Posts Tagged: Charlotte Family Photography

Man of the Year – or just some photos celebrating men

My vote for man of the year is my Ryan Case. And he did not pay me to say that. He’s the guy I married, work and live with, am raising a son with and have watched build, repair, rebuild around our house and cabin getaway too many times to count. He’s an exceptional manager, father, graphic designer, photographer, craftsman, funny man, hockey mascot and enthusiast and friend to many…. too, too many to count.

I wrote recently about parents and parenting and it got me thinking about men. The news isn’t always a big, warm hug. And advertising doesn’t always help. BUT! We are teaching our daughters how to identify and avoid the predatory jerks and we’re teaching our sons how not to become those guys. This blog is decidedly not political though, because and I’ve been blessed by watching, knowing, befriending and loving the better men among us – the good guys.

Above: when your gear becomes a baby basket for your newborn.
Below: sandbox time. Time to listen, create and play.

Happy father of two and a little man ready to be a big brother.

This officer and dad (above with his wife and little peanut) provided his hat for a newborn portrait (below).
York men – brothers and friends.This guy secretly planned a portrait session for his wife, preggers with their second child. He chose the location and clothing and surprised her.
Men prepping for a wedding: father and sons. Cuff links handed down and everyone all in.
Not quite a man yet, but he gets points for trying. It’s a wedding and dancing is part of the gig, after all.
The Hobin boys at the family camp.
This wonderful dad is now a father of two. And……….. still smiling.

Fathering a pre-teen.

Making baby Brock laugh.

Celebrating 50 years, in overalls with his favorite lady!


There still are men out there who work to be better listeners, who want to know those around them and show respect. They want to crack us up, swap stories, work along side and collaborate with us. They understand that we don’t need them, but are our fellow travelers, our friends, brothers, fathers, seekers and loves.


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

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

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

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

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

ellis family outdoor portraits – elijah turns one

Another family we love and have been photographing since forever is the Ellis Family and they have added a member over the last year. Ashley and Kevin hired us to photograph their engagement and wedding photos and we’ve stayed in touch since. This couple is so loving and so cool and fun that we were happy to have another reason to see them when sweet Isaiah was born. We photographed his newborn pics and he was so bright-eyed and cute. The following year, the Ellis’s came back to us for family portraits on Isaiah’s first birthday.

Isaiah – One Year!

For this most recent portrait session with newest member Elijah, the Ellis’s wanted to be outdoors again, but the constant rain earlier this season caused us to reschedule this session three times. Mom Ashley joked that Elijah might turn two by the time the rain stopped. But as always, everything happens for a reason. When we finally got to photograph them, it was gorgeous out and Ashley’s Mom was visiting from out of state so she was able to be a part of the day. We all met up at a park in Statesville, NC where Ashley once played as a child.

Ellis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography Photo

Like all kids, no two are alike. We’ve joked in past blogs that Isaiah, with his ties, looks like a serious businessman. Ashley calls one year old Elijah her “Wild Man” and she warned that he probably wouldn’t be as easy to photograph at this age as his older brother. The kid indeed is full of energy, excitement, curiosity and is rambunctious and always on the go. Keeping up with him was fun and we were up for it.

Ellis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography Photo

This pic below cracks me up. How much would you pay to know what Elijah was thinking? He looks so suave and cute and the curls on the top of his head are just too much.

Ellis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography Photo

Ellis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography PhotoEllis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography Photo

Ellis Family Outdoor Portraits by Wilkesboro NC Photographers, Pixels On Paper Photography Photo

“On the road of life together.”
This photo – all of these photos – give me so much joy and hope for the future. Family continues to be the institution we all turn to the most for inspiration, comfort and hope. Cheers to the Ellis’s. Keep holding together you four. Keep chasing each other around and hugging and bonding. We hope to see you again soon.


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

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

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

Family Reunion Portraits – Pick Your Spot and Let’s Go!

We know that the temptation with family gatherings, especially with the vacation season already here, is to use your phone to grab little candid moments in photos that are impromptu and casual. They don’t always turn out that way though. Not everyone ends up being happy with the results. As pro photographers, our instinct is always to be capturing memories where people really do feel like they look their best. We make our subjects feel comfortable, we love to laugh, learn the little relational connections and inside jokes, and we absolutely – ABSOLUTELY – understand the family dynamic.

This is our case for scheduling a family portrait session this summer season. Pick out your duds, your location, who you want included (WE LOVE A FULL ON FAMILY REUNIONS) and let’s create a moment on film where everyone looks and feels awesome. You’ll be glad.

Here’s to families!

Family: A social unit where the father is concerned with parking space, the children with outer space, and the mother with closet space.” – Evan Esar 

My family is really boring. They have a coffee table book called Pictures We Took Just to Use up the Rest of the Film.” – Penelope Lombard

Some family trees bear an enormous crop of nuts.” – Wayne Huizenga

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family… in another city.” – George BurnsThe other night I ate at a real nice family restaurant. Every table had an argument going.” – George Carlin

Obviously, if I was serious about having a relationship with someone long-term, the last people I would introduce him to would be my family.” – Chelsea HandlerSo, the jokes are because laughter is ultimately what keeps us together, but we seriously love day in the life photo shoots, posed portraits and outdoor gatherings of family. Tis the season to get everyone around a place or a day you love and let us capture some images of 2018 that will last long after this season is over.


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

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

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

8 Photographer Tips: What to Wear for Portraits

More from our mini-series of expert advice, and by the way, for those of you with score cards at home,… we don’t run around referring to ourselves as experts. We try to live humble lives where we work hard to be good at what we do. We just happen to have done this for so long, we know “some stuff.”

So today, I’m giving the 8 key pieces of info about what to wear to a professional portrait session. When it comes to what to wear for portraits, pretty much anything goes. But we know lots of Moms and teenagers stress when it comes to planning what to wear when in front of the camera.

1. Don’t be afraid to wear color. Colors in outdoor portraits that coordinate with the season look better than a wardrobe of black and white.
Arnold family outdoor spring peach orchard photos by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photographers photoThe Arnold family dressed perfectly during their spring, orchard portrait session. And the Church family’s autumn session is coordinated perfectly too.

pixels on paper, portrait photography, family portrait photography, outdoor portrait photography, family portraits, wilkesboro, north carolina, photo

 2. For adults, stick with wearing solids rather than prints. Leave prints, stripes and florals for young kids.
Pixels on Paper Photography outdoor portrait garden photo
 3. Not everyone needs to wear the same color. Write that down! Hee!
Complimentary colors and shades work great especially for large families.

4. Wearing black or white along with khaki or denim are best in studio portraits or outdoors if you want a classic, traditional and timeless look.
Keeping it neutral allows personalities to shine through.
Allen Outdoor Family Portrait PhotographySticking with the white, here is sweet Sawyer in his 6 month portrait session.

5. Shoes can most often date a photo more than any other piece of wardrobe. If the weather and surroundings lend itself, considering going with bare feet or stick with classic solid leather styles for adults and children. Children’s tootsies are so delicious (Ryan and I routinely munch on Finley’s….. his are just right for snackin’), if they can be outdoors and shoe-free, do it!
pixels on paper charlotte nc outdoor family portrait photographers photo

6. Women, don’t forget accessories such as scarves or fashion jewelry. These items work great to tie in your color choices.

Parker Outdoor Family Portrait Photography

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

7. We prefer to have a consult to discuss your portraits prior to when they occur. We can help you coordinate your wardrobe taking into consideration where the photos will take place as well as where you will be hanging portraits in your home. Don’t hesitate to lay out your clothing options all together and send us a cell phone photo. We will help approve or make suggestions!

8. We also have a helpful “What to wear” Pinterest board for inspiration. Bear these in mind and you’ll look brilliant!


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.