Posts Tagged: NC
Our Country – a Photographer’s Viewpoint
I’m about as interested in getting political in this blog as I am interested in unpacking every embarrassing moment I had in my 20s and walking you through each one. Not gonna happen.
But the 4th of July is tomorrow and when we aren’t perched over our grills, or swimming pools or fishing rods, or mayonnaise-based salads, or shooing children away from live fireworks, we may swap words like freedom, independence, liberty and patriotism with those close enough to listen.
In this moment of my life, I think about the word country and about all of the countries of my life that aren’t necessarily found on a map. Poet Wendell Berry wrote “The Country of Marriage” and I appreciate his metaphor. A marriage isn’t just about vows, it’s about the creation of a shared culture of how we live with our mates. Beyond the customary meaning of the word country, there are worlds I love and traffic daily and I find myself falling in love with the countries of my life: the country of motherhood, of family, of community, and the country of place – my home.
As mother to Finley, I’d have to say that parenthood is one of my favorite “places.” It’s where I wake up in the morning and lay my head at night and most of every day is spent managing our little country of Mom, Dad and Toddler. It’s governed by love, and with willpower and a lot of faith. Sometimes I’m the Mayor, but just as often, I’m whispering “Jesus take the wheel.” The land of motherhood is more than I could have ever hoped for. Reading chunky baby books, impromptu laughter, potty-training, watching Finley discover new tastes and smells and chasing his narrow rear-end all over the place. It’s grounding. It’s exhausting. Sometimes, it takes me to the ragged edge of my sanity, but truly – it’s magic.
The country of marriage has shaped me beyond words. Ryan and I are each others rock, sounding board, confessional booth, and shoulder. It’s where we test our metal as humans and where we rest when it feels like it is us against the world. That is home. Before there was Finley – there was the country of us. I’m so grateful for him and I know he is for me.
Community is absolutely a place and we know this first hand. We all thread and weave ourselves together in a community of neighbors, peers and friends and it’s alchemical. Something of substance occurs that holds us all together.
The country of work could easily be about the gear and the terrain. And I love both.
The country of work that is the best though is how intimate it can be. In those hours with clients, we form a little tribe all working toward the same goals: get the best images of the newborn, the wedding gown, the 4 generations of family, the first kiss after the I Dos. That world pops like a bath bubble when it’s over, but the memories and shared experiences last. I love that about our job as photographers.
Finally, there is what author Pearl Buck called “this good earth.” It’s not a zip code necessarily, but it’s the expanse of our home, where we point our cars when we want adventure and where we live.
I love my family. I love Ryan and our growing son, Finley. I love my parents, grandparents, cousins and in-laws and I love the people I get to work with, see out in my community and those who make my life richer and fuller. If I were to give any advice between bites of hot dog and ice cream sandwiches: celebrate what you love about our country and especially what you love about the micro-countries that fill your tank daily. Find those in your life who fit this description and thank them for being a part of your country.
Happy 4th of July.
With Love, Misty
“I give you a new command: Love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.”
John 13:31-35 (CSB)
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.
Pixels Creates Updated Branding for Local Bakery – Indulge
Just as when your life changes, when your business changes, it’s time for a new look… and in the world of marketing, we call that rebranding. Pixels is asked to help businesses rebrand with new logo treatments and visual vocabularies all the time, but it’s particularly fun when it’s someone you know and respect. Enter Haylee Greene.
Haylee is a baker and the owner of Indulge Specialty Cakes & Baked Goods. We created her original branded logo, and businesses cards too, back in 2015. We had a blast because 1) she’s a dynamo and has been such a wonderful friend, and 2) we happen to have in common the fact that Indulge and Pixels are specialty vendors who work events like weddings. In other words, we often run in the same circles.
Haylee stepped away from the baking business for a season (and got married!) and when she decided to come back to the business, she wanted a refresh and we were happy to help.
Original business card and logo for Indulge Bakery designed in 2015:
As we do with all branding clients, we started with a conversation about what she wanted from the logo in this new world and asked for inspiration and examples of what she found attractive. Haylee shared a desire for something more earthy in terms of palette and more handmade – even hand-drawn in look and feel (like her gorgeous baked creations) and provided us with some parameters. It was an overhaul and we enjoyed the challenge of making the look different, but still indicative of who she is, what her business does and appealing to the eye.
Her response from the first round of logos: “You have outdone yourself!! Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to choose! You definitely nailed exactly what my vision was.”
First round of concepts for the updated Indulge Specialty Cakes & Baked Goods:
After some tweaking, we sent along a second set and she reviewed those as well. When she found the winner, she wrote us to say, “Thank you for working so hard. It seems even more important to me this time for many reasons. I love that you are so willing to help me make it perfect.”
Final logo design for Indulge Specialty Cakes & Baked Goods:
Rebranded final business card design for Indulge:
The business card design was just as fun and gave Ryan the chance to throw out some wild card ideas to see where Haylee was with thoughts on taking the branding beyond the logo. In the end, she opted for a mix of traditional and earthy, which suits Haylee as a person and how she wants to market the business.
[By the way, and not for nothing, Haylee and Indulge make crazy good cakes and cupcakes, plus AH-MAZING whoopee pies!!]
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 ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
kathryn lily interiors photos of designer home
There is an African proverb that goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want far, go together.” Collaboration is a beautiful thing for many reasons and recently we experienced that again on the commercial side of our photography business. We were contacted by the owner of KLI – Kathryn Lily Interiors, Jody Kurtz, to photograph her designs for the interiors of a gorgeous home.
KLI collaborated with MBI, the builders of the house at the Blue Ridge Mountain Club development. We’ve photographed MBI projects in the past and when they referred Kurtz to us, we were excited to spend some time focusing on the interior design work.
For this project, Ryan was on duty and worked directly with Jody and a member of her design team, to capture their clean and elegant styling in each room. They discussed the shot list and coordinated seamlessly. Ryan said that because they knew what they wanted and stayed a room or two ahead of him, he was able to get a cache of amazing photos of the entire house in a matter of hours.
In the past, when we’ve taken architectural images for commercial use, we’ve focused on the construction and craftsman aspects of the build, things like cabinetry, countertops, exteriors, decks, custom fireplaces and so on. For this shoot there was shift in focus on the finishes that Kathryn Lily Interiors put into that space. There are shots that show off the overall space, but also more intimate photos of certain design aspects, textures, color patterns and overall balance. Ryan loved working with the KLI team and appreciated the organization and creativity of that partnership and collaboration. Beautiful results in the home and in the images.
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 ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
an outdoor & themed maternity shoot
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.
Happy Thanksgiving 2018
We hope that wherever you are and whomever you’re with that you find time this Thanksgiving to remember what matters most to you and to celebrate that. Truly. Find the 2 minutes to hold the hand of someone you love, tell them how grateful you are for them and crack up together. Those moments become mental snapshots that you’ll keep until your mind goes…. during old age – or at Christmas.
KIDDDDDDDDING!
But I am serious about the first part. I love making eye contact with my mom, dad or Ryan for a second and shooting them that “I’m grateful for you” glance. It matters to show others that they matter to you.
Ryan and I are so grateful for this time of year to take a breath and put things into perspective. It has been a year of blessings – and grief – on the world stage and that is indeed a part of life. But when I think about how I want to ground myself, I do it thinking about a few of my favorite things – family, babies, laughter, nature and togetherness.
“Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.” – Joyce Giraud
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” – Melody Beattie
“When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.” – Dalai Lama
“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” – Ralph Marston
“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” – Henry Van Dyke
“Thanksgiving isn’t just a day. It’s a way we can live our lives everyday.” – Katrina Mayer
Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all! Be safe, eat well, laugh a lot, grab some couch time and nap, and enjoy the beginning of the holiday season! Whatever you do, be grateful. We know 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 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.