Roman Turns One. Airplanes and Cake Smash
We cannot stop it. Time is going to do what it’s going to do….. keep passing. Suddenly Roman, below, is a year old.
The third child of Andy and Traci Pierce just celebrated his first birthday and this family does not “phone it in.” They come to PLAY with themes and props and outfits and the big dessert – cake.
Father Andy is a commercial pilot and we have used themes before in photo shoots with his two older brothers. Holden was Pierce baby number one and the aviation them was chosen for him. Then Sawyer came along as a little surfer and pharmacist like his Mom. He even had (and still has) the curls of a man who lives by the sea and in hammocks during his downtime. Roman is the last and third child for Andy and Traci, so they decided to go for it one more time. Traci got the idea from Pinterest of shooting on location, and tasked Andy with finding a plane.
He did. From WWII. Decked out in flack jackets and aviator shades, we all met up in Concord on a gorgeous mid-March dad, with perfect blue skies and lots of wind.
The weather always plays a role, if only to bless you or challenge you. Thank goodness that it was merely a challenge instead of a curse. Traci is detail-oriented, admittedly type A – something she and I share, so she wants all of our time and effort to be worth it. With the wind blowing us all around, Roman was freezing, but Holden and Sawyer were loving it! They fit the roles of pilot and copilot already. We had a couple of “is this going to work?” moments, but we couldn’t be happier with the results.
I feel confident that the family will be having caption contests with the image above for many years to come. Holden with his tongue sort of sticking out conspiring the plan, Sawyer with his curls and “about to pounce lets get do it” posture and little Roman looking like “LETS TAKE A MINUTE TO THINK ABOUT THIS BOYS.”
We ended up back inside, playing around the hangar and avoiding the wind and Roman’s mood shifted from “I’m freezing” to “this ROCKS!” Everything turned out beautifully and I loved capturing the colors of the plane, the natural light and the boys. We adored the plane’s owner who was so accommodating and cool too. He helped make the day a success.
The cake smash went off well too. First birthdays have to have cake and like his older brothers, Roman was able to get the anticipated – and much deserved – sugar rush. Cake theme: why yes, planes!
Roman: we’ve said this about your older brothers, but we are serious when we say it to you: we cannot wait to watch you grow up in front of our lenses and in our midst. Congratulations on your first year on earth. Here’s to so very many more.
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.
Class of 2020 Senior Portrait Photos
Yes, we’re in the middle of a pandemic. No, that does not at all diminish what you’ve accomplished. Graduation dates are approaching and we’ve got seniors on the brain.
While we know that high school and college seniors are basically either on pins and needles about their graduation ceremonies or they are now gearing up for something a little different than perhaps they wanted, we’re here to help.
These milestones are still big deals in your life and we want you to be able to get dressed up and have portraits taken that will memorialize your accomplishments.
While Pixels is strictly following all protocols laid out by the CDC and other government agencies, we do have an open air outdoor portrait garden that is glorious and ready for senior portrait sessions.
As the weeks and months unfold, we hope that we will be able to schedule individual shoots with no physical contact. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in discussing a plan to capture your senior milestone portraits. We’re here.
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.
Stuck at home… revisit your prints
As a follow-up to our “Why Print Your Portraits” blog, I wanted to let you all know that now is a great time to return to the portrait sessions you’ve had with Pixels over the years. Since you cannot receive visitors at your home, why not revisit those days, events and milestones from your past.
You know that we can create cards, canvases, custom in-house framing and other items, but you may have never thought that some of the images that AREN’T milestones deserve their place of glory too.
Above is a gorgeous mom and daughter, but there is also another narrative that goes from maternity to newborn to outdoor family shoot to their 2 children during the holiday season. Consider an arrangement of portraits or canvases that tells that particular story.
Another option we created before and would love to create again: engagement to the early parent years. The Arnold family below are a photogenic bunch, but before they were a party of 4, there was a love story.
Undergraduate love at UNC-Chapel and an engagement portrait session.
Fairy tale wedding filled with joy and glamour…
Welcome to the family little Miss Berklee! And man, was she a cutie pie.
For baby number 2, a boy, husband Jeremy surprised his wife Meghan with a “formal” outdoor maternity portrait session. He even chose the wardrobe for everyone.
And then they were 4. Wyatt joined the tribe in late spring, 2018.
A little over a year ago, we captured them all in a fall outdoor picnic setting.
Yes, time flies, but that doesn’t mean we cannot mark it, rememeber it, relish it and surround ourselves with its best moments.
ALL PIXELS CLIENTS: if you would like for me to reload an expired gallery for you to review, just contact me. You can revisit those special images and consider adding to your collection of memories at home or plan gifts for the future. We would love to take this time to design albums for 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, 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.
Fresh Air Wins!
We cannot gather these days. Covid-19 has rattled our planet and right now, it is alternately culturally fascinating and personally terrifying. We are all trying to make the best of it. I’ve found that it’s easier for some, based on occupation or temperament, or both. Ryan and I hope that each of you is playing it smart, listening to voices of reason and taking counsel from doctors and the CDC.
The good news is that the outdoors are still a room we can enter and it’s a big one. If you can distance yourselves appropriately (6 feet, folks and why not follow the rules?!) and still get out to walk and hike, I hope you will. Following are some images of our beloved clients and friends in Mother Nature, created by Father God. If you can, go out and take the air.
“Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
― Mary Oliver
We are nature.
Our bodies carry its swimming waters.
We are made of the soil
and eat the plants that grow from it.
From dust to dust
we come and go.
Each time I bring
my hands to my heart
in prayer,
flowing my body with my breath,
it is devotional,
a dance with the earth
and of the earth.
I dance with every tree,
sway with the wind,
bloom with every flower
in my being.
My breath,
Mother Earth,
is yours.
—the whole planet is in me”
― Ashley Asti, Yoga Heartsongs
“Mother Nature is calling you,
To embrace with her green hue!”
― Md. Ziaul Haque
“Listen closely. Even the trees exhale sweet love songs that roll off their boughs and echo out to all of creation. Love is always in the air.”
― Cristen Rodgers
“May you all wander and explore mother nature so that one day when you look back you have so much in your heart to tell…real stories to tell to your kids instead fake stories or giving them tablets or phones – just random thoughts ”
― Guru Z S Gill
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.
Why Print Your Portraits?
We’re glad you asked. Honestly, I could write a book on the “look at my phone” fatigue that I personally and many of my friends have shared they too suffer from. At dinner or at work, we pass our phones back and forth and smile and nod and often it’s fine. But printing your professional photos and portraits gives you way more.
Gifts that keep giving!
For starters, prints make amazing gifts. On canvas or in frames, calendars or scrapbooks, people want to spend time with a photo vs. swiping a screen only slightly larger than a business card.
You Re-Live the Moment
I have a pal whose mom says, “you take a trip 3 times: once when you’re planning; again when you’re there and a third time when you look at the photos.” The same is true for big milestones or simple hikes in the woods. Make a print and you return to that moment, that day, that kiss, that ensemble every time you look at it.
Prints Make Great Decor
Pottery, plants, tapestries and wall art make your home or office uniquely yours. What puts your signature on it though is when it is personal and photography does that better than anything else. When we create custom walls for our clients, they give us a sense of the space and we bring their vision to fruition. We even come to your place to hang it so that there is symmetry and artistry in the final result.
Prints Make You Happy
While prints make superb birthday, graduation, holiday, Mother’s/Father’s/Grandparent’s Day gift, they also make you happy. Yes, you’re reliving a moment (see above), but you’re also just stopping in the current moment. I feel a sense of comfort and general happiness when I look at photo prints. They remind me how far I’ve come and are markers of the life I’ve lived.
What Pixels Offers
We create specialty products for our clients including canvases, framed images that we create in-house per your specifications, Proof boxes filled with 4×6 prints, custom books, invitations and announcements, and slideshows set to music. Contact us through social media, email or by phone if you have a specialty item you would like made from your photos. It’s never to late.
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.