Posts Tagged: NC Family portraits
the love of parents – portraits of grace in the 21st century
How’s that for a grand title? Parenting has been on my mind for a minute: certainly years ago when I realized the sacrifices of my own parents, and absolutely again when becoming a parent myself with Ryan, my partner in all things.
Parenting is a full library. It contains every journal about how to do it, parenting magazines showing it in all its shades, every map of potential adventures with a child, every poem or bit of wisdom from the Kahlil Gibrans, and every scrapbook showcasing the memories of parenting. I imagine rows of volumes about life with a child – in good times and bad, on bikes, on camping trips, in boredom, during downtime, at holidays, recitals, studying, first days of school, and all the random but well-captured calamity that “just happens.” The layers of thought, work, imagination, terror and self-analysis that go into the concept of genetically forming a child and then physically raising that child, while trying to impart and protect them are frankly endless and would fill shelves – and do.
But honestly, especially these days of division and acrimony on cable news 24/7, what is most valuable to me as a new mom of a nearly one year old are the examples and illustrations of parenting with LOVE. I read and seek counsel, believe me – from the doctors and psychologists and from the Bible, but when I have nothing left to metabolize mentally, I return to simply providing love for Finley and looking to my friends, and clients, for proof of it. It’s not over-intellectualized or over-wrought, it’s easy and natural and primal and perfect.
Seeing that love through my lens is restoring me, ya’ll. Thought I’d share.
Listening. Spending time. Including them in preparing for the new baby. Picnics and time together. We’re photographing memories, but we’re also watching our friends and clients be “show up” parents. We’re watching them be present.
Parenting through showing others how to care for the least among us, including adoption dogs.
Parenting through some friendly competition.
And being the protective parents during some much needed downtime.
Our time with these families gave us some insight into what we might expect with Finley, and looking back at some of the photos I’m reminded about what matters most: sticking together and showing love and grace. Starting at home.
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 ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
for Pixels, one family = engagement + wedding + newborn + 6 month old baby photos + whatever is next….
The brilliant Nat King Cole sang, “When I fall in love …. it will be forever.” For Meghan and Jeremy Arnold, this is absolutely true and demonstrated daily. It began when they fell in love (we photographed their engagement portraits and their amazing wedding in Charlotte in 2012) and that love continues in their unreasonably cute daughter, Berklee. 
Since their wedding, they’ve driven from Virginia to have us shoot Miss Berklee’s newborn session and later, back in Charlotte, asked us to capture her 6 month portraits. This is a couple with deep family traditions and a strong sense of the way they want to create their own family. They think of loving details for every event in their lives (a bag-piper played as part of their wedding recessional for instance, and we saw more than one pair of argyle socks as a nod to their Irish heritage) and we love complimenting those details with our own suggestions. In keeping with this, Meghan brought her wedding veil and Celtic inspired headpiece which we included in our newborn shots of Berklee.
We received this trio to our outdoor studios in Wilkesboro last month for Berklee’s 6 month session. Once again, we collaborated and Meghan brought a yellow dress that she wore during her own 6 month portraits back in the day. The results melted all of our hearts. We had so much fun setting up with them outside and watching the many faces of Baby Berklee. Apparently, Jeremy was accused of making funny noises to elicit expressions from his little girl. It worked.
The pictures just above – especially the one on the right – are funny, darling, delicious … and we all cracked up upon review. Meghan said, “She really worked the cam!” If we could caption her in repose, it would be something like, “Mmmmm. Feels good to put my dogs up, relax, lean back and I may need a beverage. Anyone interested in finding a bottle with my name on it?”
Meghan thanked us for our patience, but we love this work or we wouldn’t do it. Also, thank you!
“I’m Queen … of, um …. THE WORLD!!”
We are an organized, but laid back and relaxed studio and want that vibe for our clients and guests during shoots. We ask questions and chat and laugh. Planning is such a big part of what makes us successful, but we’re nimble and love to improvise. Learn more about us and be in touch.