Posts Tagged: family portraits
Our family farm gets a fence
Any painter, writer, graphic designer will tell you that starting with a blank canvas is exhilarating and daunting. This space below was our project canvas. Mission: build a fence around my parents cattle farm and make it a family project. So… Mission 2 – make family memories.
We all took part in this project and our two year old learned even more about heavy machinery, sweat equity and when to take time out to play in the fields and by the water.
Here are stats:
They have 33 acres of farm land for cattle raising, which meant that we needed 4,500 feet of fence perimeter. We bought and used 13,500 feet of wire, 96 5’x8′ wood posts (you heard me!), 185 metal t-posts, two 12′ gates, 2.5 cases of water, 24 bottles of Gatorade, 2 cans sunscreen and a bottle of bug spray. It took 4 adults and 1 toddler working 5 full days, but we did it. Everyone was whoppin tired except for Finley.
When Finley wasn’t moving earth or handling tools, he took up other projects, plus a little fun time riding around on his ATV.
My parents just told us (and Finley) that they were naming the farm after Finley James and he was delighted – as an almost 3 year old would be. Legacy is important to my folks and our work together, memory making and the results make me so proud that we’re all together, healthy and had the time (and energy) to finish such a massive project.
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.
Luka Celebrates Turning One
Another June 2020 portrait session during social distancing? Check! I think we can all agree that this hasn’t been the easiest 4 months, but we’re adjusting as best we can. With the warmer months, we’ve still been able to capture big milestones here and there and this little cutie, Luka just celebrated his first birthday. Congrats, Buddy!
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since we took his newborn portraits, but here we are. Luka’s milk bath portraits at six months were a big hit as well. His parents bought the one year of photos package and mom Sierra is a big fan of themes. She was cooking up the dinosaur idea even during his six month session.
Her older son Conner had Mickey Mouse as a theme and was adorable. She and I emailed and shared ideas and photos over the course of a few months leading up to the date.
Despite all of the planning, when the date approached the location, outfit and cake didn’t all come together as we’d hoped, but the alternatives turned out to be even better. We moved the location to our portrait garden shortly before they arrived which was WAY more convenient for everyone and there I could photograph Luka and his brother perfectly. It was all meant to be. I especially love the bright colors in these photos, the boys sitting and eating and goofing around together, the sense of celebration and of course the icing covered face.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Best of Father’s Day – Part 1
Let’s celebrate the guys we love. June means heat, summer vacations, family outings but also being stuck indoors or trying to get out responsibly after quarantine. I could not be more grateful for my own father and for my hubs, Ryan. We’ve taken so many wonderful images of dads over the years that it felt like time to do a two part blog showcasing some of our favorites.
“My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.”
“We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply.
“We’re raising boys.” – Harmon Killebrew
“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms even when his hand’s are empty.” – Unknown
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” – Charles Wadsworth
“When you teach your son, you teach your son’s son.” – The Talmud
“He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it.” – Clarence Budington Kelland
Happy Father’s Day, Dads! Part 2 is to come. We love celebrating you!
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.
Why We Love Photographing Faces
Well I don’t know why you guys love faces, but for me, it’s the unexpected, the surprised, the tender, the ridiculous, the charmed… you get me? It’s the expressive nature of the human face. I love the expressions that enter my lens and end up in frames or in albums or on holiday cards. I read that “researchers” have identified 21 distinct facial expressions, but I would swear that there are more.
Baby Faces…
Couples
Fall in love and suddenly all of it – the excitement, the fascination, the bewilderment, the abject helplessness in the face of the one you love – is easy to spot on the faces of the newly engaged and just married. Cases in point are below.
Happy, Fun Faces
And then there is just love, tenderness, humor, and peace. I could blog about the expressions I’ve seen on people’s faces for months and never repeat a photo.
Kids
Seeing the 21 + expressions on the faces of kids is its own reward.
When families come to us for photographs, I am always excited to see and meet new faces. Once we start the shoot, it becomes more than a joy…. the faces that are displayed remind me why I love my job. There are just too, too many great faces. Bring yours to our studio or let’s plan a day out to capture the faces of those you love the most.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Baby Ava is 6 months and makes a perfect woodland fairy
Mom Judy has vision. Maybe she uses Pinterest, maybe they come to her in a dream, but if you look at her maternity photo shoot you can see that this lady is not your “let’s book an hour at some studio and sit under hot lights in chairs wearing semi-happy expressions” kind of woman. She has tons of ideas. She, husband Travis and baby Ava – now 6 months – came to a spot I selected after listening to Judy’s ideas. She wanted it to be outdoors, light and airy (see the shots in her maternity session of her in nature, wading into a stream), with everyone bathed in natural elements and surroundings. I took a moment, talked to Ryan about a plan to capture it all in natural light and said, “let’s go!”
For this particular shoot, I chose a spot that reminded me of a woodland cathedral – with trees, dappled light and multiple shades of green. It is a heavenly setting. The day of, it was mercury-busting hot and the mosquitoes thought Travis was scrumptious, so we had to work hard not to melt or be chewed alive, but <dramatic sigh> we were all troopers.
From a creative photography standpoint, Ryan and I decided to try two techniques in tandem. He shot using only the natural light and I worked using our portable studio and supplementing the natural light with studio lighting equipent. You can see in some of the images slight variations in light, but the results are beautiful and our clever client mom was happy.
At the half way mark to her first birthday, Ava is adorable and a little ham. She was perfect as a newborn, is clearly comfortable in nature, but she really captured the essence of a woodland fairy at this shoot. It helps that Judy and Travis are pals of ours. Everyone was comfortable around each other and having Ava crawling and sitting up was exciting to watch. That first year is an adventure to say the least. We love these guys.
Want your portrait session in mother nature? We’ve got you.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.