Posts Tagged: NC outdoor themes for family photography
The Arnold Family
Timing. It’s in the stars, I think sometimes. Once again, we made plans for a photo shoot with LONG TIME clients and pals Meghan and Jeremy Arnold and ended up changing them due to access and Covid-19. But who can complain when the results are so beautiful? We found ourselves perfectly happy on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Big baseball fan and player Jeremy grew up in Hickory and has great memories of playing games on their campus. What a gorgeous day we had and with their two children, and our Finley in tow, it could not have been a better spot.
We’ve photographed this family since the very beginning before Meghan and Jeremy were married. From their engagement, wedding, the birth of daughter Berklee and then son Wyatt, we’ve watched them all grow as a family.
At nearly every shoot, we grab an image of Jeremy tossing daughter Berklee in the air, and I’m so pleased that this tradition has held.
Ryan took these images, while I assisted with lens, styling, finding the next spot and wrangling the little ones.
I love both the dynamic images and the posed as well. With families who have young ones, it is less important to pose than it is to get a sense of their connection as a family and their individual personalities.
When I think back to the engagement portraits for Jeremy and Meghan, I cannot believe the passage of time. But I see them all together, looking every bit like they waltzed out of a J. Crew catalog, and think: they are exactly where and who they should be.
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.
A Fall Day with the Senter Family
Ryan, Finley and I got a break from world-weariness and responsibilities to hang out with our dear friends and clients, the Senters. Mom Judy, Dad Travis and little Ava who is two met up with us at an orchard in Morganton we’d recently visited.
Even though this orchard was no longer yielding apples and picking was over, we loved the trials so much from our last visit that we returned to let the kids play and wander, while we enjoyed the sunshine. It was a gorgeous fall day.
Seeing how big Ava has gotten was a joy and she and Finley had fun together climbing and playing. We’ve been photographing this little monkey since before she was born. Judy’s maternity portraits are favorites, Ava’s newborn, 6 month and one year photos were taken by us and our friendship with them has just continued to grow.
After our time in the orchard, we shifted to a more adult theme and headed to a vineyard, also in Morganton.
We spent a good part of the day with the Senters, which means that along with wardrobe changes for the shoot, there was a real sense of relaxation and chill. We don’t have to ask these guys to “hold your daughter and smile” for photos. These three are such a playful unit and it was just our job to have fingers on shutters.
I don’t know what I love most about the photo just above: the fairytale princess gown paired with mussed hair, the wistful stare into the mid-horizon or that all three of these sweethearts are in the frame.
Here’s to friendship. Here’s to family and here’s to getting away for a day of play, rambling, conversation and escape to the great outdoors.
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.
Fall portraits of Finley
I’ve said this before and there is a reason for that: the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote that in a poem, and as a descendent of Scots (McGuire), believe me – I get it, Robbie B!! I hear you, brother!
We’ve been capturing Finley in his Carhartt overalls as a kind of theme, for a while now. Whether I am behind the camera, or we’ve hired a pro, I love these images. With apple picking season upon us we set a course for Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton. As parents do, we hyped it up, packed the cute clothes, got our little guy ready and arrived to find they were closed. There was so much traffic over the weekend that our Monday plan was not to be. No apple picking. The good news is that we had a blast on a nearby trail and the day was glorious.
As memories go, what I will tell Finley when he’s older is that he spent 90% of his time that day, storing acorns in every pocket he had. If they had been pants, they would have fallen down. Like a little squirrel prepping for winter, he put handful and handful in those overalls. The snacks I had, including Cheerios and cashews just mixed right in. Hilarious!
Yes, I will probably try to get some apple picking portraits again before it’s too late, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased with how these images turned out: happy boy, fun day and when we reached the farm shop to buy some apples, his acorns spilled out all over the place to the delight of other customers. It was a good day. Don’t give up Moms. Joy is out there, even if it isn’t what you envisioned.
My advice is that you do the best with what you’re given.
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.
Fall Portrait Sessions
We are in the midst of booking fall portrait sessions and with the mild weather and coolish temperatures, these sessions are some of our favorites. I thought for today, I would share a handful of our blogs that feature fall portraits and encourage you to book yours asap!
Find more of the Martinez family portrait blog here.
See more of the Anderson family fall portrait session.
See more of some of our favorite locations for fall portrait sessions.
Before the weather turns against us, let’s schedule your outdoor autumn portrait session. Contact us and we can make it happen!
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.
2019 highlights
If this is our 2019 Year in Review, then little Riley above has perfectly summed up how we felt at the end of the year. Contented and tired! We did it! I wanted to share the visual breadth and depth of what our year looked like, but that would be volumes… volumes of images, stories, back-stories, comedy segments, prayers and all of the rewards that come with this gig. It’s a full life.
So instead: enjoy some of the highlights. There are plenty more, but here’s a sampling of people and places we had in our lens last year!
Above: on the commercial side – we took headshots for Krusch Divorce Resolution – a wonderful firm out of Charlotte. The cozy plaid, attic bedroom was captured to promote a real estate project from Kathryn Lily of Kathryn Lily Interiors in Cornelius.
Below: Spring in the orchard, included prom portraits, the Overby family’s return to the orchard, baby Ava checking herself out in a mirror, the expecting Orozco family of 3 about-to-be-4, and finally little Miss Paisley in a fabulous tulle skirt. The blooms and trees provided the backdrop, but the people made the experience and results perfect.
Late spring, early summer is the mix we always hope it will be.
Below: senior portraits (gorgeous McKenzie on the left), several delicious babies, kids and pets, some commercial work for the Wilkesboro Town Council and, of course, Merlefest!!
Above: more commercial photo sessions for MBI Builders, Wilkes Community College’s new Culinary Building, architectural exteriors and real estate projects, the chef and owner of the elegant Craft Bistro in West Jefferson, and a special trip to the Touch-a-Truck event.
Below: more prom images of high school besties dressed “to the nines,” and the full-on summer portraits of families with new babies, those expecting babies, family reunions at mountain homes, and a couple getting married at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.
And finally, a round-up of faces we’ve known and watch grow for years, some very, very new faces, a celebration of high school and college grads and a destination wedding at The Biltmore Estate.
It seems fitting to start and end with babies. They are our symbols of hope, our reminder that life keeps moving no matter what and, let’s face it, they are cute as heck. Again, we want to thank the families and businesses we worked with last year. What a blast and a privilege and your commitment to working with professional does not go unnoticed. We’re looking forward to seeing all the highlights that 2020 is going to bring.
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.