Portraits – stages of life

The temptation to write about the various stages of life we get to photograph – cradle to grave as it were – has been with me for a while, you guys. The grave part seems morbid, but honestly, we do capture the circle and cycles of life. Your parents have your baby portraits taken and before long, you’re scheduling your own kids’ photos.
Heirlooms are magic and they last long after the people in the frames are gone, so we consider it an honor to be the ones behind the camera during all the stages of your life. It seems like every year the baby, family, engagement, wedding and reunion photos become more profound as our own lives advance and expand personally.

Here is a topless newborn (not even 2 weeks old) in a tutu. Are you in? Paying attention? Well, a little pink lamb is always a good place to start.
But we often form our client relationships at the intention to marry. You fall in love and when you find the right one, you make it official – perhaps. Maybe you just start a life together.



Those images from your engagement and wedding are coveted by parents, grandparents and friends and they become markers in your life story. For many of our couples, kids are the next piece of the puzzle and we love taking maternity, newborn portraits, birthday cake smashes, outdoor photos and photos with the siblings that follow the first kid.
Pixels on Paper Photography Outdoor Portrait garden photo

Family’s grow and we love being a part of watching them expand – seeing multiple generations gather for whatever reason.

There are friendships, school milestones, proms and graduations. Again – your family members – those now and those you’ll never meet – will want to see these moments and relish them along with you.


Pixels On Paper Senior Photography Portraits Wilkesboro Boone Blowing Rock Charlotte Photographers

Do people from other regions of the country use the expression, “do life?” I wonder. It feels distinctly Southern, but who knows?
As you do life, no matter what season of life you’re in, we hope that you’ll make time for professional portraits that will put a pin in that particular chapter of your life. Your kids will grow and your family may spread out, you’ll head to college and fall in love or decide to venture forth and want family portraits taken. You’ll also come together for reunions and birthdays. Maybe you just want to document this year in Day in the Life photos. Regardless, we’re here and would love to be the ones to capture this specific moment 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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

The York Family Outdoor Portraits

I feel like I say this about every family that we photograph more than two times. Maybe I do. And then it occurred to me that perhaps Ryan and I are just blessed in this way beyond the other blessings that we already see daily. Maybe our superpower is attracting great people into our lives who just happen to be our clients. We find commonalities, share values, a world view or life experience, crack each other up, can relate about the ups and downs of life and become bonded for keeps. The Yorks are just such a couple and just such a family.Pixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photo

We photographed the Lindsey, Mitch, Tate and Turner a few years ago with Lindsey’s family and again last year with outdoor portraits of Mitch’s family.  This most recent occasion was about birthday celebrations for their boys, Turner and Tate. The two year old loves trains so we all met up at the Depot in North Wilkesboro. His theme? CHOO CHOO ~ I’M 2! Cute huh? He is obsessed with trains, train tracks, the cars, all of it. And the four year old is ALLLLLL about fishing, so there were plenty of props for each little man. If only we could all hang onto passion the way we do when we’re so young…. “she said wistfully.”

Pixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photoPixels On Paper family and child photographers wilkesboro nc. York family outdoor portrait photo
Lindsey has envisioned a stairwell wall collection as well as one above her bed and we’re in the process of  getting the canvases created and up on the walls for this crew. We’re also already planning next year’s session. We had so much fun at this one, that we cannot wait. Ideas are brewing!
As we watch this family grow, and I look at these images, that blessed feeling returns. We are happy to be doing life with these guys. Lindsey, Mitch, Turner and Tate: We love 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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Logo and Graphic Design from Pixels on Paper

Pixels on Paper creates graphics and branding for New Appalaichia foods photoFor those of you who are friends, fans and followers (thank you! we love you too!!), you already know that part of our business is graphic design. When we started Pixels, we knew that photography would be the focus (har har), but the graphic design side has been an important and growing piece. Ryan has been a full time professional in marketing,  promotions and graphic design for over 15 years and he’s growing Pixels’ graphic design side by working with both entrepreneurs and legendary brands.

Here are a few of Pixels’ favorite projects.
If you are a start-up, a brand in need of a new look, a business in search of a way to display your latest promotional campaign, are ready to reboot your business/event/cause or other promotional image, get in touch. We’d be honored to help you by creating or facilitating a creative pivot.

Grandfather Homes Logo graphic design photo

A sampling of graphic design work and more info is here and you can also check out the full monty for Colt’s Hearts, Fionix, Bridal Traditions, Byrd’s and Bees, New Appalachia and Historic Lance Brand for CPCC.


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

5 Reasons to Have Professional Portraits

We know that you guys are busy. Believe me – we’re right there with you. You have a million things to do, so a lot of those “things” end up happening quickly and less deliberately. We’re running around constantly.

Boar’s Head – the premium deli meat purveyors – have created a tagline to get us to think about how we have to thread the needle of decision making: Compromise Elsewhere. It’s a good one, huh? And, sadly or not, it’s necessary in a busy, noisy world.

“Choose your battles.” “Spend your time wisely,” etc. and it’s true. So I would like to co-opt this idea of compromising elsewhere with regard to keeping your biggest moments in life, those things that matter and will someday become the heirlooms on film and not stuck in your phone or in a cloud. For that you need professional photography and a little bit of planning.

So here are my 5 reasons why hiring a professional photographer – ie someone who is seasoned, great at it and loves it – to capture the most important moments in life.
5 – If you make the time, the results are worth it. The quality is better and Ryan and I have worked for well over a decade to make this is true.

4 – It’s more fun than you think it will be. Seriously. People make appointments thinking it’s a box to tick because they need good photos of milestone (AND YOU DO!!), but our clients come back again and again for sessions, because there is a vibe and flow and a lot of laughter. We’re easy like Sunday morning, as the song goes, and the vast majority become our dear friends. We try to make shoots fun no matter where we are or who we’re with because who wants a job that stinks? And honestly – WE DO HAVE FUN. We are real people who are married with a baby and who love music, craft beer, gardening, hockey, family, travel and capturing portraits.

3 – Proper portraits, shot by professional photographers, are of the best quality. It’s just true. Your social media “story” or travel snapshots provide a sense of a moment and some narrative, but professionals portraits do not have to be stuffy. They are real AND turn out better than something shot on the most expensive smart phone or personal point and click digital camera. Part of this is our equipment. We use only the best cameras, lens, and lighting and then the best technology for clarity, cropping, processing and retouch. And then part of it is our experience. We don’t take photos as part of a holiday. It’s how we make our living. Enough on that. You get it. The last part is our passion. We know what we’re doing, do it with the very best equipment and software and we absolutely LOVE IT.

Madelyn McGuire Family and Child Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

2 – Professional portraits make amazing gifts. We’ve all seen the sort of “great, but blurry” or pixelated framed images and while the sentiment is there – the quality isn’t. If you’re going to give a gift, give a nice one. Whether it’s framed for your own home, made into calendar or used for some fun type of gift, your friends and family will appreciate it if it doesn’t look like it was created on someone’s lunch break in an alley.

The number ONE reason to have professional portraits taken is because the time will indeed pass quickly and when the moment is gone it is indeed actually gone. Kids grow up, the wedding day comes and goes, the beautiful bride goes back to her life and job or career path, the family disburses to the 4 corners of the earth and getting that minute back is just impossible.

Consider where you are in your life right now, what big events, milestones or celebrations are on the horizon during the next few months or even year and give us a call. We’d love to be the ones to create those heirlooms 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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Outdoor Location Portraits

Location photos continue to be some of our favorites to review over the years and certainly to shoot. We’re about to enter the end of summer and the advent of fall and sharing some photos of clients of all stripes in a variety of landscapes just felt right.

Children in a garden, engaged couples under bridges, newlyweds, families, all outdoors. Join them.

Green/Bell Pixels On Paper Photography Engagement portrait photography photo


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.