Posts Tagged: NC baby photos outdoors
the journey of Carson ~ a one year old of style, substance and bringer of smiles
So, I’m just going to throw this out there. You’re having a sub-par day. Maybe it’s work. Maybe it’s traffic. Or it’s your spouse or kids or the news of the world. But you need a pick-me-up and cute cat and dog videos won’t cut it.
We humbly submit Carson’s first birthday photos along with pics of him from the very beginning. We anticipate these will goose your day up by at least 5 levels.
We talk about relationships a lot, because they are important to us, so I’m going to refrain from waxing on. EXCEPT TO SAY THIS: as it is with proposals, engagements and weddings where we learn about and bond with a couple, so it goes with new parents. We take the maternity photos, the newborn portraits, the 6 month milestone and then baby’s first birthday. Often, couples who hire us to take engagement and wedding photos stick with us when the kiddies come along. (Please ask about our package for this situation!) We started photographing Carson when he was still “baking in the oven” and his parents, Megan and Luke wanted some maternity shots taken on their family farm. Their farm is the real thing, by the way. They are no posers, these two, and it is land that has been worked for generations. ….. but that’s another blog.
After Carson’s perfect little feet hit the planet, we got the below and more. If your day hasn’t improved and you need more unadulterated sweetness – have a look!
At six months, the cheeks arrived, along with a trunk of hats, pants and bow ties from his tailor in London. See more. And you’re welcome. He’s hilariously cute.
And now, he’s one. He’s not driving a pick-up pulling a trailer – yet. He’s not looking at acreage and making planting decisions – yet. But he’s held on to his sweetness big time and it won’t be long before All Things Land fall on his radar. For this occasion – he was looking dapper, smashing his cake and enjoying his day.
Enjoy this slideshow video of Carson’s entire photo gallery.
Isaiah’s first birthday portraits & he’s still rocking the ties
Not much has changed with Mr. Isaiah. You’ll recall that when last we saw him, he was handling cases for the law firm of Cute, Bright and Smoochable. He’s transitioned to bow ties from his usual Windsor knotted silks, but his focus has not changed: he will seek justice for you and is nearly perfect in his ability to be delicious.
Gazing into the future! Ready to fight crime and change lives… maybe.
Now, with that PSA out of the way, let’s get closer to the truth. We love this family.
We captured their engagement and wedding photos, Isaiah’s six month pics and now his first birthday. This kid rocks the ties and he should keep wearing them. 
We had a bunch of balloons in the studio left over from another session, and when I saw what he was wearing and that we were celebrating his first birthday, I thought they would make a perfect addition to the scene. Little did I know, Isiah had never gotten to hold a balloon before.
The look on his face when he was squeezing it was hilarious. It makes you wonder if the next moment it would POP and leave him scared and in fury of tears. Fortunately that was not the case. Instead he just grunted and laughed.
Sarah Grace – baby portraits of an adopted angel
If we ever needed good news, it’s now. ‘Tis the season to celebrate and yet the news everywhere is of fear. If we ever wanted to hear about the triumph of love, regardless of sacrifice, it would be in this time when we focus on gratitude, family and an amazing birth that took place beyond all odds. Now, more than ever, we need hope and grace.
Sarah Grace is just such a beam of light. Adopted by parents who, along with their families and church, prayed for her birth and for her arrival into their lives, she is a sign that there is still reason to rejoice. Their prayers, as so often happens, paid off and not only were Sarah Grace’s mom and dad able to complete her adoption successfully, but were present at the hospital for her birth.
Not long after Sarah Grace was brought to her forever home, her parents contacted us about a photo session and we could not have felt more honored to be a part of starting them off with her first portraits.
Most of the babies we photograph sleep through their session – which is charming in its own way. It allows us to fold all of their cuteness into blankets, buckets and baskets. This was not true of Sarah Grace. Oh, she’s cute alright, but she was wide awake, so present and engaged and it was evidence of her will and spirit. Even at 3 months, she’s already had to overcome a lot and her survival instincts were in keeping with the level of energy she showed with us.
Almost half of the babies we’ve photographed from their very first newborn session have either been adopted or conceived through IVF. It’s remarkable to consider! We truly feel that God has placed these children and their families in our lives for a purpose. We don’t know yet what that is, but are thrilled and honored about it.
Like with many others clients going through the adoption process, we’ve cried with/over them, prayed for them, and waited anxiously for those hours and days to tick by until it was official and these babies were permanently in their forever homes with no threat of being taken away.
Waiting for the good things… praying for them, dreaming about what it could be like… is not for the faint of heart. It takes patience of a Herculean magnitude, as well as an understanding that things may not work out as planned. For this new family, however, things took shape and were punctuated with a happy ending. Seeing that kind of want, love and prayer answered makes our job so incredibly wonderful. Their gratitude at having a deep desire granted fuels our joy at being even a small part of it.
We offer custom framing and free wall collection design and installation! Ryan is seen here installing Sarah Grace’s images in her nursery.
Creating their gallery was rewarding and fun. We love saying that helping families create heirlooms is one of the best parts of what we do and it really is.
baby’s one year portrait ……. AND CAKE SMASH!!
The Prevettes are lifers with us… at least so far and we hope for the next 30 years. We photographed Lindsay and Seth Prevette’s wedding in 2008 and later their first born, daughter Macanna, as well as son Walker as a new born. This session, however, is in celebration of Walker’s first birthday, so we invited them to the Pixels’ studio and outdoor portrait garden in August of this year.
Remember when you were so small that your parents could fit your bum into a baseball glove? He won’t either, but he’s so stinking cute and now there’s proof of it. Walker’s newborn portraits were delicious because he was and at 1 year, he still is. The love of baseball was a major theme in both sessions.
I look at the newborn photo below and those fingers especially and wonder if he’s dreaming about music and thinking, “I’m playing guitar. I’m the band’s Front Man…. making brilliant chord changes that no one saw coming.”
BUT. Walker may be scratching his chest and trying to decide between throwing a slider, a cutter or a change-up and hoping to impress some cute girl sitting in the stands just behind home plate.
Walker’s mom, Lindsey is very laid back. She makes appointments for portraits and always says “just do what you do best and I know I’ll love it.” That kind of confidence and faith is humbling, so we pull out the stops. Lindsay mentioned that she loved the red wagon because it reminded her of her own childhood, and we definitely love props with kids; they help distract and promote creativity at the same time.
Unfortunately, nostalgia about wagons and creative props do not stave off fussiness with toddlers and after Walker got tired of posing for photos, he decided to give us the “You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me” speech in his own made up language that consisted of pulling faces, tears, and some squawking.
And then [harp music] the clouds parted.
And there was cake.
CAKE!
Beautiful, perfect, resplendent, decadent cake.
SWEET SUSTAINER OF LIFE!!!!!
After that I think we could have left him alone with it and he would not have missed us.
There were claw marks in the cake for sure, but Walker managed to limit the smearing to his cheeks, mouth, nose, chest, hands, knees, legs and feet. Success.
conner tevepaugh – a summer peach turns 6 months and works the orchard with zeal
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!
On the left: possible peach thief. On the right: busted for stealing. “It’s ok…. I’ll just sit here and look cute.”
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.
“I just want to go on record to say that this finger is not nearly as tasty as that peach I was slurping on earlier.”