Posts in Category: Personal
15 Years of Pixels On Paper – Pt 1
It’s true. We’ve been at this professional photography thing for 15 years! Feels like we should celebrate, huh? It’s hard to know when some part of your childhood will help define not only your developing passions, but also your professional life. With hindsight being what it is, I can easily look back and say that Ryan and I were meant to open Pixels On Paper.
What we both experienced as kids was a parent who always had a camera in one hand. My mom loved photography and took courses, learned to develop from 35 mm film to prints and took the time to experiment with it when I was a girl. I remember her waking me before dawn to hike to a vista where she would photograph waterfalls, the sunrise and the views at first light. Those are such fond memories.
A tradition from Ryan’s childhood was a posed shot on the stairs on Christmas morning of him with his siblings. In the Case family, his dad was the documentary photographer and loved the tradition of getting an updated image each holiday.
In the early 2000s, Ryan and I lived in Charlotte and were active leaders with our church youth group, acting as chaperone’s and guides for activities and big trips. We also photographed everything, but with no agenda really. During a conversation with a good friend, Sandy, she mentioned that she loved our pictures and asked that we photograph her upcoming wedding.
We thought she was joking.
She wasn’t. We came home early from a youth group mission trip (our one little rolling camera bag pre-packed and in tow) to capture Sandy’s big day. Before long we were taking courses, going to conferences, and being asked to shoot more and more weddings. Suddenly, a few weddings became weddings in the double digits and we booked sessions for folks who wanted a milestone captured or a family portrait done.
Out of state conferences allowed us to travel and expand our understanding of light in new settings, hone our business skills, and learn from fellow and veteran photographers. I’m so grateful for both the theoretical and hands-on education we got during the those first 4-5 years.
It wasn’t long before we realized that Pixels really was a business and a passion that needed nurturing as we moved forward. Pixels might provide a way for us to move out into the country and be closer to family. More on that to come in part two! Meanwhile, I’m beyond nostalgic thinking about these beginnings and how far we’ve come…
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs newborns and families, special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Our family farm gets a fence
Any painter, writer, graphic designer will tell you that starting with a blank canvas is exhilarating and daunting. This space below was our project canvas. Mission: build a fence around my parents cattle farm and make it a family project. So… Mission 2 – make family memories.
We all took part in this project and our two year old learned even more about heavy machinery, sweat equity and when to take time out to play in the fields and by the water.
Here are stats:
They have 33 acres of farm land for cattle raising, which meant that we needed 4,500 feet of fence perimeter. We bought and used 13,500 feet of wire, 96 5’x8′ wood posts (you heard me!), 185 metal t-posts, two 12′ gates, 2.5 cases of water, 24 bottles of Gatorade, 2 cans sunscreen and a bottle of bug spray. It took 4 adults and 1 toddler working 5 full days, but we did it. Everyone was whoppin tired except for Finley.
When Finley wasn’t moving earth or handling tools, he took up other projects, plus a little fun time riding around on his ATV.
My parents just told us (and Finley) that they were naming the farm after Finley James and he was delighted – as an almost 3 year old would be. Legacy is important to my folks and our work together, memory making and the results make me so proud that we’re all together, healthy and had the time (and energy) to finish such a massive project.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs newborns and families, special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
DIY Reno at the Homestead
There are so many positives to owning an old farm house. For us, it meant setting up a place of escape and rest, a place for work and life, a yard and a garden to wander and the big old rooms that you don’t often find in newer homes. We love it here and when Finley joined us two years ago, it made having the extra space worthwhile.
Of course, there are downsides and while we don’t focus on those (if you can ignore flaws in people you love, you can overcome house related negatives), we do have to deal with them.
This isn’t a flaw, per se, it was a project. It was “a can we kept kicking down the road.” The upstairs full bath has needed renovating since we bought the place. We put it off, because Ryan and I are the only ones who see it, and we are low-maintenance people by nature. If it works, keep it. But it was time, and when Covid-19 sent us all indoors for an indeterminate amount of time, we agreed that between us, we could do it and should get started. When we aren’t being low-maintenance (hee!), we’re being handy (especially Ryan) and when we are being handy ………. we’re exhausted!
We started with pulling out the old cabinets, pulling up the floor, and yanking down a mirror that no longer worked. Finley was eager to help at every turn. If you aren’t following us on Facebook and Instagram, you can check out stories where he shows off his mad skills.
Enter from stage left: new floor, cabinet refurb, new paint and new fixtures. I’ll save you the various stories of being sent items that were broken or wrong. It happens. It’s frustrating, but kept pressing forward. The bathrooms in Rome weren’t built in a day and we have day jobs, a toddler and other things to do. Gotta keep your eyes on the vision though, folks. Ryan fabricated a tall cabinet for towels and extras that we don’t need out on the counter and when the paint dried and the installing began, we turned the corner.
The final triumph was the mirror. We used reclaimed wood from my great-grandmother’s place and it has the right look, feel and vibe for this house and this room. I see it every day and think of my family. It’s a sound reminder of continuity.
And I call that Done! I’m grateful to have a husband who is accomplished with tools and knows what he’s doing. It never occurs to us to hire out this kind of work (not could we afford to). Projects like this reno allow us to make memories with Finley, show him the importance of skill and patience, refurbishing and repurposing materials that have intrinsic memories and value, say nothing of helping him appreciate precision in painting and math in measuring. And now …….. on to the next thing.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs newborns and families, special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
celebrating spring and togetherness
Easter isn’t just a holiday, it’s a feeling of hope that, if we choose, we carry with us year-round. Death was overcome and a new hope is born. Whether you are a religious, spiritual or a secular lover of spring time, this is a season of hope, renewal and reflection.
While unable to photograph others due to everyone’s need to shelter in place, our little family took advantage during the limited time that the wild mustard blooms to photograph ourselves on the land surrounding our studio. I love these images of Finley with his dad and me.
We spent time taking photographs of course, but we also chattered, played, made up stories and flung our arms around each other.
Whatever you are able to do to get some fresh air this new week, we hope you’ll make room for it. Sometimes we have to make our own light and time to smell the spring, look at the ways hope and renewal surround us and show gratitude for the time we have with each other in it.
It wasn’t until we returned the studio and I began processing these images that I realized that it was exactly one year from the day that we took family portraits in the orchards. I guess it was meant to be.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs newborns and families, special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
How We Escape
At some point in the last 3-4 years “Escape Rooms” became a group activity, a diversion if you will. Instead of dinner and a movie or a trip to the bowling alley or comedy show, small groups of friends or coworkers would gather to solve a series of puzzles. If done well, everyone would be freed at the end to go celebrate how deeply smart they are. Pretty fun.
But now the walls we want to escape are the very ones keeping us safe. And we cannot escape because the governor and the CDC and WHO tell us it’s dangerous to gather to do much of anything.
So we escape in other ways.
The Case family loves to read. I’m a big reader and the books we’ve amassed since Finley was born are a treasure trove of escapism. We leave our “sheltering in place” selves and are transported via stories, through using our imaginations (we’re sounding out words already!), and trying to get to know better the characters that are Finley’s newest friends.
And we picnic. It’s springtime and we love our yard and garden and relaxing and snacking in the sun. Our first child Chelsea is a shade girl mostly, but it’s another group activity that keeps us from worrying about the many things that we cannot control.
We’re still finding magic in our home, on our property, through “pretending” with our kid, letting him learn to do yard maintenance, and by slowing down.
Sheltering in place means gratitude for shelter itself. This has occurred to me more than once. I am grateful for our life, our health, our home, our community, for first responders and nurses and medical workers on the front lines. And I am grateful for the ability to identify moments of joy, hope, and grace right in those very moments as they are happening. I’m grateful that I’m able to explore those feelings during this mandated down time.
The image above comes with its own caption built right in. If in the right head space, hearts appear everywhere. This house and place have mine. Every blade and square foot is positively infused with love. Many of our memories can be re-enacted in my mind, just by casting my eyes around.
Of course there is art time – another chance to tell stories, to make it up as we go along (aren’t we all sort of doing that???) and to cook and taste and get super messy together. This little bundle of “Man in the Making” is as tactile and kinetic a learner as his parents. His eyes and surges of energy tell me daily, “I want to touch it, taste it, roll in it and write the Government Study for a Summer Grant about it. Now back up; you’re in my work space.”
And in the evenings, we breathe in the flavors of another day lived. If tempers flared and voices were raised we settle our differences with hugs and apologies and a desire to do better. And guys – some days are tough. Norman Rockwell it is not! It’s life.
But more often than not, we retell our day’s journey across the virtual field (or tablet/laptop in our case) with those we cannot hug at the moment. I saw a great ad that said something like, “we distance ourselves now precisely so that we can gather again later.” And that’s really it. While you can, if you can, soak in the gratitude while marveling at how vulnerable we all are. Ryan and I love you all. Stay home, stay safe, explore and if you can share your escapes with us on social media, we’d love to see them. We WILL escape these walls in due time, and then we can gather to congratulate ourselves not for how smart we were, but how wise we were and how grateful we are.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographsnewborns and families, special events and portraits of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.