Posts in Category: Pets
Pet Portraits yield mountains of pet food for our local animal shelter
In early November of last year, we broadcasted that we were booking appointments for Christmas photos of families, kids, new babies, couples and your other adored family friends. We also set aside a special day to photograph your pets. Here was the deal: on December 12th, we would prepare a festive and decorative setting for pets at our Pixels On Paper portrait studio in Wilkesboro for a free session. We would provide you with a photo file of your pet for use on a holiday card or to print, frame or share. In return, you would bring a 20 lb bag of food for us to donate to the Wilkes Animal Shelter.
We exceeded even our expectations!
We filled our truck to overflow and delivered it to the shelter. Upon our arrival, they told us that they were almost completely out of dog food. Their food storage building had only a few bags until we unpacked literally our truckload.
The last time we did this fundraiser, we contributed 560 lbs of food to the shelter. That was 2012. For 2015, we more than doubled it, delivering 1,243 pounds of dog and cat food. Our partners in this, Waggles Pet Supply & Dog Wash matched more than half of our donations.
We love this fundraiser, though it’s an exchange of pet portraits for pet food. It’s a foodraiser! I don’t have a soapbox speech on this, gang – I just want to say THANK YOU. Thank you, because it matters. We hear in our communities fairly often about the importance of outreach and “meeting a need,” be it for a school, a church, a specific neighborhood that is struggling or for more well-known causes related to health and sustainability. These local animal shelters in our communities meet a real need as well, so whether you are a former or current pet owner, or just a big-hearted human, we appreciate your willingness to be a part of the helping team!
Below is a selection of our portraits subjects. No cat, dog or human was harmed in the taking of these. They were mostly snuggled to bits.
Our donation offers a small decrease in expenses for the shelter which can then prolong the time the animals have to be adopted.
We’re incredibly grateful for all those who participated, let us love on and photograph their fur babies, and especially to our partner Waggles Pet Supply & Dog Wash for their generous contribution of food and freebies.
Learn more about how you can give back:
About Waggles Pet Supply & Dog Wash
Waggles Pet Supply & Dog Wash is a locally owned and operated business in Historic Downtown Wilkesboro. Two sisters, Kim and Robin, with the assistance of their mother Anna have created a unique place to spoil pets. Waggles offers accessories, specialty foods/treats and grooming supplies. A Do-It-Yourself Wash is available where you are supplied with everything you need to wash your dog, but Waggles cleans up the mess. Waggles Wash, and Dazzle Dog Grooming are also available.
About Wilkes Animal Shelter
Wilkes Animal Shelter receives more than 6,000 impounds per year. Approximately 100 pounds of pet food are used per day. Donations of food, bleach, blankets and towels are always needed. The Humane Society of Wilkes volunteers work closely with the personnel at the Wilkes County Animal Shelter to help get shelter pets adopted or placed in foster homes. The Wilkes county animal shelter is located at 408 Call st. Wilkesboro NC. Their number is 903-7688 and their hours are 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM Monday – Friday, and 10:30 AM to noon on Saturday.
christmas pet portraits with Waggles Pet Supply & Dog Wash
Saturday, December 12th, Pixels will be taking photos of your favorite family members.
They don’t talk over others.
They don’t bring some unidentifiable gelatinous “food” item to the holiday meal.
They don’t scan you from head to toe and remind you of weight gain, or exes, or dreams deferred or the time they did you a HUGE FAVOR and [you fill this in yourself ….. or with the help of your therapist.]
We photograph your pets.
They show us the best of what we want to be – loving, friendly, forgiving and fun.
And they tend to be more photogenic when it counts.
Our pet sessions are FREE for all who bring a minimum 20 lb. pet food donation and the food will go to the Wilkes County Animal Shelter. Donations of bleach, towels and blankets are also welcome. We will provide a digital image of your pet, with a usage release and option for you to purchase prints at a discounted rate. Photos are taken at our Wilkesboro studio and we welcome all pets.
If you are looking for a place to buy the pet food – for this event and for ANY time you need – our friends at Waggles Pet Supply and Dog Wash, a favorite place of ours, will be happy to help! And as an added bonus (for the fur babies, let’s be real…) Waggles has provided us with vouchers for a special treat you can redeem at their store after the session!
Call 336.990.0080 to reserve a time.
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.
“I Got Rhythm” …… who could ask for anything more?
Ira Gershwin was the lyricist to his more famous brother George. THE George Gershwin of An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess. They were both geniuses. But we love and remember George because he provided the music we love and know so well. Ira wrote and George played and composed on the piano.
And apparently so does Peter, … the Ledbetter’s cat.
You heard me. Feline, with a captial F-sharp. He’s got rhythm. He’s got music. He’s got incredibly tolerant and loving parents.
Peter the Cat – Piano Player Extraordinaire
So, let’s set this up. The Ledbetters are a couple we met during our November Pumpkin Patch Portraits in 2014. Their beloved pup was with them and we took a shot of the trio that they ended up using as their Thanksgiving card. Since then, their dog has passed away to that perfect world where no one follows you with a baggie or makes you wear seasonally appropriate/holiday costumes. Their highly photogenic and piano loving cat, Peter, is now making his own mark, noise, nuisance, irritation, laughter, eye-rolling, ….you get the idea.
The Ledbetters with their precious pup, Thanksgiving 2014
Peter is active during the day, but especially busy at night. The Ledbetters told us that the most interesting times are around midnight when they sit bolt upright in bed and then realize that Peter is merely inspired and on the move across the keys to try out some new ideas. Cole Porter, Elvis Costello, Beethoven, Elton John, Harry Connick, Jr., Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk – Peter loves them all. His parents often find him under the piano with his noise canceling headphones jamming out to his faves. Currently, though he’s devoted to more experimental and original compositions.
These two, like so many of us, love their pets, treat them as family, and we were happy to take photos of Peter for them in our studio, where pets are not only welcome, they can be the subject. Peter is not our first nor will he be our last family pet photographed. Visit us and find out more about the Pixels on Paper’s studios and check out our other blogs about pet portraits: Woof Session, Kristen + Dustin + Tiger, Chelsea’s Tennis Ball.
woof session dog photography by pixels on paper portrait photographers
We are at it again, raising donations for the Wilkes Animal Shelter. Have photos taken of or with your adorable dog! All sessions take place inside or outside the Pixels On Paper portrait studio in Wilkesboro and can include up to two pets. Limited sessions are available September through November. From these sessions you will receive one 5×7 print plus a digital download for your time-line and you will be able to order professional prints and products. The price is $75 along with the donation of 20+ pound bag of dry dog food to be donated to the Wilkes Animal Shelter. Call the studio at 336-990-0080 to schedule your session.
View more pet portraits and dog photography on our website at http://www.pixelsonpaper.biz.