>>SJ Friends and Family
At SJ Magazine, every cover has a story. And sometimes the behind-the-scenes story is as good as the one we print.
Vincenzo Barone
November 2001
Wow! Our earliest covers were totally different from today. The issue was tabloid size (so a lot bigger than now) and there were only three headlines. This early cover features Vincenzo Barone, who was 23 and had just opened his first restaurant in Collingswood (he now has 3!).
Vince Papale
August 2006
Papale was on a press tour for the Disney movie “Invincible,” so we scheduled this elegant photo at the Linc for the only opening he had: a Sunday morning at 8 am!
Real Anatomy
May 2007
Grey’s Anatomy was a huge hit on TV, so we found our own Meredith Grey: Cooper medical resident Alissa Brotman. To top it off, she had just gotten engaged to another Cooper resident (so the “romance at the hospital” storyline was perfect).
Kids to Watch
April 2008
Lots of people asked how we got this in-the-air shot of Hayley Kornbleuth. Easy – she was on a trampoline.
The Broad Street Bullies
November 2008
We had scheduled a photo shoot of these Flyers legends for right before a Flyers game. Only when the time came, the hall-of-famers weren’t exactly in the mood. SJ photographer David Michael Howarth snapped this shot of them heading onto the ice for the opening ceremonies. He had about 3 minutes to shoot this cover.
Best of SJ
July 2009
We sent out a call to SJ bakeries to decorate a cake for our Best of SJ issue, and one would be featured on the cover. Sweet Life Bakery in Vineland chose a simple design which made the perfect cover. (The other awesome cakes were featured inside the magazine.)
Cliff Lee
October 2011
This cover hit homes the day after the Phillies crushing loss in game 5 of the 2011 Divisional Series, eliminating them from the playoffs. The day after.
Childhood Obesity
November 2013
We shot this cover in an appliance store, so that refrigerator was empty. We went on one major – and unhealthy – shopping spree for groceries and filled the fridge to capacity. Photographer David Michael Howarth then placed lights inside on the shelves to get that bright glow.
The Cupcake Generation
February 2013
We ordered 7 dozen cupcakes for this shoot – and they needed to be decorated in bright colors. We ended up using about 3 dozen, so we dropped off the rest at a nearby daycare program. (Ok, we may have tried a few ourselves.)
Connor Barwin
June 2015
For our first Men’s Issue, we shot former Eagle Connor Barwin at the NovaCare Complex during his daylong football camp for kids. He was a little self-conscious being photographed with a couple hundred kids watching, so we shot fast – but got the shot.
Best of SJ
July 2018
The adorable boy behind the massive ice cream sundae is 5-year-old Sawyer, son of photographer David Michael Howarth. He was extremely excited by the prospect of eating unlimited ice cream for the shot and posed like a seasoned pro.
