Posts in Category: Portraits
happy father’s day 2016 ~ a little look back with humor and heart
We love our dads and Father’s Day is this Sunday, June 19th, so we want to celebrate fatherhood. The golf membership, neck tie, new leaf blower gift clichés were tired 40 years ago, so we’re skipping them.
And you’re welcome.
Instead of pablum, how about some photos we took of dads being dads with quotes that convey the depth and humor of fatherhood?
Here you go……
“There should be a children’s song: ‘If you’re happy and you know it, keep it to yourself and let your dad sleep.’” – Jim Gaffigan
“Having a kid is like falling in love for the first time when you’re 12, but every day.” — Mike Myers
“Be a dad. Don’t be ‘Mom’s assistant.’ Fathers have skills that they never use at home. You run a landscaping business and you can’t dress and feed a 4-year-old? Take it on. Spend time with your kids and have your own ideas about what they need. It won’t take away your manhood; it will give it to you. I did that. I spent more time with my kids. And I found out that I’m a pretty bad father. I make a lot of mistakes and I don’t know what I’m doing. But my kids love me. Go figure.” – Louis C.K.
“I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.” — Harry S. Truman
“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” — Umberto Eco
“You can tell what was the best year of your father’s life, because they seem to freeze that clothing style and ride it out.” – Jerry Seinfeld
“It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.” — Friedrich Schiller
“The only way I can describe [fatherhood]—it sounds stupid, but—at the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, you know how his heart grows like five times? Everything is full; It’s just full all the time.” — Matt Damon
“I gave my father $100 and said, ‘Buy yourself something that will make your life easier.’ So he went out and bought a present for my mother.” – Rita Rudner
“My daughter got me a ‘World’s Best Dad’ mug. So we know she’s sarcastic.” – Bob Odenkirk
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: he believed in me.” — Jim Valvano
“Having children is like living in a frathouse – nobody sleeps, everything is broken and there’s a lot of throwing up.” – Ray Romano
“Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected.” –Red Buttons
“When you have kids, there’s no such thing as quality time. There’s just time. There’s no ‘Ooh, his graduation is better than going to the mall.’ It’s all kind of equal. Changing her diaper and her winning a contest – – it’s all good.” – Chris Rock
“A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society.” – Billy Graham.
We agree. Looking through these photos was a walk down memory lane as we thought about our clients and friends with kids – – – just how much these dads feel the responsibility of their children’s futures resting on their shoulders at the same time they want to enjoy every micro-second. This fathering thing is not for boys and we celebrate you men.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there!
3 generations of family – Picard
Featured just below are 2 sweet sisters, cheek to cheek at their grandparents’ house. This is one of those shots (we hope) that will end up on their father’s office desk or on a wall at gramma and grandpas or someday packed up and transported to college with either or both of them. These two are in that age range that is entirely transitional – almost constantly so. Isn’t that one of the definitions of spring – the constant change? It’s the sweet, blooming, green and pink tunnel we pass through to get from winter to summer. You think you want summer, but the ride through spring is the magic.
These are the Picards. We photographed 3 generations of this family during Easter weekend at their home in North Wilkesboro, NC. The senior Picards moved from the north a few years ago when they retired. They wanted to escape the cold, but we know they love the southern warmth (people and climate). Getting everyone together is never easy, since some family members serve in the military and others are scattered, so it becomes a priority to get together as often as possible, and then to make sure a portrait is taken.
We had fun with this gang and especially enjoyed watching them all interact. 3 generations together, especially when they don’t see each other all the time, is something to see. They are all remembering each other and how to be together, cracking each other up, posing, hugging, etc. It’s a departure from some of the families we photograph who are so accustomed to constant contact that we have to deploy the Please Focus Now, People playbook. Not so with the Picards.
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 babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and 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.
fresh, delicious & Irish family photos ~ soaking up the outdoors and each other
Something very freeing has happened during this past month behind the camera. We’ve always been focused on capturing moments, of course, but for some reason and maybe it’s the winter break, it feels like this is a fresh start. The moments seem more real, vivid and convey such emotion. Is it just me? Anyone else out there feeling a rebirth this spring?
We have loved Meghan and Jeremy Arnold from “Go.” In fact, we’ve featured them on social media quite a bit and if things continue as they have been, you haven’t seen the last of this sweet, loving and exuberant family. It started with one of the best weddings – Charlotte, 2012 and then daughter Berklee came along. They’ve traveled from Virginia to have us shoot photos of them and we’re so flattered and grateful. We wrote in a blog about their growing family that we were in for whatever was next. From her newborn photos laying in tulle with her mom’s celtic wedding headpiece, to her bright-eyed “WHAT’S UP?!” expression at 6 months (seriously, you owe it to yourself to have a look at both sets) Berklee has been a delight to photograph. Her face is so expressive and she is so smiley and wide-eyed and appears so joyous. She’s hard not to grab and nibble on.
We sometimes ask parents of kids this young and this insanely adorable how they haven’t just eaten them and they all look at us with these helpless expressions, as if to say, “it’s touch and go” or “we’re doing ALL we can do.” Meghan and Jeremy are no different.
From the bagpipes that played at their wedding to the Catholic ceremony to the Celtic details and finally to the little ginger Berklee, the Arnolds are Irish all the way. It’s been wonderful seeing them grow and as we consider spring portraits and the weddings to come we hope that this feeling of rebirth continues not just for us but for all those we’re going to photograph. To everyone: Sláinte!
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 babies and kids, engagements and weddings, brides and 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.
winter portraits of a family ~ a man and his girls outdoors
An advantage to being a husband and wife team is that Ryan really steps in when husbands, fathers, grooms – GUYS – are resistant to having their photos taken, for whatever reason. He’s got the gift in these situations and can make men feel more comfortable and confident with a man-to-man perspective. Dad Will Allen pretty much proclaimed that he was horrible in photos and how he was no match for his beautiful wife Danielle and daughter Danica. Danielle had even warned me during our planning that Will didn’t like having his photo taken.
But then these happened.
Father and daughter and a sweet little snow princess!
The Sweet, Sweet Allen Family
Gorgeous mom and her girl.
The Allens drove down from their home just outside of Washington, DC to Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock for a winter break and booked this session. Mom Danielle understands the importance of having family portraits taken annually and often arranges to have them made during their travels and vacations. When they knew they would be coming this way, she contacted us about a month in advance to arrange for their session while staying at Chetola.
There’s a Christmas Card!
The moment we knew Will was comfortable both with us and in front of our camera was near the end of our time together, but we loved grabbing all of these shots while he adjusted to the experience! [Side note: at the end of the session, in this beautiful backdrop, Will suggested that we take a photo of him for an updated profile pic and headshot!] Never underestimate the power of making people feel at ease.
Interested in outdoor portraits or family portraits, or both, regardless of season? Get in touch with us and let’s start figuring out next steps. Call (336) 990-0080 or email us: mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.
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.
