Posts Tagged: NC Outdoor photographers
Sofia’s Milk Bath portraits
You can run into the oddest little creatures during the summer in North Carolina. This little milk maid was spotted in June and her cuteness stopped me in my tracks. Meet sweet Sofia at the 6 month mark.
I captured her newborn portraits, which are adorable, but for this session, her mom wanted something extra special. We created a setting in our outdoor portrait garden under a chestnut tree that has become a particularly favorite backdrop recently. Mom Jessica selected the colors, brought flowers, a flower crown and the milk. We provided the setting, galvanized wash tub and additional props.
Sofia’s session took place during the uncertainty and “social distancing” we’ve all tried to adjust to. Mom, Jessica is an ER nurse, so for her safety was premier, but she was thrilled when she found out I was more than willing to photograph Sofia in a milk bath for her six month portraits. If you follow us and this blog, you know that these sessions are part of our one year package.
It’s important for any type of session involving liquid that the child can sit up and is stable on their own which meant we were slightly past the six month mark. I’ve found that for some parents the exact six month mark is important to capture while for others it’s less about the number and more about capturing the new found mobility of sitting up and crawling. Those two things don’t always necessarily come at the same time. My job is to be flexible, creative and help generate an easy scenario for grabbing the best possible images. The natural light, flowers and milk, especially against Sofia’s complexion all worked together.
Prior to the milk bath, I took more traditional portraits of Sofia using some of the props in our outdoor portrait garden. Parents needn’t worry about portrait sessions during this pandemic, especially during the mild months. I shoot outside, all props and accessories of Pixels on Paper are thoroughly cleaned before each session and only I touch my gear during the session. We remain socially distanced and extremely careful.
I look forward to seeing you soon, sweet Sofia.
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.
Congrats to Laura – A new Appalachian State University Grad
Like so many others during this Pandemic, Laura Souther did something note-worthy: she graduated from college. The fanfare of years past wasn’t there and while we know these newly minted grads are adults, we wish for more pomp and circumstance, pardon the pun. They deserve our heartfelt, if virtual, high fives. We had the honor of capturing Laura at her now alma mater – Appalachian State University – in mid-May on a truly gorgeous day.
She sparkled next to the sign with her sash, and her big smile was memorable, and indicative of the young woman she is.
It’s hard to believe but we photographed this girl 4 years ago for her senior prom. She looked amazing, but man! Father Time, could you just go take a break? Some of us want you to speed up and propel us forward, but as a mom of a two year old, I’d like to see you pump the breaks. I know Laura is raring to go though. She has been accepted to and will start graduate school in speech pathology next and is excited about the next phase of her life.
Laura: you are going places, sweetheart! We appreciate your resilience, your hope in the future and the work that you are going to put into making the world better. From the bottom of our hearts, congratulations!
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.
Ashleigh High School Grad Photos
Covid-19, and the time in our lives it has brought, has not been kind to milestones and those who want to celebrate them, but this high school senior is not typical. She’s funny, smart, resilient and ready for the future. I’m so proud to know her and to have been able to photograph her high school graduation portraits – OUTSIDE of course.
Her mom was my best friend growing up and is a dear friend to this day, and her daughter is the coolest kid. We took photos for her senior year with her family in the wood and in front of waterfalls. The Andersons are solid friends and we love them.
Ashleigh has the best sense of humor and a fantastic personality. I love this kid. After her school year came to a grinding halt because of Covid, she was distraught. No big round ups. No graduation. No special occasions – just “all in to protect ourselves.” But she found her resolve and then decided to work a couple of jobs and start applying to college. She boot strapped it and got over it, like the cool kid she is.
“I did it!”
Congratulations to this remarkable young woman. I look forward to photographing you, Ashleigh through all the coming milestones in your life.
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.
Small Business Love-Up: Elkin Creek Vineyard
We are celebrating and loving up on small businesses and showcasing some of our favorites. Today we’re raising a glass to Elkin Creek Vineyard.
This small but fabulous vineyard and winery in the Yadkin Valley in the NC mountains is run by two families that Ryan and I love dearly. Not only have we photographed at their venue, but Elkin Creek is a favorite spot for us, especially on Sundays. We collect our energy, relax and reflect.
On Sundays, we sit on their porch by the river, eat wood-fired pizzas and fresh sour dough bread and drink their amazing wines. They’ve extended their food service days during quarantine to include curbside pick up, special menu items and wines to go.
If you are in the area and love wine, or love amazing food and want to support this special place, we encourage you to stop by. In the meantime, we hope you’ll follow them on Facebook, where you can see what they are serving and how to feed yourself while supporting these amazing folks!
We love graphic design and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
How We Escape
At some point in the last 3-4 years “Escape Rooms” became a group activity, a diversion if you will. Instead of dinner and a movie or a trip to the bowling alley or comedy show, small groups of friends or coworkers would gather to solve a series of puzzles. If done well, everyone would be freed at the end to go celebrate how deeply smart they are. Pretty fun.
But now the walls we want to escape are the very ones keeping us safe. And we cannot escape because the governor and the CDC and WHO tell us it’s dangerous to gather to do much of anything.
So we escape in other ways.
The Case family loves to read. I’m a big reader and the books we’ve amassed since Finley was born are a treasure trove of escapism. We leave our “sheltering in place” selves and are transported via stories, through using our imaginations (we’re sounding out words already!), and trying to get to know better the characters that are Finley’s newest friends.
And we picnic. It’s springtime and we love our yard and garden and relaxing and snacking in the sun. Our first child Chelsea is a shade girl mostly, but it’s another group activity that keeps us from worrying about the many things that we cannot control.
We’re still finding magic in our home, on our property, through “pretending” with our kid, letting him learn to do yard maintenance, and by slowing down.
Sheltering in place means gratitude for shelter itself. This has occurred to me more than once. I am grateful for our life, our health, our home, our community, for first responders and nurses and medical workers on the front lines. And I am grateful for the ability to identify moments of joy, hope, and grace right in those very moments as they are happening. I’m grateful that I’m able to explore those feelings during this mandated down time.
The image above comes with its own caption built right in. If in the right head space, hearts appear everywhere. This house and place have mine. Every blade and square foot is positively infused with love. Many of our memories can be re-enacted in my mind, just by casting my eyes around.
Of course there is art time – another chance to tell stories, to make it up as we go along (aren’t we all sort of doing that???) and to cook and taste and get super messy together. This little bundle of “Man in the Making” is as tactile and kinetic a learner as his parents. His eyes and surges of energy tell me daily, “I want to touch it, taste it, roll in it and write the Government Study for a Summer Grant about it. Now back up; you’re in my work space.”
And in the evenings, we breathe in the flavors of another day lived. If tempers flared and voices were raised we settle our differences with hugs and apologies and a desire to do better. And guys – some days are tough. Norman Rockwell it is not! It’s life.
But more often than not, we retell our day’s journey across the virtual field (or tablet/laptop in our case) with those we cannot hug at the moment. I saw a great ad that said something like, “we distance ourselves now precisely so that we can gather again later.” And that’s really it. While you can, if you can, soak in the gratitude while marveling at how vulnerable we all are. Ryan and I love you all. Stay home, stay safe, explore and if you can share your escapes with us on social media, we’d love to see them. We WILL escape these walls in due time, and then we can gather to congratulate ourselves not for how smart we were, but how wise we were and how grateful we are.
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 photographsnewborns 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.