Ava Turns One
Sweet little Ava enjoyed this one year birthday portrait session almost as much as we did. She toddled with her Mom and Dad all over an Ashe County NC pumpkin patch, with more wardrobe changes than a pop icon on tour. Great facial expressions – check. Cuteness on cue – yup. She loved sharing Zinnias from the fields, laughed at squatting on pumpkins, eagerly tugged on her dad’s beard while giving him Eskimo kisses, and jabbered away in her special language with her Mama. This year has been filled with so much joy in her presence. I’m excited to watch and photograph her in all the years ahead. We LOVE you, Miss Ava.
It’s hard for me to believe that it has been a year since we took her first photos, even though I’ve quite literally watched this child grow. Her parents are close friends of ours. We photographed mom Judy’s maternity portraits, Ava’s newborn portraits, an outdoor orchard session in blooms and a 6-month portrait session where this little nugget looks like a fairy in every image.
During the last 12 months, I’ve given Ava some of my very own clothes, some hand made and others hand-me-downs from when I was a child. My son, Finley, has shown no interest in girlie fashions, and to be honest, I’ve found it hard to resist shopping for frills for her while I’m thrift store shopping. So many options sing out to be hers, even though often I find that she’s going to outgrow them 10 minutes after I drop them off! I’m not even her mom, but the pull is strong ya’ll. I just adore this kid.
I also love her doting, attentive and thoughtful parents. I’m so looking forward to her next year ahead and all the fun, silliness and growth we can expect to see for 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.
Newborn Baby Portraits | Sweet Nora
Eleanor (Nora) is new to the planet, so let’s all keep our voices down until she’s ready for the noise and fun of life. Her siblings will help with that, I’m sure. We had the honor of photographing her parents, including this couple’s engagement and wedding portraits as well as Mom Ashleigh’s bridal portraits. They are an amazing couple, both public servants and both community and family-oriented.
These two wed in 2012 and we’ve seen them around our small town plenty of times since then. After some health complications, Ashleigh planned to have a hysterectomy – it was ON her calendar – and then found out that she was pregnant just a few months prior. God has His plan and timeline, and He answered prayers in a way that He has been doing throughout their marriage. Now, they are a family of five, not counting fur babies.
Little Nora is every bit the baby girl a parent would fall instantly and completely in love with. She’s teeny, she’s bright eyed and she is a near perfect little human. We’re are hungry for more of her and for more time with this family.
I cannot say enough how much I love this family and all that this couple does in their professional roles in public service. But even more, I admire their HUGE hearts and capacity for loving children more than you can possibly imagine.
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 ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Schedule Your Christmas Portraits 2019
Season’s Greetings! <ducking>
I know some of you are decidedly not ready to go into holiday mode, so consider this just a gentle nudge. At Pixels, I am in the process of decorating our portrait studio for the 2019 Christmas season. It’s going to be gorgeous, if I say so myself, and when I’m a little closer to completion, I’ll start sharing the color palette and some details.
Your task, should you choose to undertake this adventure, dear reader – AND YOU SHOULD – is to get out your calendar. It is time to schedule your portrait session and time to order cards and gifts.
For $125, we will provide 5 digital images for families with up to 3 children. This includes the printing rights along with the option to purchase prints, cards, and gifts. Pets and additional children or family members are welcome for an additional $25.
Our fee is due when you make your reservation. Once again, I saw no need to raise the price. We want you all to make this an easy and affordable priority this year. These portraits last a lifetime, you know.
For those of you who want a more documentary feel for your holiday portraits, we recommend a family in-home session. These have become really popular over the last 4 years and we love doing them too. Parents want to capture what it looks like “doing the holidays” with their kids and family members and this doesn’t mean you have to have your entire house redecorated or even that pulled together. I PROMISE. We just want you to be present, focused on the holiday and enjoying yourself.
Whether your tree is decorated yet or not, whether you’ve figured out an activity yet or not, whether you even know yet how you’re going to celebrate: don’t worry. Just give it some thought. At home photos are special.
Be thinking about your holiday plans and then, after you’ve finished with Halloween, give us a call and let’s get you scheduled! Weekend slots fill up quickly.
The Pixels’ studio is located at 1198 Curtis Bridge Rd. Wilkesboro NC 28697.
Call 336-990-0080 to reserve or email inquiries to mail@pixelsonpaper.net.
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.
LeAnne – Portrait photos of a UNCG Grad
If you are over the age of 30, this photo shoot will hurl you back in time: back to college graduation. Your life as an adult is ahead of you and it’s all just about the next chapter and big decisions. Ah, to be young.
We’ve known LeAnne McAbee since she was a high schooler and was a part of our All About Proms photo shoot 5 years ago. When she contacted me about her latest milestone, I couldn’t say “YES” fast enough.
When LeAnne determined that should would graduating in December, she was excited and ready to plan and so were we. She definitely wanted to get images when autumn was in full glory around the campus of UNCG, but you know that the best laid plans of mice, men, grads and photographers can easily be spoiled. We’ve learned not to expect the weather or Mama Nature to cooperate. The day of our October session, it was 98 degrees. LeAnne was the best though – even when she had to put on her polyester gown.
We shot all over campus at some of LeAnne’s favorite spots, and even at a few that we found accidentally. She was so lively and fresh-faced, it wouldn’t have mattered where my lens was focused, but the blue sky and her blue dress and gown were perfect. While photographing on the alumni hall steps we reminisced about the time in 2014 when I photographed her on similar steps at the Wilkesboro history museum. Will I be forgiven if I use the cliche “time flies?”
It’s an incredible feeling to see this once young teen now as an accomplished young woman, making big plans and following up on her dreams. We knew she would. Next steps for this year include taking (and I’m sure acing) the LSAT, and then beginning law school in the fall of 2020. Congratulations, LeAnne!! We’re so proud of 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.
Day in the Life – Finley & His KeKe at the Pumpkin Patch
Day in the life portraits are where the future belongs for some professional photographers if you ask me. I love these kinds of sessions. We’ll always need formal family and baby portraits, orchestrated weddings and milestone celebrations, but the juice for me these days is found in capturing the every day little moments. I love watching a day unfold around even mundane activities and allowing families to be present in those moments while I do the work of capturing them.
I carry my smart phone with “crazy awesome high end” camera too, but for this particular adventure, I brought what I call my real camera. I’m not throwing shade, ya’ll, but sometimes you need the right tool for the job.
My almost 2 year old loves nothing more than to be outside with his grandmother KeKe (my amazing mom) and if you add tractors, the ability to run and play – this kid is living his best life. On this particular day, when we visited Howard’s Family Farm in Harmony NC, he most definitely was in heaven.
Moms out there will understand how fortunate you feel when you’ve found a group of other Moms who’ll encourage, support, and entertain each other. I am happy to have such a group. We have a bible study together and outings such as this one with our kids. I loved being able to shoot specific images of them with their kids as well.
What do you get when you have a handful of towhead babies and fields of green? A documentary photographer’s dream. This day we had great weather and the cutest subjects.
Together with our kids, we had a hay ride, picked pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, played in a ball pit and the largest sand box Finley has ever seen. They all slid down a combine slide and rode in a cow train. I was able to capture completely candid moments, a whole day of adventure, and all of us doing life together.
My Mom, Finley and myself ended the day by sitting next to a field of Zinnias sharing a picnic lunch of ham sandwiches, tomatoes, goldfish and apple slices. I don’t care if it’s PB&J or salmon en croute, everything tastes better eaten outside.
I have already printed photos of Finley with my Mom that I will treasure as well as photos of Finley just being Finley. That day is already in the history books, but I have proof of it. I have proof of three generations of us exploring, eating and laughing, images that will remind me of what Finley was like just before he turned two, and I have images of our time with friends, that carefree day when our little tribe wandered around together celebrating each other and simple pleasures.
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.