We humans measure time in a thousand ways. Clocks …….. seconds, minutes, hours. And calendars …… days, weeks, months. Changes in seasons, hash marks in inches on door frames, tire wear, grey hairs, dimming light bulbs, sunrise, sunset,……… and growth of babies. Their facial expressions, ability to crawl faster and then walk signal the passage of time. We measured Sarah Grace’s in photos.
Remember these pics of Sarah Grace as a newborn? She was as good as any Easter bundle could be. In November of 2015, we took her 8 month portraits in our Wilkesboro studio. Sarah’s mom had visions of her little charmer in a flower pot a la Anne Geddes. We all love those photos for their creativity and whimsy and at Pixels, we love props as well. This child, however, is not only too big now for planting in a flower pot, she’s a girl on the go. Getting her to sit still took creativity of anther kind. Still, we used Geddes as inspiration and integrated an old washtub, daisy accents, ribbons and lace into her scene. Way to measure time: she’s grown too big for a flower pot.
The pearls were meant to be purely a momentary distraction but pearls and diamonds are a girl’s best friend and clearly Sarah meant for them to play a primary role by not allowing me to take them away once introduced. And you want to know another way to immobilize a baby on the move? Dump her cute bum in a basket. Ways to measure time: it takes 4-2 trips scooping up a crawler and placing her back in the basket to get the right shot.
One of the things we love to do is work with clients to design wall art for their homes. It’s yet another way to mark time: photos of your kids on the wall.
We believe that we aren’t just capturing memories, we’re creating heirlooms and even in a world of selfies and smart phones with cameras, you cannot get the same warmth and clarity that you can from a professional session.
From the beginning, I knew that we would be photographing Sarah Grace for years, so I began scouting locations, taking photos of her home and special spots where the family has wall space they can fill with photos.
Through our own software program, we can design to-scale images on the walls and show clients renderings of what their photos would look like before they buy. Rather than fill an entire wall with just newborn photos, I planned ahead, so we are designing their particular wall to reflect an entire year of portraits of Sarah. We started with a 16×24 newborn photo as an anchor and then added two 11×14 images from this 8 month session. After her one year portrait session, we will complete this wall with four 5×7 images.
We’ll share the results with you when we can. In the meantime, we’d love to work with you and your family to take photos that will last for generations.
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” We scheduled this outdoor shoot months in advance and planned a large number of portraits with Master Brock to celebrate his first trip around the sun. And Mother Nature shook her head and said, “sorry, guys.” It poured rain.
We first met sweet Brock as a newborn in 2014 when his parents Becky and Jackson brought him from South Carolina to our Wilkesboro studio. He wasn’t as big as a minute, but grinned in one of our first, and favorite, shots of him. We saw them again for his 6 month session and he was even smilier. That hasn’t changed. He’s a happy kid.
Because we don’t pull a switch-a-roo with families who make arrangements months ahead and then travel to us, we LOVE having the backup options we do. These outdoor photos of Brock were taken on our covered front porch while the rain was coming down. When there was a slight break in the rain, we used a wagon rather than plopping in onto the wet ground. The lush green of the yard ultimately made a perfect backdrop for this little dude in his plaid shirts and work boots.
For those who don’t know us – YET – we converted a piece of property and restored a farm house that is 162 years old. We’ve spent hours, days and weeks on every square inch of the studio both inside and out, creating spaces everywhere than can be used for photos. We have even more plans for creating portrait scenes in our outdoor portrait garden for 2016! Whether you have a little one or two (or 3) you want photoed outside, or creative maternity portraits shot, or are newly engaged, please get in touch. We’d love to get to know you and work with you whether it’s at our studio or at a location you love.
SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMER, SUMMER!
While it’s almost officially the end of summer (like it or love it), we took Conner Tevepaugh’s 6 month portraits in July of this year at his family’s orchard. [For those who follow this blog closely, and we hope you all are!!], Conner’s newborn pictures were captured at our outdoor studio in Wilkesboro, NC. This time, since it was in the height of the picking season, we went to them at Tevepaugh Orchards. All of the Tevepaugh kids and grandkids have been photographed as babies and toddlers in those wooden gathering crates along with apples or peaches and their photos hang in the family’s orchard house. The basin Conner’s in just below was one used by his great-grandmother to hold fruit that were being peeled for canning or cooking. Family members vividly remember her using it frequently. Pretty sure she would love to know that her family is still using this heirloom in photos of the next generation. Connor certainly cutes it up!
As with all newborn to 6 month, or 6 month to 1 year sessions with babies, the change in them is subtle but still recognizable. Connor, our little “backdraft baby” was tucked into his father’s fireman’s helmet and gear as a newborn (and in a basket of apples just below). This time around, he was hitched to his grand-dad, Armit.
Because this session took place in their orchard, Armit was keen to participate and had lots of ideas and props and energy. Everything was perfectly ripe and sweet (the color of those peaches was not enhanced, by the way, and the smell of ripe fruit was heavenly). Conner was game to be placed in baskets and all over the orchard.
That July harvest time kept everyone in the family busy working day after day on a multitude of tasks and while Connor isn’t walking, much less “pulling his weight” just yet – he was interested in sampling the goods and being a part of the mix. Just as the photos of the kids in the Tevepauch orchard house are treasures for their parents and grandparents, these photos will be priceless for Connor and his family someday. And he can show the basin and the crates, maybe even walk the land with his own kids and talk about how fun it was to be a kid among all of that beauty and deliciousness.