Posts in Category: Kids
son’s nautical 1st birthday portraits + all boy and all flirt
dreams of flight ….
For his first birthday, the theme was nautical. Blues and oranges, whales and anchors. And that little jumper with the anchor on it? Good Lord. It’s a classic. Mothers everywhere would swoon over such a throwback.
Holden is a big flirt. According to his Mom, he turns on the charm in front of ladies and knows how to draw in a crowd at church. People love to spoil him rotten. He was a smiling new baby, just days old in front of our lens (see photo above), a grinning 6 month old and he continues to up the ante at 1. It’s always been easy to get a grin out of him. So, child photographer’s dream?? Definitely.
Like most boys, Holden enjoyed smashing his cake more than tasting it. He was messy and mobile, cracking up and clambering around every set up.
Here’s to many, many more, Little Man!
8 month old’s studio baby portraits + a little “dress up”
We photographed Madelyn’s (well, Maddie’s) newborn portraits earlier this year and somehow she’s managed to get cuter, her expressions more animated, her eyes more blue and her parents, Valerie and Jason, more delighted. In fact, they should probably just keep us on retainer.
Her newborn session was a complete joy, because she’s just so perfect. I say that knowing the bias is evident, so full disclosure: this little lamb is my second cousin.
Her mouth is almost always open, either in the biggest smile or because she’s chattering away. I foresee a lucrative contract in her future …. and most likely with an opera company or any advertiser looking for a child who expresses a constant, persistent joy.
Her eyes are unbelievable and we’ve dubbed them the McGuire eyes. Those big blues are hereditary. Her dad and granddad, my own dad and I ALL have them. Suffice it to say that photographing her is an exercise in seeing how many photos are NOT close ups. And those cheeks! Those cheeks power that smiling and laughing mouth.
Of course, we get tapped to photograph our own friends and family, but we would consider it a pleasure to photograph yours. For those of you new to our blog, please know that we love to photograph newborn babies, infants, toddlers, teens, families, seasonal portraits, newly engaged couples, weddings, bridals – you get the idea. We have an indoor portrait studio, an outdoor portrait garden and a variety of places, props and ideas to share. Please see our work and give us a call. We would love to create heirlooms for your family.
baby’s one year portrait ……. AND CAKE SMASH!!
The Prevettes are lifers with us… at least so far and we hope for the next 30 years. We photographed Lindsay and Seth Prevette’s wedding in 2008 and later their first born, daughter Macanna, as well as son Walker as a new born. This session, however, is in celebration of Walker’s first birthday, so we invited them to the Pixels’ studio and outdoor portrait garden in August of this year.
Remember when you were so small that your parents could fit your bum into a baseball glove? He won’t either, but he’s so stinking cute and now there’s proof of it. Walker’s newborn portraits were delicious because he was and at 1 year, he still is. The love of baseball was a major theme in both sessions.
I look at the newborn photo below and those fingers especially and wonder if he’s dreaming about music and thinking, “I’m playing guitar. I’m the band’s Front Man…. making brilliant chord changes that no one saw coming.”
BUT. Walker may be scratching his chest and trying to decide between throwing a slider, a cutter or a change-up and hoping to impress some cute girl sitting in the stands just behind home plate.
Walker’s mom, Lindsey is very laid back. She makes appointments for portraits and always says “just do what you do best and I know I’ll love it.” That kind of confidence and faith is humbling, so we pull out the stops. Lindsay mentioned that she loved the red wagon because it reminded her of her own childhood, and we definitely love props with kids; they help distract and promote creativity at the same time.
Unfortunately, nostalgia about wagons and creative props do not stave off fussiness with toddlers and after Walker got tired of posing for photos, he decided to give us the “You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me” speech in his own made up language that consisted of pulling faces, tears, and some squawking.
And then [harp music] the clouds parted.
And there was cake.
CAKE!
Beautiful, perfect, resplendent, decadent cake.
SWEET SUSTAINER OF LIFE!!!!!
After that I think we could have left him alone with it and he would not have missed us.
There were claw marks in the cake for sure, but Walker managed to limit the smearing to his cheeks, mouth, nose, chest, hands, knees, legs and feet. Success.
Autumn portraits for ALL ~ for your albums, photo galleries, holiday gifts and as heirlooms
We gear up for Spring and the end of the school year, especially if we’re parents, along with prom preparation, graduation, spring cleaning and shedding the winter stuff. Then we gear up for Summer — vacations, travel, summer camps, weddings and family reunions. And now fall is licking at our heels and this means a lovely, but limited, time for outdoor portraits with our sweethearts, our children, family and friends. It marks the seasonal change when the sleeveless clothes are put up – like the last of summer fruits and veggies into cans – and we prepare for the turn from warmth outside to fires inside.
At Pixels, we love all the seasons (or we’d live in Santa Barbara, CA …. no offense to you all out there, by the way), but fall has a different light in it and in North Carolina, it always surprises us. Whether our dear clients come to our outdoor studio in Wilkesboro, meet us on a greenway or at a park in Charlotte, in Boone near ASU, in the Asheville mountains or anywhere along the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway, the light is different each time, just like our subjects. It’s all new again.
We anticipate that the peek color in the mountains will be October 6-18th (that’s 2 weeks and then some) and closer to the end of October will be perfect for our fans and clients in and around the Charlotte area. We have props we can include and encourage you to bring anything that makes you think of fall with family.
Photos like these make great albums, calendars (the holidays are coming!), and gifts. Schedule your date with us as soon as you can. We look forward to seeing you and photographing you in mother nature! Contact us online or call 704.641.1131 or 336-990-0080.
piccard fall family portraits – goodbye summer, helloooooooo autumn
Some of us mourn when it starts creeping toward us.
“Wait, what? We just got settled in and then it was the 4th of July and now you’re telling me to change out my closet and garage?!?!” “I barely used that new floaty, those new grill tongs, that umbrella for the deck, that swimsuit and visor I got for Christmas!” “We were going to go to the beach twice!” “We were going to cook out more with the neighbors.”
Others of us crave it … we anticipate it, rubbing our hands together like we’re practicing for that first bonfire.
But like it or not, summer is rounding the corner y’all; it’s time for Autumn – capital A Autumn. Since we’re making yet another trip around the sun, and summer will return, let’s focus on the good of this coming season – the gorgeous leaves, brisk mornings, fire wood, scarves, heated car seats, football, soups and stews and snuggling with those we love.
And seriously – NO ONE wants to snuggle someone in a sweaty tank top. And if you do, no judgement, but we don’t want to hear about it.
The Piccards were ALL about the snuggling in October of 2014 when we met up and photographed them along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It started raining when we arrived, but the delay gave us time to grab lunch and bond and when the weather cleared, we were able to grab shots of this family of 4 with wet leaves beneath them and mountain fog surrounding them.
We’ve got spirit, yes we do, and boots and blue nails, HOW ‘BOUT YOU?
We’ve know mom, Brandii McCoy for many years, since we’ve worked with many Charlotte, NC sports teams and Brandii is the dance and cheer coach for the Charlotte Checkers, the former NBA Bobcats, and now the Charlotte Hornets. She’s used to being in front of the camera, so we knew we’d get great shots of her and her lovely family looking pulled together. We also wanted photos of them just being themselves, relaxed and silly and goofing. During conversations, we learned that Brandii and her husband had never had formal portraits of themselves taken, so this session and our lunch with them made for a lot of fun for all of us.
The girls, Karsen and Adler, knew how to work it, by the way. Check out the crossed legs and ankles, the subtle head tilting and, of course, there was the unscripted cuteness. 
We look forward to many Autumn shoots in 2015 and now is the time to book your fall portrait session. Pixels has openings, but they fill up quickly, especially the weekends. We’ll want to capture the best pics of you (and yours) during the height of the season. Call us at 704.641.1131 or 336.990.0080 and let’s make a plan!!