St. Jude's Hospital for Children (Benefit)
CJP is creating a promotion for the benefit of St. Jude's Children's Hospital, a place where children with cancer and other catestrophic diseases are never turned away because they can't afford treatment. If you join our Littles By Charles program between now and April 15th for $40/year, we will ask you to write your check to St. Jude's instead of us. We will do any number of Littles sessions for you for a full year and St. Jude's will get the benefit. If you prefer to create an heirloom wall portrait using the full CJP services, your entire $200 studio or $300 location creation fee can be written to St. Jude's instead of to CJP. Please remember that most charities are hurting this year, so your participation is especially important. You're helping a great cause and you're getting a great portrait for yourself. Contact us for details 703-216-8878 or info @ charlesjablow.com

Enjoy Your Wedding Planning
Planning a wedding can be a lot of fun, but at times can be a little stressful. As you may have already found out, there are so many details to consider. But shouldn't the planning be fun rather than a chore?

Consider this, the way to take the stress out of your wedding day is to plan, and that means a written plan. If you've been planning this in your head since you were a little girl, you're no doubt finding that the real planning is a bit more difficult. But please remember to try to have fun and don't try to solve everything with money. Spending more money on a vendor does not necessarily guarantee better quality every time, either. Here are some suggestions: Make this a group activity: mother-daughter, or bride-maid of honor - bridesmaids, or something similar. If this isn't your forte, consider a wedding planner or a day-of-coordinator. Try to see 2-4 vendors in each category, don't get carried away with too many or you'll make this too big a job. You can get recommendations from other vendors, such as those on our "Great Vendors" web page. Have a great time, but don't agonize too much about making it perfect. Things will go wrong and do go wrong quite frequently. Remember, it's about the marriage, not the perfect Hollywood movie of a wedding. Then you'll have fun.

New for Weddings "Try Before You Buy"

CJP has a "Try us before you buy us" program. If you'd like to have a free engagement session and an incredible video slide show from it, all free, contact us to see if you're eligible for this program. What better way to meet us and see the real difference in how photographers work and capture your true, emotional love story. Forget the words, forget the hype, go find out the real deal here. Call or email us today.

 

Video, Bands, Lighting

CJP has now partnered with Washington's Entertainment Connection to bring you the best in photography while providing you the best source for live Rock, Jazz and Folk bands for your special event. In addition to great bands, this agency provides spectacular lighting services, and you would allow you access to the best music consultant in the Washington area, Brian Choper. He can assist you to find the perfect band for your Wedding or B'nai Mitzvah (they have a very famous Klezmer group and a great rock band). Check them out at www.washingtonsentertainmentconnection.com


Charles Jablow can now handle all your video needs. Have you been looking for the perfect source for BOTH video AND photography. Look no more. Charles Jablow is your one stop shop. By hiring videographers and photographers from us, we guarantee a coordinated production where the photos and the video will compliment one another.

How to Make a H.S. Senior Happy

It's that time in a H.S. Junior's life when their self-image is changing, their body is changing, their looks are changing, and their ideas are changing. It's a very trying time for both teens and parents, who sometimes wonder if anything can make their teen happy any more. And soon, the teen will be entering college and possibly moving away from home. It's parents' last chance to get some good portraits of their kids, but the kids don't want the stiff, formal pictures that they imaging their parents like.

CJP is doing H.S. Senior Portraits now. The time to do it is when your teen is a junior rather than wait until the senior year. We have teen pleasers and parent pleasers, so you'll both be happy. We are one of the few photographers doing groups, so if your daughter or son wants to get a group of friends to all come to us, we'll do additional images of their groups at no additional charge. They will treasure these photographs long after high school is over, and so will their parents. Help them look like a model - no experience necessary. Call now to learn more 703-216-8878.

B'nai Mitzvah
We have just come back from two Simcha Showcase events and listened to a lot of parents looking to plan their child's bar or bat mitzvah, and they have a lot of questions. They want to have a great party for their child, but in today's economy, they need to be more careful with their money. We are seeing a trend to have a bit less excess and, at the same time, preserve the religious and social aspects that make this such a special time. CJP has come up with some new and cost-effective packages, too, which many families are finding strikes the right balance between getting great coverage and keeping costs in line. Please feel free to ask us.



While many of our clients are ready for a great wall portrait of their family, what do you do about those years in between where you need the children photographed but just want regular prints, not a wall portrait? Littles by Charles is the answer, a lower-cost program with a few restrictions, and just the right level of investment. Our clients asked for it and we listened. Check it out with a phone call. It can be used for children or family.

Call Us Today (703) 734-7000
contact us: info @ charlesjablow.com

Personally Speaking
Now that we're located in my house, my cat Jade is greeting all our clients when they arrive. Cat Ballou hardly ever does - she's too shy.

Well, the snow around here in Falls Church has almost melted and I'm back on my regular 2-mile runs several times a week. It feels good to finally get out again and do a little physical activity. Photography today has me sitting in front of a computer entirely too many hours. I love what I do, but we all have to have a few interests. I'm not playing keyboards in bands as much as I usually do, so I'm visiting my friend Mike's basement once a week to play jazz with friends and strangers. And I'm learning to play the bass, using a book about James Brown's bass players. Once I add some computer software jobs to the above, I'll really have no time left, but I'll be doing all the things I love best.

Thanks for reading our newsletter and listening. We'll have a new one for you soon.