You know it when you see it. Love. While we aren’t able to hug our friends and our family much these days, we can celebrate love that we’ve captured back when people were hugging, kissing and canoodling without a care in the world. These images from family portraits, engagement sessions, anniversaries and celebrations over the years give me hope.
Below: Jeremy & Meghan Arnold over the years from engagement to parents of two.
There’s a song by Crosby, Stills & Nash from the early 1970s called “Love the One You’re With” and while we don’t want any of you to get sick or in trouble, it’s good to remember: “if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.” Take a little time today to give those in your pod a squeeze and don’t forget to check on those you cannot be with.
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.
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Author and environmentalist Rick Bass has a great quote about the seasons of life:
“My life, I realize suddenly, is July. Childhood is June, and old age is August,
but here it is, July, and my life, this year, is July inside of July.”
For each of these couples, in their year, in July, they were in the beginning of their new lives. Childhood was June. But they were entering the July inside of July.
From Jessica and Jason, who were married in 2016, to Precious and Damon who’ve been married for 9 years, we hope that for the best and longest Julys in their lives. August can wait. Keep celebrating. Keep enjoying each other. Keep planting and harvesting, knowing how loved you are. Happy Anniversary, all of you!
Kendra and Nathan love The Avett Brothers, wine, wineries and each other. The end.
Ok, there’s more to them than just that. We met Kendra at a bridal show this past March and loved chatting with her and hearing about her engagement to Nathan. They met in high school and began dating when he left for college at ASU. Before long, he was coming home A LOT and they became inseparable and still are. These two love to go to NC wineries when they have down time and they knew that a vineyard would be perfect spot to photograph their engagement session. On November 4th, we all met at Piccione Vineyards, armed with a blanket, our equipment, and sunshine and proceeded to wander among the vines.
The Piccione Vineyard boasts amazing views of the rolling landscape of the Yadkin Valley and NC mountains in the distance and they didn’t disappoint us that day. Watching these two crack up was especially fun. Kendra mentioned that Nathan ribs her mercilessly and said that she “usually deserves it.” The couple will be getting married at The Barn at Blueberry Hill on May 20th of 2017 and we’re looking forward to the day, the ceremony and watching them make it official. We really like this couple and seeing them with the expanse of vineyards behind them is metaphor enough for us. Here’s to lifting a glass and toasting years and acres of laughter, teasing, harmony, prosperity and many good vintages.
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.
Daniel was one of our All About Prom models in 2013 and he’s been a Pixels and photo enthusiast since. [WE LOVE YOU TOO, DANIEL!!] So, when he approached us and asked if he had to be engaged to have an “portrait session,” we said of course not! You don’t have to be married, engaged, or even in a relationship to have photographs taken by a professional.
Life is short. If you have a person (or pet) you love, an event, an important time in your life you want captured forever, get a pro involved. We met these two in Elkin, NC just as the seasons were changing from summer to autumn and after we made them comfortable in front of the camera, they fell into their own groove and their personalities really shined through. The image of Sarah above looking at Daniel is an example. There’s a lot going on in that look and smile, I think.
Not only are we photographing Daniel’s sister’s wedding to his best friend in December, but Daniel decided that he and Sarah would like photos taken of them during each of the 4 seasons at places near home and others that they love. We’re looking forward to photographing them again, just because.
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.
There were years (in the many hundreds) when people married young. Maybe your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents did. No one thought anything about it and I’m not prepared to give a history lesson about why it worked or didn’t. Young brides and grooms, older brides and grooms…. we ALWAYS cheer for a strong marriage that lasts until Al Roker is talking about it on the Today Show.
These 2 below, Violet and Floyd, were married for 67 years. They were married young, were 21 and 22 in this photo, and in 2015, they passed away holding hands with their hospice beds pushed together. 67 years and together right until the last moment.
Who knows why some young marriages work and last, producing thriving families, smartypants kids, and reels and reels of memories? But they do. When we hear, “but they’re SO YOUNG,” as we have in our tenure as wedding photographers, we think, “but what if what they have is the big “IT?” We believe Ashley & Oscar have it. They are young, yes, but they have the depth, gravitas, self-awareness and sense of longevity – and they displayed it during our photo session.
They have “it” and IT is a shared belief in Christ and each other.
Ashley and Oscar met when her church took a trip to Mexico. When Oscar returned to school in the states, they started spending more time together and realized their similar dreams and feelings. Ryan and I have known them for a while. Oscar and Ashley’s brother Daniel were models for us during a prom shoot a few years ago. The Caudill’s have supported Pixels On Paper Photography and we’ve always appreciated their love and care for us. Now we get to return the favor as documentarians and friends.
I’ve never been around a couple, even twice their age, who were more grounded in faith, family and tradition. Ashley will finish the last of both her high school and college courses in December and then they will be married in NC. A honeymoon in Mexico is planned and Ashley will finally be able to meet all of Oscar’s family. We’re excited about the stories to come of how these families will blend into one and write their own new story with Him at the center. We couldn’t be more hopeful or proud or happy for them.
We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or NC 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 as well as the surrounding areas. 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. Contact us to schedule your portrait or wedding photography.