Posts Tagged: creative outdoor photography nc
piccard fall family portraits – goodbye summer, helloooooooo autumn
Some of us mourn when it starts creeping toward us.
“Wait, what? We just got settled in and then it was the 4th of July and now you’re telling me to change out my closet and garage?!?!” “I barely used that new floaty, those new grill tongs, that umbrella for the deck, that swimsuit and visor I got for Christmas!” “We were going to go to the beach twice!” “We were going to cook out more with the neighbors.”
Others of us crave it … we anticipate it, rubbing our hands together like we’re practicing for that first bonfire.
But like it or not, summer is rounding the corner y’all; it’s time for Autumn – capital A Autumn. Since we’re making yet another trip around the sun, and summer will return, let’s focus on the good of this coming season – the gorgeous leaves, brisk mornings, fire wood, scarves, heated car seats, football, soups and stews and snuggling with those we love.
And seriously – NO ONE wants to snuggle someone in a sweaty tank top. And if you do, no judgement, but we don’t want to hear about it.
The Piccards were ALL about the snuggling in October of 2014 when we met up and photographed them along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It started raining when we arrived, but the delay gave us time to grab lunch and bond and when the weather cleared, we were able to grab shots of this family of 4 with wet leaves beneath them and mountain fog surrounding them.
We’ve got spirit, yes we do, and boots and blue nails, HOW ‘BOUT YOU?
We’ve know mom, Brandii McCoy for many years, since we’ve worked with many Charlotte, NC sports teams and Brandii is the dance and cheer coach for the Charlotte Checkers, the former NBA Bobcats, and now the Charlotte Hornets. She’s used to being in front of the camera, so we knew we’d get great shots of her and her lovely family looking pulled together. We also wanted photos of them just being themselves, relaxed and silly and goofing. During conversations, we learned that Brandii and her husband had never had formal portraits of themselves taken, so this session and our lunch with them made for a lot of fun for all of us.
The girls, Karsen and Adler, knew how to work it, by the way. Check out the crossed legs and ankles, the subtle head tilting and, of course, there was the unscripted cuteness. 
We look forward to many Autumn shoots in 2015 and now is the time to book your fall portrait session. Pixels has openings, but they fill up quickly, especially the weekends. We’ll want to capture the best pics of you (and yours) during the height of the season. Call us at 704.641.1131 or 336.990.0080 and let’s make a plan!!
the rogers family ~ a study in “body English” ~ funny faces & faith
Gabriel Rogers is the head pastor at Kingdom Christian Church in Charlotte, NC and he and his wife Stephanie have three children Lauren, Gabe (the middle fella) and the baby of the family, Christian. They are a handsome family and very much loved. Members of their church decided to take up a collection so that they could have a family photo session with us, as well as some extra money to create wall art after our session. These members (like the Rogers themselves) are people after our own heart. They believe in honoring what’s important and capturing memories at different times in life and keeping them as family heirlooms to be passed along.
Pixels captured these photos on a chilly day at The Green Uptown in Charlotte. We immediately noticed their body language: funny, loving, engaged with each other and very silly – particularly the older two kids, Gabe and Lauren. In fact, they were experts in pulling faces to crack up their parents and “make them smile bigger!” Every picture tells a story, as the song goes. Check out the expressions in these pics…!
Gabe Rogers, Jr. stealing the show
Tell us that Gabe Jr. isn’t an uproar in this shot above!! And the photos of his parents (below) speak volumes. Mom Stephanie’s expression shows all the love, patience, humor and sweetness one would expect from a mother of three and pastor’s wife. It also shows strength and a robust dose of sass. Gabriel’s posture reads as, “head of the family” and “proud man of God.” Based on these two photos alone, it’s no wonder their congregants love them so dearly.
Three Musketeers below – big smile from little Christian, sweetness and light from big sis Lauren and the patented “don’t mess with my brother and sister” expression from Gabe Jr. (We send our prayers out to Gabriel and Stephanie for when these three are in their teens, but then we send those prayers out to all parents….)
The Rogers Children – (L-R) Christian, Lauren, Gabe Jr.
The Roger Family at The Green Uptown in Charlotte, NC
Gabe Rogers, Jr and sister Lauren Rogers
While we love the way these five were around each other this past January, we also love the spirit that drives them to be examples in their sphere of influence. They make a difference and their work and worth will have an untold impact, not just on each other, but to those they’ve not even met yet. We were thrilled to be able to provide a canvas wrap collection to go in their living room along with several prints they had frames for.
God Bless you Rogers.
Pixels as Official Photographers at Merlefest 2015 ~ because it’s pretty much … whoa.
Sorry. We meant WHOA.
ALL CAPS WHOA.
As in HOLY CRAP…. A DREAM COME TRUE AND WE LOVED IT.
We were chosen to be official photographers for Merlefest 2015 and it held so much more than we anticipated. We’d been to Merlefest before as music lovers and working with vendors, but this was amazing. Amazing personally and certainly professionally.
If you love The Avett Brothers as much as we do, then you’ll know why it was a blast to be taking photos on stage with them and a thrill when one of our shots made the front page.
You know how your senses can go into overload? That’s how we felt. So much to see …. so much new, established and beloved music to tune into plus we were working. So we were doing recon, figuring out the logistics of stages and the schedule, where to upload our shots, and visualizing photos to capture in short windows of time.
One of the first surreal moments happened on Thursday morning (Day 1) when we realized that we had full backstage access. While standing on the main stage behind performers warming up before the gates were opened to the public, we were further bedecked in extra badges, wrist-bands and more credentialling bling (credential-ling? … maybe not a word, but we’re going with it).
Between the two of us, we photographed 26 bands/musicians, plus took shots of the fans, the dancing masses, craftsmen and general atmosphere. And we worked 53 hours over the course of four days. On Saturday, we arrived there at 7am and didn’t see each other until after 7pm.
The turnaround time was such that our images had to be taken correctly and perfect in camera while we photographed them. There was no time for Photoshop work. 5-10 shots after each concert/band and keep moving. The pace was hectic and exhilarating.
When we weren’t uploading photos to share with the world – ours went mostly to our Instagram page with a special hashtag #pixelsonpapermerlefest – we were shooting everything else.
Check out the Honey Dewdrops and the Jason Lee McKinney Band. Both have decided to use our photos for their social media work …. yeah, yeah, yeah!
The Honeydew Drops
Colt Prince, Guitarist with Jason Lee McKinney Band
Chatham County Line shared Pixels’ images on their Instagram and Twitter pages and Front Country has been using our images on Instagram and Facebook. We are gratified and couldn’t be more proud.
Chatham County Line Band
Front Country
Finally, our crowd shot was used by many in the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook worlds, including Merlefest’s Facebook and flickr site and on HCPress.com.
Any downtime we had was with Ryan’s brother Todd in the wee hours of the morning when we could actually do a post-mortem and share photos from the day and say, “Oh, that shot!!! I wondered if I had it or not;” and “that turned out better than I thought – check it out!” We would talk and crack up. There was something about that time that was particularly important because while we were tired, we were this little tribe of 3, telling stories and trying to marshall our energy for the next day.
Don’t get us wrong, there were challenges, but there were also revelations about ourselves, our skills and our business. Challenges included the always-changing light (dark, direct-sun, shadows, spot lights), weather (rain & cold), fast action (drums, fiddle), indoor and outdoor contrasts, stage equipment (microphones, monitors, speakers are always in the way). We are agile and completely willing, but there were jumps from venue to venue, stage to stage.
Triumphs, however were equally deep.
For Ryan it was realizing that we had the right amount of everything and the right equipment to get results. We tend to be of the mind-set, if we don’t need a particular lens or piece of equipment, we don’t buy it. While many of our peers there had some very expensive equipment and more of it, we realized VERY QUICKLY that we had the goods. Literally and figuratively.
For me, it meant finding myself as 1 of 4 women in a field of 28 photographers. Unlike portrait photography, which is dominated by women, event photography is a man’s world. Yet there I was, shoulder to shoulder with the boys grabbing the shots that would be sought out by other media outlets and bands themselves. It was weird and cool and now there is no putting the genie back in the bottle for us.
We cannot wait for Merlefest 2016! C’mon y’all and join us.
man’s man & his sweet lady hit the Little Sugar Creek Greenway in Charlotte ~ Sharae & David’s engagement portraits
“You only need one man to love you. But him to love you free like a wildfire, crazy like the moon, always like tomorrow, sudden like an inhale and overcoming like the tides.
Only one man and all of this.” – C. Joybell C.
So when Sherae Jones met David Johnson, we feel confident that she didn’t require him to read the above quote printed out and then sign it in front of a notary. Well, we’re pretty sure … she is a rather organized woman. But we feel equally confident that if she’d asked him, he would have. The guy clearly loves this girl.
Here’s how we know: Sherae booked Pixels well over a year before their wedding to capture their engagement photos. We told you she was organized. David, who is a high school teacher and head football coach, had recently been to a friend’s wedding and found the aggressive wedding photographer to be ……….. a bit much. Suffice it to say, when it was time to meet us on a hot, humid day in June of 2014, he didn’t leap from the car (cue the symphonic romantic music) and run in slow-motion toward us with his arms thrown open. It meant a lot to Sherae though, so of course, he did what real men do – he showed up.
Some of our clients are incredibly effusive and physical. Sherae and David were more contained, but their love for each other was apparent.
By the end of the shoot, David was looking around the greenway location for other possible spots and making specific requests. Sherae was excited that David ended up having fun and being engaged in the process and WE were thrilled that they were happy with the results from the shoot. We grabbed some nice pics of them in the shade, where we would stop to cool off and confab about other locations. Working with Sherae, we used some of the photos to design their Save the Date bookmarks.
These two get married in June of 2015 and we wish them only love, and that it be free like a wildfire, crazy like the moon, always like tomorrow, sudden like an inhale and overcoming like the tides for many, many years.
