Most couples we photograph for their engagement portraits also book us for their wedding day. Naturally, we LOVE that and we LOVE them. It really gives us extended time to get to know them and to determine fun ways to illustrate and showcase their personalities, their affinities for each other and why they chose each location. We’ve found over the last decade and a half that people want to be in and a part of their environments during these big occasions. They want their surroundings to say something about who they are as a couple. For us, it’s a blast, because you can walk any mountain ridge or urban greenway, but if you put people in the shots for whom that place has meaning – it’s a whole new narrative.
Christine and Adam (below) wanted their engagement portraits taken at a mill that has been a part of the groom’s family history for generations. Their wedding? Surrounded by family, outside, in a traditional (club) format. Her veil was the very definition of making a nod to generations before.
These two women have become true friends. We shot Bonnie Hostetler and Amanda Walling’s engagement photos in Charleston, SC, where the water, salt and history were a perfect backdrop for their lives and love. We then photographed their amazing wedding at On the Windfall – a mountain venue where they could begin their lives surrounded by vistas and friends. With both oceans and mountains, we saw their love of the vastness of place and their love for each other. Also – they are just really cool, fun chicks.
Timothy Mahon and Katie Speight met us for their engagement portraits at the Bilmore House in the mountains of Asheville, NC with their dog in the fall and then celebrated their wedding at Twickenham House. Mountain lovers are mountain lovers.Kyle and Elizabeth brought their favorite fiction – both on television and in print – to bear for their engagement and bridal portraits. These two love Dr. Who and they both love to read and both were a part of their photos. Her wedding bouquets, and those of her maids, as well as the men’s boutonnieres, we made of pages from favorite books. Unbelievable.
Sherae and David are Charlotteans and we shot their engagement in a more urban setting and their AMAZING wedding in downtown Charlotte at the Holiday Inn. They were so comfortable with each other and the surroundings sort of faded away during both the engagement shoot and their wedding day.
These are only a few, but they show just how much personality and detail is revealed in front of the lens when two people decide to bond themselves for life. We look forward to many more in the coming months.
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
These two cuties – Brooke Davis and Joey Tibbett – met at App State and will be married in May of this year. We met them for their engagement portrait session at the Moses Cone Manor in Blowing Rock. It was cold that day and since rainy weather had already shifted our schedule once, we were determined to make it work, despite the weather. They brought their beloved dog Cisco with them, along with a pal – the “dog wrangler” so we were a troop making our way from location to location.The manor and property are beautiful and so is the Blue Ridge Parkway we used for some shots. When the fog rolled in, we were able to play with lighting some too. Mostly, we wanted them to stay warm, so Brooke kept her coat handy between shots.
We loved getting to know more about this pair – like for instance that they are considering writing their own vows, that keeping family close is important and that comic books will be given out as gifts at the reception. They’re anxious for their families to know that after the vows are said – even now frankly – they will be one big family. Apparently, Brooke and Joey knew well before they truly expected it that they were going to be together. Adopting sweetheart Cisco made it a done deal. After their wedding and the completion of Brooke’s Masters, they hope to be living in Mooresville and preparing to add to their family – with pups and kiddos.We love a couple who’ll bring their dog along, because you all know how much we love our Chelsea. We also look forward to their wedding and watching their lives take off. We’ve been there and the journey is in its genesis. Good luck and loads of love, Brooke and Joey!
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
My guess is that almost everyone reading this has seen photos like these framed or in shadow boxes at your parents or grandparents homes. Maybe your clan is ultra modern, but many of us have seen our progenitors in some sort of tintype or daguerreotype from over a century (or two) ago and wondered about their story, how they found each other, what they loved about each other, IF they loved each other and what kind of lives they lived. It feels like a leap to go from the couple above to Timothy Mahon and Katie Speights at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville in 2016, where we shot their engagement portraits, but their great-great grandchildren won’t find it weird at all.
The two above decorated pumpkins on the groom’s family farm, marking how they found each other, living as neighbors who never met for a decade. The two below LOVE Dr. Who and that character made appearances in their engagement photo gear and later at their wedding. Those are the kind of details we’re interested in when we photograph engaged couples: “What make you YOU?!” “What would you want those family members you’ll perhaps never meet to know about your love story?”
While these photos are not sepia or tintype and the couples are wearing 21st century clothes, each photo tells a story and the people who know them, love them and have yet to meet them generations to come, will cherish these. Don’t think, dear reader, that shots from your smart phone will do – or even last – the way that portraits taken to mark your engagement will. These are the heirlooms that hold families together for decades and for centuries.
Contact us about scheduling your session, to ask questions, to share your vision and we’ll start planning.
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
If you’re like many of the couples we’ve heard from over just the last couple of weeks, you’re jazzed about both the holiday that’s licking our heels and the new year to come because YOU’RE NEWLY ENGAGED. Congratulations!! If you’re in the afterglow of realization that you’re starting a new chapter, enjoy it! And when you’re ready to put away the last string of garland and haul in your 2018 desk blotter calendar, call us for your engagement portraits. It’s one item we can help take care of on your list.
We’ve been photographing couples, brides and weddings for over 13 years and it’s different every time. Year to year, new faces, new ideas for locations, new dynamics and amazing new stories. We always ask couples for their back story so that we can get to know you and more about who you are, what makes you a couple and what you’re looking forward to about your wedding day. It’s also a chance for us to help you relax during the shoot, figure out details you might have questions about and help make the day fun and the images memorable. Engagement portraits are heirlooms. We look forward to creating yours!
The time it takes to get everything planned shouldn’t overwhelm you, but it can. Contact us and we’ll start the conversation and planning to help insure your story and engagement photos are everything you want them to be. Looking forward to meeting 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 License
All photos are ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
It’s taking ALL I can do not to bring up Vivaldi’s masterpiece, The Four Seasons. And now I’ve done it, so if you like any of the 4 movements, or Vivaldi or classical music, it’s now stuck in your head. You’re welcome.
Meanwhile, our autumn portrait sessions booked up (THANKS EVERYONE) and I’m reminded that we shoot year-round because we can. North and South Carolina provide an embarrassment of riches for portraiture, not just for nature photographers. Mountains, gardens, farms, barns, fields, streams, valleys, the Biltmore Estate, the Blue Ridge Parkway and any number of purpose-built resorts and views surround us. We find ourselves consistently tramping through the woods, climbing rocks, on ATVs and by moving water capturing memories. Here is a small sampling of locations in our distinct seasons. If you need a reminder of the dizzying array of options, enjoy. We’re here and we’re always ready!