Posts Tagged: NC
LeAnne – Portrait photos of a UNCG Grad
If you are over the age of 30, this photo shoot will hurl you back in time: back to college graduation. Your life as an adult is ahead of you and it’s all just about the next chapter and big decisions. Ah, to be young.
We’ve known LeAnne McAbee since she was a high schooler and was a part of our All About Proms photo shoot 5 years ago. When she contacted me about her latest milestone, I couldn’t say “YES” fast enough.
When LeAnne determined that should would graduating in December, she was excited and ready to plan and so were we. She definitely wanted to get images when autumn was in full glory around the campus of UNCG, but you know that the best laid plans of mice, men, grads and photographers can easily be spoiled. We’ve learned not to expect the weather or Mama Nature to cooperate. The day of our October session, it was 98 degrees. LeAnne was the best though – even when she had to put on her polyester gown.
We shot all over campus at some of LeAnne’s favorite spots, and even at a few that we found accidentally. She was so lively and fresh-faced, it wouldn’t have mattered where my lens was focused, but the blue sky and her blue dress and gown were perfect. While photographing on the alumni hall steps we reminisced about the time in 2014 when I photographed her on similar steps at the Wilkesboro history museum. Will I be forgiven if I use the cliche “time flies?”
It’s an incredible feeling to see this once young teen now as an accomplished young woman, making big plans and following up on her dreams. We knew she would. Next steps for this year include taking (and I’m sure acing) the LSAT, and then beginning law school in the fall of 2020. Congratulations, LeAnne!! We’re so proud of you.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Day in the Life – Finley & His KeKe at the Pumpkin Patch
Day in the life portraits are where the future belongs for some professional photographers if you ask me. I love these kinds of sessions. We’ll always need formal family and baby portraits, orchestrated weddings and milestone celebrations, but the juice for me these days is found in capturing the every day little moments. I love watching a day unfold around even mundane activities and allowing families to be present in those moments while I do the work of capturing them.
I carry my smart phone with “crazy awesome high end” camera too, but for this particular adventure, I brought what I call my real camera. I’m not throwing shade, ya’ll, but sometimes you need the right tool for the job.
My almost 2 year old loves nothing more than to be outside with his grandmother KeKe (my amazing mom) and if you add tractors, the ability to run and play – this kid is living his best life. On this particular day, when we visited Howard’s Family Farm in Harmony NC, he most definitely was in heaven.
Moms out there will understand how fortunate you feel when you’ve found a group of other Moms who’ll encourage, support, and entertain each other. I am happy to have such a group. We have a bible study together and outings such as this one with our kids. I loved being able to shoot specific images of them with their kids as well.
What do you get when you have a handful of towhead babies and fields of green? A documentary photographer’s dream. This day we had great weather and the cutest subjects.
Together with our kids, we had a hay ride, picked pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, played in a ball pit and the largest sand box Finley has ever seen. They all slid down a combine slide and rode in a cow train. I was able to capture completely candid moments, a whole day of adventure, and all of us doing life together.
My Mom, Finley and myself ended the day by sitting next to a field of Zinnias sharing a picnic lunch of ham sandwiches, tomatoes, goldfish and apple slices. I don’t care if it’s PB&J or salmon en croute, everything tastes better eaten outside.
I have already printed photos of Finley with my Mom that I will treasure as well as photos of Finley just being Finley. That day is already in the history books, but I have proof of it. I have proof of three generations of us exploring, eating and laughing, images that will remind me of what Finley was like just before he turned two, and I have images of our time with friends, that carefree day when our little tribe wandered around together celebrating each other and simple pleasures.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Day in the Life Photography
The longer that I’m in this business of being a photographer, the more I’m interested in the non-posed sides of life. In fact, while I still love portraiture that is structured and more formal, documentary style photography that allows the mundane, the small moments and the realities of life to shine through has captured me.
If you follow Pixels on Instagram, you’ll know that I share our work and our lives in a kind of story mesh that feels authentic to me, and that is by choice. It’s silly, it’s real and it’s who we are as we do what we do as professionals. And, of course, it celebrates our clients and friends and our adventures too. Posting allows for more sharing of our lives and values.
A summer family picnic or images of Finley playing or asleep or dressing up are current faves. We’re just doing our thing and other families deserve this to, but with an eye to quality. So for today’s blog, I thought I’d share a few of the images I’ve taken that are favorites in this area of people just “doing life.”
Nothing would make me happier as a photographer and as a human than to be asked to do more day in the life images. I’m not talking about the stuff you get with a cell phone, or even the stuff you get with an expensive camera and an untrained eye. A professional photographer brings more to the table than her tools. I bring the experience of all my work, my trained eye and a quality that snapshot photographers cannot.
Day in life portraits have another equally important advantage: they let you be present. We’re busy and over-scheduled so being present for our kids and partners is a tall enough order. And people may sometimes resent being asked to be the designated photographer during a day out, a family reunion or holiday season. It falls to someone and that someone is missing from nearly EVERY photo. Having a photographer document the day allows you to focus on what’s happening instead of on composing images, trying to get people’s “good side” or chasing the day light.
I hope more families will consider day in the life photo shoots. You should enjoy the moment and let us capture the memories.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Awkward Family Photos
As part of our series on fall portraits, I thought we’d celebrate The Awkward Family Photo. Every now and then, we’re reminded of this awesome site and what can absolutely go wrong, whether by chance (see above) or by design and family taste. All credit to these guys at Awkward Family Photos DOT com and those who upload. If you’re ever having a rotten day, these images will lighten your mood.
I’m sure she doesn’t mean it.
Some looks are classic and some say, “I love Robert Smith from The Cure and I’m going to express myself, I don’t care if you’re framing it or not.”
One wonders if their parents didn’t consider just skipping portraits that year… or at least allowing them to remove the head-gear.
What really IS life about?
Napping.
I’m praying these guys are also a family band.
It’s as though Dad has just now realized what a bad idea this was.
I love these parents. They said, “you know what? we’ll laugh about this someday.” … and just went with it.
When the court stenographer read the recorded notes back to the jury, it did indeed say, “If the baby doesn’t have to wear his shirt, I’m not wearing mine.”
They love each other…. and public parking.
Of course, at Pixels, we make sure that all photos are approved and we have permission to share before sending them out into what has become an overly judgmental world. Wardrobe, theme and mood are all discussed before we get started and we help with suggestions for what to wear, location and props. That said, don’t you feel better?
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
WCC Culinary Arts Building
It has been a summer of commercial shoots and it’s been all Ryan and I could not be more proud or more grateful to have his talent and partnership in work and life. His eye for good client work and the best ways to promote it through clean, gorgeous photography is impressive. Am I biased? Probably, but that doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.
Today’s feature is the new Culinary Arts Building at Wilkes Community College. Built by our clients MBI Builders, this new Culinary Arts building is ready for new students this fall.
I can see the students filling each of these spaces and each of these stations and learning all they will need to know to be excellent chefs, line cooks, hospitality experts, and small business owners. Growth in an individual life meets economic growth and the culinary arts is indeed a growing specialty on campus.
We have a great working relationship with MBI Builders and have been photographing their amazing work in the private, residential sector over the years. This firm also does elegant commercial work for government contracts, parks and recreation and industry leaders like Procor.
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 ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.