Posts Tagged: day in the life
Hands in the cookie jar – photos at home
Let’s get real. I mean it – REAL, as in real life.
As a working mom, I am always weighing things: time against my task list, investment vs. return, risk vs. reward. You with me? There are a finite number of minutes in a day and days in a year. What about moments in a lifetime? We’re always weighing. Now add a career as a pro photographer and a three year old to your calculations…
How do I protect my need for clarity and cleanliness over chaos while still living a big life? And – for those of you who know me – how do I advocate publicly for capturing memories as your photographer and friend if I, Misty Case, am not willing to get a little dirty myself in my own space with my own kid?
Recently, I weighed the memories I could make with my Finley over the inevitable mess that my tired OCD self was going to have to clean up later. [NOTE: if you don’t think you’ll find sprinkles in the most outlandish places, you haven’t baked with a toddler lately.]
But then I weigh The Great Sprinkle Search against that face above.
Day in the Life (DITL) photo shoots are fun. They allow us to capture a slice of a moment, a micro-shot of an activity, in what I hope is a long life with this little human. Finley will never again be this age, with that hair and with those dirty hands and so many questions spilling out of him ever again. Worth it?
I decided that it absolutely was. Just like the Christmas advent calendar, the gingerbread houses, the glitter and craft times and the mud that comes in after he’s been “adventuring” in our yard, wrecking the most popular room in the house was worth it. Finley gets 18-ish years to be a kid. That’s it. After that he can chat with me about the mortgage rate he got, the job opportunity, the big and small life events, etc. He has the rest of his life to be a grown up. This is it. That’s what I say to myself. Right now: it’s about sugar cookies.
The downside for me on this day was that you couldn’t see me “in there” with Finley as I usually am, but I was in my element behind the lens. I was a relaxed documentarian, if not a fudge-covered co-conspirator.
When we shoot DITL (Day In The Life) images for families, we allow you to just create an event out of something you enjoy doing and you can be fully present while we handle the lighting, the angles and grabbing those moments before they are gone.
Picture perfect? Yes.
Mom approved, in that “I am IN CONTROL of the sugar intake?” No. Not even close.
And Finley was a bit hyper afterward, icing was in places icing shouldn’t go, but that part passed. Remember that, Fellow Mamas: a good sponge, a deep breath, the right playlist playing while you gather debris, and you’ll be glad you made the time.
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 newborns and families, 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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Family Time
As I continue to ponder the priorities that Ryan and I have for 2020 and beyond, family keeps coming up.
As a family, we are focusing more on time together and making memories, especially with our extended family who all want time with Finley.
Why a Family Documentary Session?
Because you won’t regret it.
When we have a milestone, we hire our peers to photograph us with Finley, family and friends and we are also encouraging our client families to do the same. Let us capture your casual down time together. These are not stressful photo shoots. NONE of our photo shoots with families are unless there are last minute changes and even then, we know how to laugh and hug and say, “you’ll be telling this story decades from now.”
Some families plan a day in a special place like an orchard, a greenway, a park, beach or mountain retreat. For these, we get posed images for the archives, frames and scrapbooks, of course, but we also get the more casual shots of them just hugging, chatting and being together.
I know I sound like I’m giving a sermon, but family is important and some of the best pictures we take, those that the family members love the most, are caught off guard or of people just relaxing.
Things to Consider When Planning a Day in the Life or Family Photo Shoot:
+ How often do you ALL get together? Identify the time and start contacting your relatives and friends;
+ Is there a special place that your tribe loves? Can you visit, book it or plan to meet up there?
+ Do you all like to do something together? Do you ride bicycles or hike or ski or go bowling? Do you have a workshop where 3 generations can build something together? Do you love to cook or paint? You do not have to have an activity, but if your family is drawn to the water or to the garden, to your alma mater or family business, let’s include that.
If your priority this year is a photo session that is easy and casual and personal, think about a Day in the Life session. We can help with the details and planning and we’re ready! Contact us to discuss further.
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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
A day in the life with the Guerrant family | documentary lifestyle photos
The Guerrant family asked us to photograph them with their 2 children on a single day – documentary style. We LOVE this type of photography, because it translates the desire to take selfies and snapshots and indulge in the every day, but into photos that are professionally shot and set up. You get the best of both worlds – the seemingly mundane with the magic in details and broad strokes, the togetherness, but with a trained pro behind the lens who is keeping an eye on light, shadow, scenery and all the options. 
Ryan photographed Suzie, Matt, Leven and Ira at W. Kerr Scott Lake in Wilkesboro a few weeks ago. We met Suzie and Matt at Merlefest a couple-few years ago and, as fellow photographers and Merlefest team members, we instantly connected with them.
We love their down to earth personalities and they are talented and fun photographers.
We were honored that the two of them would ask us to photograph their family. As photographers, we know so many others they could have chosen, so it was a huge compliment to be chosen for the task. What’s even better is that we knew we would soon be needing our very own family photos. We LOVE Suzie’s documentary style, especially her black and white photography. The timing was perfect for a trade.
This family was so much fun. They were so open and children – with their own curiosity and agenda, their own internal storytelling – made it a fun process. They were happy with the results and we couldn’t be more pleased.
This year Merlefest was like a reunion for us and they both showered us with joy and excitement over our pregnancy. We made sure to stay in constant contact after the fest this year.We spent half a day with the family as friends hanging out at the lake with camera in hand. Documenting the kids running, playing, fishing and eating watermelon gave us, we hope, a preview of what our life will be like when we add our son to the mix. There was very little posing, just natural lifestyle interactions and sugar highs.
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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Christmas at Home | An Evening with a Young Family
Describing a family and what family symmetry is, as it turns out, much harder than capturing photos of the chaos that is actually very beautiful, symmetrical if you will. Does that make sense? I showed up at the Minick’s house to photograph a Day in the Life session – a holiday at home session – with this family I’ve been photographing for many years and through many seasons of life. And it was all there … all of that insanely beautiful chaos that makes family life so glorious.
We started photographing the Minicks’ Christmases in 2012, when daughter Amelia was brand new. Now, there are 4 in this family, as little Matthew was added just 6 months ago. When we discussed a Christmas at home session, mom Rachel said they weren’t organized and hadn’t decorated and weren’t sure how they would pull it off. My answer: don’t worry. It’s your life and your holiday too. It’ll look however it looks – most likely, it’ll look like love. 
I think people believe that holiday photos, any photo sessions for that matter, have to be buttoned up and the house has to be spotless and everything is ironed and there’s no nonsense or pets racing around, or dust or ……reality. I promise that I couldn’t care less as a photographer documenting a day in your lives. When I arrived at their house, husband and father Ryan was just pulling into the drive with Amelia and they did what families do: they all greeted each after being separated all day and dumped bags and removed shoes and picked up where they left off: doing life together.
Amelia (4 years) loves to be in the kitchen cooking with her mom and wanted to do breakfast for dinner. Who doesn’t want breakfast for dinner???!!! But I digress. They prepped the table and food, cutting strawberries and Amelia made the perfect little sous chef, although she took the time to taunt little brother Matthew who was in charge of banging bowls and being cute. 
After dinner and chatter came pajamas and, on this day, tree decorating. Like MANY busy couples who work and have young kids, they don’t get the tree up the day after thanksgiving nor do they try to have IT all pulled together. After reading stories and pulling out ornaments, they decorated and all of the day — all of the chaos that wasn’t really chaos melted into beloved family time. At one point, Rachel turned to me and said, “this is what our ‘real life’ looks like!” To me, it was gorgeous. The dishes, the kitchen noise, the constant chatter and love, the diapers and pullups, tree stand and step stool, glitter and magic, just all of it. It was beautiful. 
I want people to see the beauty in the every day. We say this all the time and then we go running right passed the park, if you know what I mean. Amelia in her pjs putting the star on top and Matthew lying in the floor like, “what is this crazy ritual I just walked into?” So much love and perfect symmetry. 
I hope families who feel that every photo shoot has to be crisp and perfect and clutter-free will call us. I can assure you that those gorgeous and sacred family moments happen all the time and our job is to capture them for you. There is symmetry in the chaos of family. Our job as documentarians is to help point it out so that you can celebrate and remember it.
I want to thank the Minicks and other families who’ve said “come over. This is our home.” We get it and appreciate it and couldn’t love you more.
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.