Posts Tagged: creative photography
A Brand New Girl | Newborn Pictures of Penelope Jo
Penelope Jo was born February 28th at 4lb 12oz – a miniature gift and one month early. While small enough to put in your pocket on the way to grab lunch, she was completely healthy and discharged before her mom. I KNOW. “Look out, people!! I’ve got stuff TO DO!!” At only 8 days, Whitney and Preston brought this little jewel to our studio for their first ever photo shoot as a family of three. She took my breath away. How can something so teeny pull your heart out of your chest? But she did and I was only the latest. Her parents and grandparents are doing all they can do not to gobble her up.
We photographed Whitney and Preston’s engagement and wedding and watching them gush over Penelope Jo was incredibly sweet. She may be the smallest newborn I’ve photographed – both adorable and beyond cooperative. In fact she was so good that I didn’t want to stop photographing her as she slept peacefully. No matter what props or positions we put her in, she would bend like a reed and as cutely as possible. 
I have no interest in wishing this little girl’s life to fly by – especially with that little tutu and headband – but I’m anxious to see her and photograph her often and watch her grow up. So much satin and sweet, so much cool and composed. She’s a little dream.
Rattle & Hum | MerleFest 2017
If you combine jangley guitars, fiddling, soulful singing, drums, stomping, brilliant songwriting, mountain inspiration and camping, you’re probably at Merlesfest. And if you’ve never been, consider making it this year.
It’s spring in the North Carolina mountains and, more specifically in Wilkesboro, where MerleFest was born. For nearly 30 years (the festival began in 1988), crowds of music lovers, players, and entertainers have gathered to listen to and contribute to the festival atmosphere. Like so many other music festivals, MerleFest is singular… the fans, the musicians, the inspirations, the talent, the views, and the overwhelming sense of family, culture and heritage.For the last couple of years, Ryan and I have been official photographers and we’re going again this year in that capacity – from April 27th – 30th. Let the preparations – and energy conservation – commence.
spring | such small hands
Spring in Australia begins in September and ends in November.
In India, spring runs from mid February to mid April.
Summer and winter are essentially the only seasons in Iceland – although both are relatively mild.
It’s seasonally spring year round in Uganda – with alternately wet and dry seasons.
And Scotland’s warmest months for the entire year are July and August, our late summer. Like NC, the Scots can experience all 4 seasons in one day. Spring in Scotland? Don’t blink.
And it has been that year here for us.
One of our favorite spring places to shoot. A last minute cold snap took its toll this year.
I look for spring, actually look for it, because even the rain, quick showers in 35 minute spurts in the afternoon (my pals in the deep south attest to this too), signal its coming. Just like daffodils and dogwoods and irises do. When you see blooms like that, and you’ve set your clock to lose an hour, it’s time to store scarves. Maybe.
Spring also reminds me of being a kid. Sometimes it’s remembering riding my bike as hard and fast as I could with my friends. Sometimes it’s laying on my belly and looking at grass so close up that I wondered and worried about every blade and every bug and where everyone in the soil was going. Maybe it’s a reason why I garden.
But spring and new and children go together. I look through photos of kids outside we’ve taken and get excited. This is their time.
“spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
and inch of there)and
without breaking anything.”
– ee cummings
Spring will drive by us and wave and we’ll miss it. If you haven’t been out to lay on your stomach looking at bugs, or ridden your bike “no-hands” downhill, or stood an extra 2 minutes at the mailbox smelling the air: do it. It’s worth celebrating because of its very nature and its timing. I sometimes feel like summer, fall and winter take up 11 months and spring lasts only 8 days. No one said I had to be good at math.
My unsolicited recommendation (you’re welcome) is to celebrate the season, your childhood, your children, your friends and neighbors’ kids and breathe it in. I’m doing it myself as we look at yard work as a chore and not a haven for bug adventures and the season as a gearing up for a busy summer.
Another parting little bit from cummings… and it could apply to springtime:
“(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands”
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.
Defining Family | Dogs and Humans
We define family as weirdly and idiosynchratically as we define ourselves. No kids. 1 kid. 8 kids.
“We adopted,” “we foster,” “we just want to be auntie and uncle.” You name it.
And then there are our pets. If you own one, you get it. They are a completely different kind of family, with their unconditional love, guileless expressions, stinky breath, midnight BTUs and snuggling.
Our friend Carol has been a breeder for years, but also rescues and fosters dogs for new forever homes. If ever someone “got it” with regard to what dogs can add to your life, it’s Carol.
She asked that we photograph her with 2 brothers she’d been fostering, who were about to meet their new family and of course, we said yes. When we arrived the family that was adopting them was there too and the exchange of comments, advice and love started immediately.
Finding a family for two dogs isn’t easy and Carol bonded with both dogs until she found the right home. Watching them interact was beyond special. What started as a portrait session turned into a lifestyle shoot with the adopting family sitting in Carol’s backyard playing with the dogs while we just captured the fun and excitement. The kids played with their new brothers, threw the ball and watched the dogs play. We saw the dogs rescue the kids in the same way that this family was taking the pair into their home.
After the family left to go buy some last minute items they needed to be ready for their new family members, we had some extra time with Carol and the pups to do a little mini-session in her backyard. It gave her time to say goodbye and us time to capture them together and celebrate what an amazing person she is.
We’ve said so many times that pets save us as much as we save them and it’s true. Carol: we love you! And to all the families out there rescuing new family members: we celebrate you too. Pulling together, no matter what it looks like, is the best of who we are.
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.
new addition | newborn cameron
How lucky you are, Cameron. You can’t imagine the love that was surrounding you on this day. They say that newborns are near-sighted and mostly focused on mom’s eyebrows and forehead, so you will indeed have to take my word for what you couldn’t see. Behind my lens, you laid there in complete coziness, but you were not alone. So much of your family’s journey was floating around me. From seeing your mom and dad newly married and in love to capturing that couple with a baby on the way and a new daughter and now you. Your timing was perfect. Welcome!
Even your feet were in love with each other. They kept smooching.
Your sister Madelyn came to the shoot and we’ve photographed her growing up too. While we only see your family a couple of times a year, we always look forward to it. And now here you are. This may not always be the case [Secret: siblings can get on each others nerves, but it usually ends well. Keep that in mind when Madelyn boots you out of her room in 10 years.], but right now, you are the apple of her eye. Your sister adores you.
You are a precious being, Cameron and I’m adding my name to the list of fans to go along with your mom, dad and older sister. Come see me again soon, please and take sweet care of yourself. You’re at the very beginning!
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.