll work together to get the wording just right. Then I’ll print it out and put it in a 5×7 scroll frame, all wrapped and ready to give. You determine the amount of the gift, but I recommend $300 for a family session. That gives the giftee enough for a full shoot and enough of a credit to buy several prints or to use toward something larger, like a handbag, a large canvas, a mounted storyboard, or a coffeetable book. Please be sure to stress to your giftee not to wait too long to call me though. My calendar for holiday shoots in August through November is starting to fill up for the weekends.

If you haven’t already, take a look at my new site and let me know what you think! Remember, I’m keeping a tally of clients, prospective clients and friends who leave the most (legitimate) comments through the month of June. Please note that I have the discretion to delete comments that don’t make any sense or are redundant.

The winner at the end of the month will receive a special prize (to be determined). Suggestions welcome, though don’t expect a BMW unless you like HotWheels!

Oh, one more thing for those still reading: my clients will attest to the fact that there are special perks for those of you who send your friends to my Web site, so be sure to mention in your comment post who it was that told you about my photography!:)

Can you tell I’m REALLY excited about my new Web site?
Woo hoo!!

First of all, everybody say hi to Laci (the beautiful little girl in the new home page picture). She’ll be making her appearance in a slide show in a few days, so be sure to check back to see her, her mom, her grandmother and her great grandmother at Bradley Beach! I can’t wait to show their pictures! They’re so beautiful!

Secondly, check me OUT! The new beautiful Web site of my dreams is LIVE!

I’m SO excited! Click the picture and take a tour! Be sure to check the blog every day in June because I’ll be offering all sorts of “first-responder” specials — be the first person* to respond and you could win a free or discounted family session! You’ll need to know a few things to win, so be sure to pay close attention! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the new site. I hope you love it because I LOVE it! (Praying it works for you though.)

There may also be special prizes for my former and pending clients who leave the most comments, and for potential clients who try the most often, so even if you’re not the first to respond, I’m keeping a tally! Have fun!

Oh, and Laci, for being such a wonderful model for me and ending up as the feature image on my new Web site, you win a free hard cover coffeetable storybook with your beautiful images inside and discounts on duplicates for all those great women in your life! Congratulations!

*To win a discounted family session, you will need to be located within 5 miles of ZIP code 08840, or be willing to travel to within 5 miles of ZIP code 08840. Free and discounted sessions do not include a print credit.

See you on the blog!

I’ve been working hard on a new Web site for the last week or so. Actually, new everything! New images in the galleries, bigger display, lots more information. Oh and a new logo too, inspired by love: my love for family lifestyle photography and my love for trees! Free 8×10 to the first former client to comment on specifically what the shape represents. I’m SO excited about the launch!

After the move, the Web site will be at the same address, but while it’s moving over, there may not be anything here at all. Yikes! So write down my number and call if you need to reach me, or email me at this address: jwsphoto@gmail.com.

Thanks for your patience! Be sure to check back in for the new site because it’s going to ROCK! (Plus, hint hint, I’ll be offering some specials through the blog!)

Oh, and pardon our appearance while we figure out what happened to our images and comment links! Computers. Ugh.

Everybody’s talking about 777. Just think: there won’t be another wedding date to come close to that lucky number for 70 more years! So, I just thought I’d let you know I’m not booked yet for that date. Pass it on to your friends!

My friend, Caroline Hotmer, took this picture of Bradley, Gregory and me way back in 2004. I LOVE this picture. I love it so much that I’ve got variations of it all over the place — this one, I “bespeckled,� going for a cool effect for a Christmas card idea. (I ended up using photos of the boys instead of this one.) I have variations of this photo in my wallet, one in a heart frame on my bedside table, one in the front of my Quotes and Thoughts book. Point is, a good picture that you love NEVER gets old.

Here’s another one that I love. When Bradley was 2-and-a-half, Mike dressed Bradley up (and Mike put on a tie — because he KNOWS how I love him in a white shirt and tie) and they went to one of those mall stores to get some pictures of the two of them for my Mother’s Day present.

Only my Japanese Red Maple tree (Mother’s Day, 1999) comes in at a close second to this beautiful picture!

So, dads, if you don’t know what to get your wife for Mother’s Day, I know just the thing: a beautiful framed picture of you with your children.

Trust me, she will cherish it forever! But don’t stop there, because we moms like pictures of ourselves with our children too.

Here’s the deal: Arrange for a mini photo session with me before April 30 — just you and your kids. We’ll pick your favorite image and frame it for your wife. I’ll design a personalized gift certificate for a full family session using another one of your photos. I’m NOT KIDDING, if you do this for your wife, you will be KING DAD for the next DECADE.

Now dads, I know you hate having your picture taken. But we moms LOVE pictures of our kids, and we love their dads, and we almost never get any pictures in the family album that have ALL of us in the same picture together, so just buck it up and do this for her.

More details and pricing in my info packet, at the bottom of page 2. All you have to do is call me, we’ll meet in a park, take a few shots, then voila! — you get two 5×7 framed images (one print and one gift certificate) all wrapped up and ready in time for Mother’s Day! You also get a $50 print credit which can easily take care of your own mom! See that? One afternoon with me, and not only is your mother’s day shopping DONE, but you would have racked up enough brownie points with the two most important women in your life to last for YEARS!

Better call today — spaces are filling up fast.

MOMS, feel free to shoot me an email and I’ll find a discreet way of letting your husband know this is what you want for Mother’s Day!