Posts Tagged: creative photography
an orchard photo session with a young sister & brother
“Everything great that ever happened in this world happened first in somebody’s imagination.”
– Astrid Lindgren (author of Pippi Longstocking)
True. So, we ask you: What on earth was happening in her imagination when we took this photo?
Usually, we’d give our kingdom to know, but in this case, it’s counter to the mystery and fun of life.
And anyway, she’s clearly cracked the code. You can see it in her eyes and mouth.
Natalie Overby is one of our favorite subjects to shoot, because she is polite, poised, and incredibly photogenic. We hope she always has the tender passion and beauty in her that is so apparent in her photos. She has a poetic face and sensibility you pray is never interrupted by tragedy, but only enhanced by life’s nuances and adventures.
We also photographed her little brother Eli that day in our favorite orchard. His mom specifically asked that we capture his gorgeous blue eyes. Eli is a typical boy and would rather be playing in the dirt than sitting still for photos. He is charming, but restless and we couldn’t blame him. Spring… outside… sister’s there to hang with. It’s a recipe for play and soaking up sun.
“There comes a time in every rightly constructed boy’s life when he has a raging desire to go somewhere and dig for hidden treasure.” -Mark Twain (author of Tom Sawyer) …. And Eli is thinking about when to make a break for it…
Natalie takes great care to watch out for her little brother, but she was also incredibly present in each moment. It’s an interesting combo in such a young kid and heartening to watch. There’s a lot going on in that girl’s imagination and brain and Eli is the same.
There’s a quote that goes something like, “having a sister is like having a best friend you can’t get rid of… you know whatever you do, she’ll still be there.”
And there’s another great quote about siblings that says, “sisters and brothers just happen; we don’t get to choose them, but they become one of our most cherished relationships.” -Wes Adamson. We love our siblings, both those by blood and those found through this life and we hope that Natalie and Eli will have the same solidarity and trust, laughter and adventure, mayhem and memories that we have with ours.
Keep it up you two.
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 babies and kids, 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.
newborn baby boy’s portraits ~ he washes ashore to grateful & happy parents
Flynn washes ashore…
On February 2nd, 1709, British sailor Alexander Selkirk was rescued after being marooned on a desert island for 5 years. His story inspired a book most of us read as kids … or at least we know it: it’s the story of Robinson Crusoe. Real quick – young sailor, impetuous, adventurous, defied his parents and sails to Brazil and Africa and eventually is marooned on an island and completely alone. He survives, becomes skilled, grows closer to God, picks up a slave named Friday and is finally rescued. Good book, you readers out there.
What does this have to do with Flynn Alexander Lundy? Precisely nothing, except that Flynn was born on February 2nd just over 300 years later. And he’s a boy. And with a name like Flynn, he’s got adventure in him – we just feel it. 
Kathren & Nathan Lundy (Flynn’s mom and dad) are a couple we photographed for their engagement and beautiful wedding portraits. Prior to the session at our Wilkesboro studio, we asked that they send us photos of their home so we could coordinate backdrops for little Flynn. And there was the sea – in foam, in depths of green and blue and a little sailor to place among them. Their home was filled with color and matches their lively and fun personalities. We loved matching our backgrounds to their palette.
We look forward to photographing Flynn and his parents for many years to come. For now, he’s resting up and dreaming of voyages far way.
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 babies and kids, 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.
bridal portraits embracing romance, imagination, and books
Do you ever look at a photo and think about the zillion captions that could be written? There are contests out there and most are about funny photos or cartoons, but this shot below evokes so many thoughts.
What would her groom write? “Hurry to me!!”
Or her father? “There goes my girl….”
What would her big sister say? “Wait up!” or “I miss her already.”
Or her great-great grandmother if she could see this photo? “How romantic.”But she’s off and this image of Elizabeth (Eli) Rickard walking down the steps has become one of my favorite bridal portraits to date. It’s another image that I conceived once I saw this stairway in the Green Park Inn. I described my thoughts to Ryan and along with Eli’s sister Kari, we made my vision come true. I like it because it’s different from many other bridal portraits we’ve taken. For me it portrays movement, anticipation, and represents the marriage journey that Eli was embarking on. It’s always deeply rewarding to try something creative when you have a bride so deeply ensconced and in love with her favorite things – in this case, books, fantasy, romance and Kyle.
Elizabeth is a classic romantic, a dreamer, a lover of fantasy, has a super hero spirit and a smile that’s as big as her heart. She just married her beloved Kyle Bishop on March 5th (portraits and blog to come), but these bridals were taken indoors due to rainy and cold January weather. Elizabeth loves to read (this will be this week’s understatement), so the historic Green Park Inn’s library made a perfect setting. To note: Eli’s favorite book is Black Beauty and the horse portrait fit brilliantly. Her sister Kari used pages from Black Beauty to create Elizabeth’s bouquet.
Books were incorporated throughout the wedding details (and we STRONGLY encourage you to check out their engagement photos to fill in more of the story).
I always encourage brides to include friends and family in the portrait session and day. It’s fun to witness the relationships, and time with each other on these days is often the most time they’ll get since the wedding day itself can be whirlwind. For Eli, this session included her mother, sister and niece, all of whom came in from out of town. It was a girl’s day to play dress up and they were, to the person, emotional and giddy throughout the portrait session.
Our caption for this photo above would be “She’s ready.” We promise when the wedding photos have been processed and we can share bouquets of books and the stories that made their day the fairytale that it was – you’ll be the second to see them.
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 babies and kids, 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.
winter portraits of a family ~ a man and his girls outdoors
An advantage to being a husband and wife team is that Ryan really steps in when husbands, fathers, grooms – GUYS – are resistant to having their photos taken, for whatever reason. He’s got the gift in these situations and can make men feel more comfortable and confident with a man-to-man perspective. Dad Will Allen pretty much proclaimed that he was horrible in photos and how he was no match for his beautiful wife Danielle and daughter Danica. Danielle had even warned me during our planning that Will didn’t like having his photo taken.
But then these happened.
Father and daughter and a sweet little snow princess!
The Sweet, Sweet Allen Family
Gorgeous mom and her girl.
The Allens drove down from their home just outside of Washington, DC to Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock for a winter break and booked this session. Mom Danielle understands the importance of having family portraits taken annually and often arranges to have them made during their travels and vacations. When they knew they would be coming this way, she contacted us about a month in advance to arrange for their session while staying at Chetola.
There’s a Christmas Card!
The moment we knew Will was comfortable both with us and in front of our camera was near the end of our time together, but we loved grabbing all of these shots while he adjusted to the experience! [Side note: at the end of the session, in this beautiful backdrop, Will suggested that we take a photo of him for an updated profile pic and headshot!] Never underestimate the power of making people feel at ease.
Interested in outdoor portraits or family portraits, or both, regardless of season? Get in touch with us and let’s start figuring out next steps. Call (336) 990-0080 or email us: mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.
Will you go to prom with me? spring, pink dresses and pretty portraits
The movie, Pretty in Pink was a massive hit in the ’80s, which means that only the moms of kids going to prom this year will know what I’m talking about. Molly Ringwald and her not-as-cool friends struggle with the usual high school angst that comes to a crescendo at ….. wait for it …… the PROM. The fashions in the movie do not hold up over time, but the story does. High school is a wondrous, complicated, anxiety-producing, profound and fleeting time in life. You can’t grow up without going through it, so you just dive in and have as much fun as possible between exams. Which leads me to: It’s prom season again and time to book your portraits.
Our amazing models, L-R: Hannah Holbrook, Molly Holbrook and Erica Walker
Our job – and privilege – is to capture you and your friends dressed to the nines, laughing, having fun and celebrating the fact that spring is coming, followed by prom, followed by SUMMER! Whether it’s on location (like this orchard we love), in our studio or outside in our portrait garden, we’re booking sessions and look forward to seeing you all and taking portraits that you’ll love and look back on with fondness.
This photo session from 2015 was particularly fun, because of the bohemian theme and styling with chic dresses and accessories for our models, the blossoms on the trees, the props and the girls themselves.
For Hannah, Molly and Erica, dresses, shoes, and accessories were provided by BeYoutiful Prom by Bridal Traditions. The flower crown and corsages were provided by Innovative Occasions. And not all of the pictures we take are of girls in pink surrounded by flowers, folks. Here’s a look at a bit from last year…
We’ll be creating orchard portraits like these again this year! Weather permitting, we’ll schedule them for the first week of April. Times and sessions in the orchard are limited, so please book now. And if you’re not going to prom but want to take advantage of the orchard this time of year for family portraits, a bridal or engagement session or portraits of your kids, let us know ASAP and we’ll get you in our books.
Call us (336) 990-0080 or email mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.
