Best of Father’s Day – Part 1
Let’s celebrate the guys we love. June means heat, summer vacations, family outings but also being stuck indoors or trying to get out responsibly after quarantine. I could not be more grateful for my own father and for my hubs, Ryan. We’ve taken so many wonderful images of dads over the years that it felt like time to do a two part blog showcasing some of our favorites.
“My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.”
“We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply.
“We’re raising boys.” – Harmon Killebrew
“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms even when his hand’s are empty.” – Unknown
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth
“When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.” – The Talmud
“He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it.” – Clarence Budington Kelland
Happy Father’s Day, Dads! Part 2 is to come. We love celebrating you!
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.
Congrats to Laura – A new Appalachian State University Grad
Like so many others during this Pandemic, Laura Souther did something note-worthy: she graduated from college. The fanfare of years past wasn’t there and while we know these newly minted grads are adults, we wish for more pomp and circumstance, pardon the pun. They deserve our heartfelt, if virtual, high fives. We had the honor of capturing Laura at her now alma mater – Appalachian State University – in mid-May on a truly gorgeous day.
She sparkled next to the sign with her sash, and her big smile was memorable, and indicative of the young woman she is.
It’s hard to believe but we photographed this girl 4 years ago for her senior prom. She looked amazing, but man! Father Time, could you just go take a break? Some of us want you to speed up and propel us forward, but as a mom of a two year old, I’d like to see you pump the breaks. I know Laura is raring to go though. She has been accepted to and will start graduate school in speech pathology next and is excited about the next phase of her life.
Laura: you are going places, sweetheart! We appreciate your resilience, your hope in the future and the work that you are going to put into making the world better. From the bottom of our hearts, congratulations!
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.
Ashleigh High School Grad Photos
Covid-19, and the time in our lives it has brought, has not been kind to milestones and those who want to celebrate them, but this high school senior is not typical. She’s funny, smart, resilient and ready for the future. I’m so proud to know her and to have been able to photograph her high school graduation portraits – OUTSIDE of course.
Her mom was my best friend growing up and is a dear friend to this day, and her daughter is the coolest kid. We took photos for her senior year with her family in the wood and in front of waterfalls. The Andersons are solid friends and we love them.
Ashleigh has the best sense of humor and a fantastic personality. I love this kid. After her school year came to a grinding halt because of Covid, she was distraught. No big round ups. No graduation. No special occasions – just “all in to protect ourselves.” But she found her resolve and then decided to work a couple of jobs and start applying to college. She boot strapped it and got over it, like the cool kid she is.
“I did it!”
Congratulations to this remarkable young woman. I look forward to photographing you, Ashleigh through all the coming milestones in your 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 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.
Newborn Liam
The coronavirus pandemic has changed all of us, and certainly it has shifted how we are living and working. As a photographer, I have experienced scheduling delays and a few setbacks, but all out of an abundance of caution. For us, it’s more important that we all get through this as safely as possible. So when a long-time planned newborn session presented itself, I wanted to oblige, but with those rules in place. And with some careful planning, I pulled off a very special collaboration.
Meet Liam Tevepaugh – a member of my family and a brand new baby.
Because parents Cody and Courtney are family, I didn’t want them to miss having newborn portraits taken of Liam, especially when his grandparents and other relatives haven’t been able to hold him in the hospital or when he was brought home. None of us however were comfortable with me handling him in our portrait studio or even gathering in the same space. So we concocted a unique plan wherein I cleaned and packed up one of my cameras and the lens I knew would be best and left it on their doorstep. I shared tutorials, specific camera settings and images that I had taken of other newborns to give them ideas and direction.
With some props, ideas and trial and error, they did a great job. After my camera was wiped down and returned, MY part of the collaboration was to download the images, retouch them, handle color corrections, and make all the editing adjustments.
They took my notes and suggestions about lighting, creating a cushion, where to shoot and how to pose little Liam and ran with it and I’m so happy that we could make this work. I cannot stress enough that this was an extremely unique set of circumstances and for a family that was planning to use one of our gift certificates for the baby’s first year package they were gifted.
While I have NO plans to do this again, with North Carolina slowly reopening, I do hope to begin shooting newborn sessions again soon, but outdoors. I’ve done this many times before and with the weather warming up for summer, it is entirely possible to be safe, clean, socially distanced and successful. If you’re interested in discussing an outdoor newborn, family or child photography session in the months to come, please contact us.
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.