happy friday!

Austin and I woke up at 430 on Wednesday morning to go and see Comet Ison. We were all excited as we drove the 15 minutes, waited for another 30 minutes for nothing but clouds. Austin was less than thrilled. But, hey, it was a bonding experience, right? I ended up at the airport for one last attempt to see the comet, and only got a picture of a plane, which turned out pretty dang cool, if I say so myself.

Today was spent laying in bed, watching tv and doing a whole lot of nothing. I hate shopping on black Friday. Too many sales, too many people, and too many unhappy employees. 

Excited for the weekend! Check back in on Monday!

turkey day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did! My dad and I started out the day at the local Turkey Trot. We did the two mile race (they only had the two mile or a 10k and I am not in shape to do a 10k.) Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, my whole family comes to my house and we visit and talk and eat. Catching up on the year and talking about plans for the future. Plus I get to take a family photo, which is my favorite part. It is so fun to look back and see how much we change. (Plus, they make for wonderful TBT's lol.) I took tons of cute photos of Kylie that I cannot wait to share. So look out for those in the near future. Although, she always looks cute! How cute is her little face in that photo above?

Safe travels this weekend 

XX

Landon

Finally getting around to editing photos I've had for about a month now. We visited Kelsey and Clinton and baby Landon the last time I was home. How adorable is he? And he was the happiest baby, never crying just giggling and smiling.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Turkey Day tomorrow! Happy Holidays!

XO

Tom Brown Park

So I had a super busy day today, and I have a super busy day planned tomorrow including a session (YAY!). These photos are from last week when Mar and I went location scouting. This is at Tom Brown Park - if you live in Tallahassee, you guys should definitely check it out sometime! I am hoping to edit a couple of photos from my session with Erika tonight, and have a sneak preview (most likely on Thursday) of my session tomorrow!

Thanks guys for keeping up with me. My blog is finally, finally starting to get noticed by more and more clients and I hope that Julia Ray Photography will begin doing even more sessions! So, if you want to book a holiday session please email me so we can set that up. Things are looking up from here.

XOXO Julia

Alexandria

I finally finally finished the photos for Alex! She is such a beautiful model and now living in New York! Alex is going to be a big name one day and I am so glad I got to shoot some photos for her beforehand. Good luck in NYC girl!

Strawberry Pie

I made Strawberry Pie for the Thanksgiving party I am going to tonight. How cute is this pie, because I think it is pretty darn cute! But let me warn you, it took 2.5 hours to make, plus I dirtied a lot of dishes! Find the full recipe here. I couldn't find the pillsbury pie crust that comes in a box so I made my own (for the hearts) from this recipe. I was thinking about it, and I should of cut the hearts from sugar cookie dough instead. If anyone tries that version let me know how it turns out!

Also, I used two full boxes of the strawberries from Publix, and I sliced them rather than cutting into chunks (does it really matter?). I also just dusted the top with granulated sugar, I mean who needs to purchase 'sanding sugar' anyhow. Sugar is sugar, right?

I will have a post everyday this week in honor of Thanksgiving week, plus I have a lot of pictures to take of family, so no blog post shall be boring. Promise. Hope everyone has safe travels! If you guys are cooking anything special (or new) hope it turns out well!

XOXO

location scouting

Mar and I went location scouting today for a photoshoot we are doing on Monday. We found the perfect location with the perfect fall colors. It will be great! I am so excited. She actually took this photo. I took quite a few as well and will probably be posting sooner or later - I just absolutely loved this one so much. Cannot believe today is over and I am so excited for my three day weekend!

panorama

After I did a panorama for The Pod, I wanted to do one for myself. I took a series of photos from the last time I was home. I miss waking up to this gorgeous view every day!

Thank goodness it is Wednesday. I have a test tomorrow and then I am golden. Headed home next week for Thanksgiving and I promise posts next week will be way better than this week. Thanks for putting up with me. The end of the semester is the hardest time for students! So glad this one is almost over. Happy hump day!

alexandria

Editing photos for Alex this week! I will have them done by this weekend (cross your fingers for me please). Thanksgiving break cannot come fast enough.

Alex just moved to NYC and these are going to be used for her portfolio! I am so excited for her and cannot wait to share the rest with you guys :)

homecoming

Lauren gets photo creds :)

Went to the homecoming game on Saturday! We had really great seats because we got there super early. One day I will get a press pass and go on the field!

I cannot believe how quickly the holidays have snuck upon us! Happy Monday!

a look ahead

I didn't post yesterday and I feel terrible, so, I am making up for it today! Lauren and I went to the homecoming game (pictures will be posted next week) and we saw four children(!) with huge professional cameras. I wish I had gotten the opportunity to start that young.

A couple of days ago, a reader messaged me on Facebook and was chatting about my blog and how she loves following along. We had a wonderful talk and I just wanted to thank my readers so much! In five months time this blog has gotten better and grown bigger. I am hoping to monopolize off of this success and grow even more within the next year. So thank you again! Before 2013 is up, I promise there will be big changes!

XO Julia

Behind-the-scenes at a photoshoot with the Peas

This is the final image The Pod created for a local Credit Union, Community South. This photo conveys a message in the very literal sense: get cash to finance this truck.

After admiring the final product, do you wonder what went into creating this image? Well, I did and I wanted to share the creative process that The Pod Advertising employs to create effective advertisements for the companies we represent.

First, we have a gigantic brainstorming session. This session includes all the Peas so that we can share ideas about the company and the purpose of the advertisement. Brainstorming allows us to sift through the great ideas and the not-so-great ideas. Once we pinpoint the best idea, one that is in line with the company’s branding and imaging, we begin researching.

The graphic design peas help with research and are able to then flesh out the exact ideas for the advertisement. This includes references for the final photo we want to create. For this particular advertisement, we needed to manifest cash – not only dollar bills, but life-size letters.  Instead of using real dollar bills, Marco our Creative Director, designed the dollar bills we used to resemble real dollar bills following all the rules found here: http://www.secretservice.gov/money_illustrations.shtml.

Next, came the manual labor. The letters were cut out of wood, and then styrofoam was glued on top of these letters. We had to
staple and glue each individual dollar bill onto the letters. We covered every inch of the life-size letters. As you can see it was a pretty intensive process, but exciting nonetheless.

We chose to create physical letters because of their uniqueness. A physical object calls upon other senses.  You don’t just see it, you actually experience it – this carries through to the printed version with a tangible difference.  Like with all of our efforts, our goal is that this advertisement stands out among the rest.

This is the blog post I created for the company I am interning at - The Pod Advertising. Just wanted to share! Happy Thursday! 

XO Julia 

Kylie Aspen

On Veterans Day, Chandlar and Shaq welcomed Kylie Aspen into the world! I was so happy I was in town and got to be at the hospital with everyone. Kylie is a gorgeous baby (with a full head of hair) and I absolutely love the name. Of course, I cannot wait to do newborn pictures - it is all so exciting! 

I am sure Kylie will become a regular feature!