Newborn Baby Photos of Miss Astrid
Macy and Jesse are now the brand spanking new parents of a pretty spectacular little girl. Meet Sweet Astrid Jane.
If you follow this blog, you’ll remember the maternity shoot we shared of this young couple, taken what feels like yesterday, outdoors near some great views. They were excited and expectant, and Macy looked gorgeous in a blue maternity dress.
Well, she gave birth in November and is already such a loving and attentive mom. Father Jesse also impressed me with his gentleness. He’s always that way with Macy, but watching him gingerly and so quietly attend to his newborn daughter during the photo shoot was a reminder of the importance of dads as comforters and loving caregivers, not just breadwinners and protectors.
The quiet, gentle, easy nature of both mom and dad is clearly a part of their new love. Astrid was so sweet and calm and compliant. It was a wonderful portrait session, even with the social distancing and key protocols, the world fell away and we could all just revolve around this new little being.
The name Astrid, for those of you who’ve never heard it before, is a Scandinavian name that combines a “god” with “beautiful” or “fair.” This little girl is definitely a fair beauty and absolutely worshiped by her besotted parents. We’re pretty crazy about her too.
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.
Eldridge and Wood Families
We have officially been photographing Stacy Eldridge, her five boys, extended family, and adopted family for a decade. Stacy and her boyfriend Michael have a blended tribe, but Stacy is the force and the anchor. She has help, but this tough lady is the tip of the spear.
We photographed the family first in 2010, again in 2014 and even more recently as these boys were turning into men.
These images were taken at the family farm where we’ve photographed them before, for senior portraits and family shots.
On this day, Michael’s son Rusty and bride McKenzie also joined us. The couple have been married for just a year and we captured images of them separately as well so look for a blog about them in the coming weeks.
Above are images of Stacy’s five boys, 10 years apart. I remember Ryan laying on his back to get the first one in 2010 … all of those cute faces. These guys’ personalities have stayed the same, but they’ve grown up so very much too. At this age, with teenagers and beyond, there is still teasing and rough housing and crude joke telling, but their bond is strong and I see that as one of Stacy’s big triumphs.
Above are Stacy and Michael with Miss P and Aaryn, who they are helping raise. Below are Rusty and McKensie who just celebrated their first anniversary as husband and wife.
Stacy and I have really gotten to know each other over the last 10 years, but my first memory of her is as this seriously amazing single mother of 5 boys. To this day, she never stops. She also works on a chicken farm and is a full-time nurse while raising a family. She and Michael are also helping raise two little girls, Paisley – or Miss P – and Aaryn, whose newborn portraits we shot recently. Stacy has such bandwidth for helping, for encouragement, for no nonsense and for care. The woman is remarkable and I am so proud to know her.
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, 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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Roark, Lovell and Triplett Families combined
We gathered with four generations of a family for a fall portrait session and these always remind me of the connectedness we have, but so rarely feel until there is a holiday or a special occasion. In this particular instance, it was Tabitha Lovell’s desire to capture her family together after a few members passed away recently. That sense of unexpected loss propelled her and we’re so happy to have been able to take these outdoor portraits for her and for all members of these families.
New Great-Grandparents (again), the Roarks
We’d recently photographed the newborn portraits of Miss Gracelynn, daughter of Matthew and Caitlin. On this day, the trio were joined by Caitlyn’s mom Tabitha, dad Roger and brother Zach, as well as Tabitha’s parents Mr & Mrs. Roark.
The property where we met is a campground long-maintained by Roger and his family and is a special place for everyone. There were so many beautiful spots to choose from for groupings and individual portraits. The day had a reunion feeling, because – as I’ve covered before – it’s hard enough to find a date, time and place for everyone to meet up, but during a pandemic it’s a real hat trick.
I love the images of the new parents with Gracelynn, and with new grandparents Tabitha and Roger (below) and Gracelynn being held by her Uncle Zach (above). That baby was the shining star and everyone wanted to hold her.
We began designing a wall of images for Tabitha’s home even before Gracelynn’s newborn session, and new Gramma was keen to get everyone together for more portraits to complete her vision. Now that we have all of these, we’ve finished our plan and she has a beautiful home gallery filled with family.
If you are separated by Covid, distance or any other reason and would like to gather everyone together for a session, we would be honored to photograph your family for posterity.
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.
The Matthews Family Outdoor Fall Family Portraits
You know “Those Friends”? They are the ones who you meet and feel like you’ve known them forever. The bond gets deeper each year as you grow together, relate more, talk more, share more and do life together. Well, these are “Those Friends.” Tammy has a sixth sense about knowing when to call to check on me. When there is a hurricane or a big house repair, Matt shows up to help, to check on us, to talk logistics, play with Finley or scour the bushes looking for our sanity for us.
The Matthews family are hubs and wife Matt and Tammy, and kids Emerson (eldest girl), Beckett (son) and Hampton (youngest daughter). They recently bought a new home with stunning acreage and when they asked us to photograph them this fall, I all but broke my neck getting to my calendar.
We had gorgeous weather and there were lots of places to play and run, so our crew, which included their dog Piper, had a blast. We got out their ATV and rode around, goofed off, explored their property and the property next door. Even when we were asking them to pose for us, it was around chattering voices and general (much needed) silliness.
The following two photos were taken by Finley!
We may never get the genie back in the bottle with Finley and this camera. Or he may pick up chess and forget about the lens. Regardless, he has a fan in Miss Hampton.
The Matthews are an absolute blessing – one of the gifts of life that was every present during this crazy year. Hold tight to Those Friends, you guys. They bring the stability and magic to life.
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, 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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
The Arnold Family
Timing. It’s in the stars, I think sometimes. Once again, we made plans for a photo shoot with LONG TIME clients and pals Meghan and Jeremy Arnold and ended up changing them due to access and Covid-19. But who can complain when the results are so beautiful? We found ourselves perfectly happy on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Big baseball fan and player Jeremy grew up in Hickory and has great memories of playing games on their campus. What a gorgeous day we had and with their two children, and our Finley in tow, it could not have been a better spot.
We’ve photographed this family since the very beginning before Meghan and Jeremy were married. From their engagement, wedding, the birth of daughter Berklee and then son Wyatt, we’ve watched them all grow as a family.
At nearly every shoot, we grab an image of Jeremy tossing daughter Berklee in the air, and I’m so pleased that this tradition has held.
Ryan took these images, while I assisted with lens, styling, finding the next spot and wrangling the little ones.
I love both the dynamic images and the posed as well. With families who have young ones, it is less important to pose than it is to get a sense of their connection as a family and their individual personalities.
When I think back to the engagement portraits for Jeremy and Meghan, I cannot believe the passage of time. But I see them all together, looking every bit like they waltzed out of a J. Crew catalog, and think: they are exactly where and who they should 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.