The Waters Family Fall Photos
Reunited and it feels so good… although it was a rainy day and we had to zig and zag logistically. We LOVE this family. The Waters are Scott, Susan, Maddie and Emma and we go way back. Scott was the pastor who married Ryan and me, so our bond is pretty special.
As the Youth Pastor at Forest Hill Church in Charlotte, Scott got to know Ryan and me when we volunteered with him to help with youth activities on Sundays and on retreats. After we moved to Wilkesboro, we stayed in touch, but the call from Susan to set up a shoot was awesome.
Long before Finley was born and we were active in the church, we remember these girls as infants and we have watched them grow up.
I specifically remember an instance when we were working with Scott and Emma was just a baby. Susan was pushing through those tough chapters of letting her cry it out at bedtime while sitting outside the door, crying herself. When Scott and the girls would come our way for Merlefest each year, he would stay and volunteer with us. We’ve cherished their friendship and their example as parents and people.
During this complicated time, they reached out for an outdoor family photo shoot at Appalachian State University, where Maddie is a student. Unfortunately, this was during the long and rainy days of early October. Their name may be Waters, but … it complicated things. Leave it to Ryan to find a great backup location near the Blue Ridge Parkway. I love that they had App State umbrellas that could be incorporated too.
The images are glorious. They are a beautiful family, made up of beautiful souls and I’m thrilled that we were able to make it happen.
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.
Fall portraits of Finley
I’ve said this before and there is a reason for that: the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote that in a poem, and as a descendent of Scots (McGuire), believe me – I get it, Robbie B!! I hear you, brother!
We’ve been capturing Finley in his Carhartt overalls as a kind of theme, for a while now. Whether I am behind the camera, or we’ve hired a pro, I love these images. With apple picking season upon us we set a course for Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton. As parents do, we hyped it up, packed the cute clothes, got our little guy ready and arrived to find they were closed. There was so much traffic over the weekend that our Monday plan was not to be. No apple picking. The good news is that we had a blast on a nearby trail and the day was glorious.
As memories go, what I will tell Finley when he’s older is that he spent 90% of his time that day, storing acorns in every pocket he had. If they had been pants, they would have fallen down. Like a little squirrel prepping for winter, he put handful and handful in those overalls. The snacks I had, including Cheerios and cashews just mixed right in. Hilarious!
Yes, I will probably try to get some apple picking portraits again before it’s too late, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased with how these images turned out: happy boy, fun day and when we reached the farm shop to buy some apples, his acorns spilled out all over the place to the delight of other customers. It was a good day. Don’t give up Moms. Joy is out there, even if it isn’t what you envisioned.
My advice is that you do the best with what you’re given.
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.
Season of Giving Starts Now
Yes, it’s Prime ordering season, pardon the pun, and I’ll never shame any of us for making our lives easier by saving money ordering from a mammoth company because there’s free shipping. No shade throwing here.
But (you knew it was coming), this has been a year like no other that most of us have seen, and small businesses need us now more than ever. Shop local when you can. Buy from people you see at church, went to school with, are your neighbors (masks and all) because we appreciate your business more than you could possible know.
Before you decide on purchasing things that will get smashed, lost, ignored or summarily tossed aside by February 1st, I hope you’ll think about a gift of memory, history and love: give portraits, keepsake boxes, canvases and memory books!
If you have been a client of Pixels on Paper for any type of portrait session, then any of your photos can be designed for Christmas cards. You do not have to be wearing a reindeer sweater.
Another very popular gift item is our proof collection box. It’s a keepsake box with a 4 x 6 print of every image from their portrait session included in the box (see the first image at the opening of this blog).
Photo books as well as framed prints or canvases make AMAZING, memorable presents for parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. People tend to focus on wedding and newborn portraits, but we have photographed so many families, high school and college friendships, couples before, during and after the arrival of a baby, and siblings through various phases of life that we hope you’ll think outside of a simple framed image and provide a real packaged heirloom for someone you love.
Every year, I make a photo album as a Christmas gift for each set of grandparents. They get all the portraits of Finley packaged nicely and frankly, it’s what they want the most. Consider that before you buy a bunch of socks, subscriptions and non-recyclable, soul-sucking “things.”
And finally, we have gift cards and these make wonderful gifts as well. Pregnant daughter or daughter in laws all need a maternity, newborn, 6 month and one year portrait session.
Food for thought, dear ones! Be in touch.
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.
A New Client Logo
A pal of ours decided to rebrand her 6 year old marketing business and reached out to Pixels for some inspiration and a logo design. She is a brander, copywriter, strategist, blogger and calls us “family.” We love her too. We were her first clients and go way back, so the “heck yeah, we’ll take a crack at it” came fast and furious.
Ryan worked to understand the original brand and what she wanted and because they’d worked together in the past, some of it was easy and some of it was a game of Getting to Know You. She loves Mad Men, the way embossing creates a sense of “appearance out of nowhere”, Art Deco, a variety of movie production house logos, and Pre-Raphaelite painters. NO problem.
She has been using orange and blue and loves that combo, so Ryan worked on tweaking those. The Focus Features intro is a favorite as well, so that was taken into consideration.
There will be more to come as she puts her new brand in motion, orders business cards, re-releases her website and further animates the dynamic gif that Ryan created by adding sound. Stay tuned for that. She has asked that we withhold the gif for now, but did share her feedback about the process.
Ryan did exactly what I try to do with my clients: he listened. He sifted through a mountain of disparate thoughts and idiotic spasms/requests and gave me something way better than I imagined.
I’m beyond thrilled.
It pays off to have such talented friends.
That’s enough for us!
If you have a branding or graphic design conundrum, project or need, we hope you’ll contact us.
We love graphic design, architectural photography and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Pixels On Paper Photographs MBI Builder’s Custom Home
Ryan took the lead on this shoot as these are definitely in his wheelhouse. MBI Builders has engaged Pixels for commercial architectural photography before and we love that they want to have us capture images for their portfolio and website. They do beautiful work, so we try to represent that. The proof is in the pudding.
This is a custom design build home at the Blue Ridge Mountain Club. The views, the architectural details and materials speak for themselves.
We love graphic design, architectural photography and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.