Daniel was one of our All About Prom models in 2013 and he’s been a Pixels and photo enthusiast since. [WE LOVE YOU TOO, DANIEL!!] So, when he approached us and asked if he had to be engaged to have an “portrait session,” we said of course not! You don’t have to be married, engaged, or even in a relationship to have photographs taken by a professional.
Life is short. If you have a person (or pet) you love, an event, an important time in your life you want captured forever, get a pro involved. We met these two in Elkin, NC just as the seasons were changing from summer to autumn and after we made them comfortable in front of the camera, they fell into their own groove and their personalities really shined through. The image of Sarah above looking at Daniel is an example. There’s a lot going on in that look and smile, I think.
Not only are we photographing Daniel’s sister’s wedding to his best friend in December, but Daniel decided that he and Sarah would like photos taken of them during each of the 4 seasons at places near home and others that they love. We’re looking forward to photographing them again, just because.
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.
Timothy Mahon and Katie Speights are not typical and we adore them for it. Their love for each other casts shade over what others would consider “the grand scheme” and it’s hard to be more grand than Asheville’s Biltmore House…. at least in North Carolina. It’s still our country’s largest privately owned home, but more importantly to our story, it’s where both Timothy and Katie met while working at the Inn on the Estate. You’ll notice that neither the house itself nor the iconic set pieces that everyone recognizes are in any of these photos. What is? Timothy and Katie… and their sweetheart of a dog, Saluda. If you know where Saluda is (hint: a little spot just outside of Asheville where you can rent a kayak and grab some barbecue), you know this pair loves the mountains.
We cannot begin to explain how much we loved hanging out with these two. We knew immediately they were a perfect fit for our style as were we to theirs. When we met them at the entrance gate and had a quick discussion about their preferred backdrops for the day, Tim began by saying “what do you think of bamboo?” Their photos were less about traditional portraits and more about the entire scene, … nature, textures, and their interactions in all of it.
“We’d been dating for a year and a half and decided we wanted to do something different, something new. Since we had to keep our relationship on the ‘down low’ because we worked together, we both were excited to sell all of our things, pack up the car and dog and drive out west. We didn’t know exactly where we were going, but the fact that we were doing it together made it an adventure. We’ve known since then that we wanted to do things like that for the rest of our lives with each other!”
Their body English demonstrated how extremely cool they are, in love they are and happy to be taking this next step. Ryan and I spent hours with them afterwards, chatting, having brunch and cracking up. We love this pair!
“Our commitment to each other is grounded in living life to the fullest and enjoying every moment of it.”
Their wedding will be brilliant and these two deserve nothing but that fullness and happiness they’re planning.
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 babies and kids, 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.
“There’s a lot of things you need to get across this universe.
Warp drive… wormhole refractors…
You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.”
— The Doctor, Season 6, Episode 6 of Dr. Who
These two are die hard fans of Dr. Who. “Who? Precisely.” No kidding, their wedding color is Dr. Who blue.
Meet Kyle and Elizabeth. They are gamers and voracious readers. They love Disney and are easily one of the most interesting couples we’ve ever photographed. And interesting isn’t a euphemism for “we don’t understand them.” We do understand them. They are singular and share the same interests, goals and loves and they are…..in love. What’s fun, as an “old married couple” who still adore each other, is knowing that what’s ahead for them is going to be the ride of their lives, starting with their March 2016 wedding and WE. CANNOT. WAIT.
But let’s set the stage. They met while both were employed at Gamestop in Boone, NC and after realizing how much fun they had working together, they also realized how much they had in common….. which led to wanting to be together all the time …. which led to the biggest epiphany: “We are an US.” It was only a matter of time. They both love games, as I mentioned, they have favorite books and authors they’re devoted to. [To wit: Elizabeth has multiple copies of Black Beauty and couldn’t decide which edition to use for our photo session.] In fact, while shooting the photos of them with their favorite books, we feel confident that they weren’t posing for us – they were actually reading. Each wedding party member was asked to name their favorite book of all time and pages of those books will create the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding day. How incredibly cool is that? We got a sneak peek of a bouquet during Elizabeth’s bridal portrait session and let’s just say, it’s amazing!
The details for their March wedding don’t just encompass the things they share as a couple with their friends, but also include family heirlooms and traditions. Elizabeth will be carrying a small silver purse and locket when she walks down the aisle and will wear pearls just as her mother did at her wedding. Kyle’s family has a tradition of dancing as married couples from oldest to youngest and then sharing wisdom during the reception. It’s a nice mix of old and new that is going to make this wedding – and marriage – work.
Harry Potter and Dr. Who scarves made an appearance in photos and these two were naturally candid in front of the camera and totally into one another. Kyle loves photography and not until the end of the day did we know that he came to the session with lots of photo-related concerns and thoughts in mind. At the end of our session he told us that we had taken care of everything and fulfilled all his ideas even better than he had envisioned. It’s a great feeling to know that we’re intuiting before we set up the first shot and it’s why we spend so much time getting to know our clients. We always ask tons of non-photography related questions for this very reason, and the answers allow us to create images that are personal and truly reflect our subjects.
Like the good Doctor, we too are hopers of far-flung hopes, but before we get too far down the road, let’s celebrate the now. We’re excited about the wedding and reception of Elizabeth and Kyle, with the bouquets of sonnets, board and electronic games at the reception, emblems of their beloved interests and family mementos – it should be a wild and beautiful ride.
“When you’re a kid, they tell you it’s all… Grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that’s it. But the truth is, the world is so much stranger than that. It’s so much darker. And so much madder. And so much better.”
— Elton Pope, Dr. Who, Season 2, Episode 10.
Famous poet, satirist and wit Dorothy Parker once said, “creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” And to that, we say, “YEP.” Over the last 12 months, we’ve photographed many engaged couples (they weren’t just smiling at each other; he put a ring on it!) using their input, their vibe, family wishes, instinct, experience and our own wild minds and disciplined eyes.
While not every shot conveys adventure, we’ve trekked through woods, waited on the light, tried many angles, changed venues, waited on the weather… you get the idea. You’ll notice that every single one of these portraits (including Kendall and Nathan above) was taken outside – which says a lot about our clients and about us. Nature provides options that an indoor studio simply can’t. So here’s a mini highlight reel of sorts – abbreviated to be sure, but some of our faves.*
* We provided links to each couple’s engagement and wedding blogs, so that you can see more and hear their stories. It goes without saying that we love these duets and being a part of capturing their journey has been an honor and a blast!
See Kendall and Nathan’s wedding day photos.
Micala and Tyler (below). Gorgeous red hair, sunset, cowboy boots…….simply perfect. See the engagement photos and wedding pics!
Awwwww – Elisabeth and Isaac! We loved taking these pics, writing about their story and spending time with them. See more and enjoy their lovely wedding day.
Below are two of the sweetest: Sarah and Danny. Like all of these couples, they were relaxed and game for whatever we asked them to do. Here are rest of the engagement photos and wedding pics.
There’s something about the shot below that is just so tender. These two, Amber and Andy, are down-to-earth, so maybe that’s it. We literally put them in the grass and captured what exists between them – love and anticipation. We’re going to repeat ourselves, but…… we LOVE THESE GUYS. More engagement and then the wedding.
Jamie and Daniel….. our Grove Park Inn “spilled my drink” and “talked all night” couple. See more engagement photos and the amazing wedding day.
While Sharae and David’s wedding was in downtown Charlotte, we still managed to get them outside on a greenway for the engagement session. We love the textures and colors in this shot, but mostly it’s them smiling. That particular engagement shoot was hot, but fun and their glass ceiling wedding was spectacular.
And finally, there’s Whitney and Preston – our “When Harry Met Sally.” We took photos of this pair in quite a few locations for their engagement session. Love them and love their history. See more of their gorgeous wedding at Williams Farm.
Now is the time to book engagement portraits. If your best friend, sister, cousin, co-worker, brother, roommate or loved one is engaged – we’d love to be the photographers to work with them to create portraits they’ll love for the next 50 years.
Kathren & Nathan wanted and engagement session close to home in North Wilkesboro near the NC mountains and Boone NC. The farm where Kathren’s mother grew up made the perfect backdrop. We luckily had an evening with no rain and a gorgeous sunset which we took full advantage of.
Their engagement photography is best described as candid and sweet. Even their dogs got in on the action! Most couples want candid engagement and wedding photos but many have a hard time knowing how to be candid in front of a photographer with the camera aimed at them. That was definitely not the case with these two, they were all about each other! We are certainly looking forward to photographing their wedding day in May of 2014!
Want to learn more about our husband and wife team providing engagement photography, wedding photography packages and portrait photography in the NC Mountains, Boone, North Wilkesboro NC and the NC High Country and packages for NC Mountain destination weddings? Call 336-990-0080, visit our website www.pixelsonpaper.net or send us and email at mail@pixelsonpaper.net for more information.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2013 Pixels On Paper. Pixels On Paper Engagement Photographers, Boone NC Engagement Photography, NC Mountain Engagement, NC Engagement Photography, NC Mountain Weddings, NC Mountain Destination Wedding Photography, NC Mountain Wedding Photographer, Boone Wedding and Portrait Photographers, Boone Wedding Photography, Boone Wedding Photographers, High Country Wedding Photographers, NC Wedding Photographers, Charlotte Wedding Photographers. Husband and wife team providing creative photography for weddings and portraits in NC, specializing in the NC High Country, Charlotte, and NC Mountain Destination Weddings.