Posts Tagged: Outdoor family portraits in NC

Fall Portrait Locations

…. are everywhere in this area. We are, what you might say, replete with places to have a family fall portrait sessions, individual portraits to mark an occasion or just because portraits. Just because? Just because it’s gorgeous outside in North Carolina from late September to Thanksgiving. Consider the Blue Ridge Parkway, local barns, farms, parkways, favorite hiking paths, camp grounds and even a favorite tree where you picnic or gather year round.

Below are some favorites outdoor portraits in these locations, but we are more than game to host you at our outdoor studio or discover a new spot you have in mind!

Martinez family outdoor portrait photos Pixels On Paper North Wilkesboro NC photographers
Local park near where this family lives ….
Pixels On Paper Wilkesboro NC Photographers Senter family and baby outdoor portrait photo

Ok – so the one above was taken in the spring, but you get the idea. The location is the star. Just a path in the woods, a greenway near your home or a special building or spot your family or partner loves – like the Loray Mill in Gastonia (below) make perfect spots for a fall photo shoot.

pixels on paper photographers two year old boy outdoor portrait photo
Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography. Edridge Family outdoor photo
The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

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.

Fall Portrait Sessions

Martinez family outdoor portrait photos Pixels On Paper North Wilkesboro NC photographers

While we’re all still trying to decide between a tank top and shorts or to pull out the sweaters we know we’ll need, it’s time to think – if only late at night when you have a few minutes of peace – about setting up fall portraits. Families gather for camping retreats around crackling fires, hikes and reunions. Kids play in the leaves. Friends want to dress up before going out for parties and get more than selfies, but mostly fall is the perfect time to get photos to use for Christmas and holiday cards, to give as gifts, and to celebrate another new season together.

This little vagrant above was trespassing (unnoticed at first), but once spotted we picked him up, reported him to authorities and then took him to wait at our place when, oh wait……….. that’s my son.

Engagement Photos
Hatfield Photography, Family portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photo
Family Portraits with a View
Sisters on a Walk
Celebrating a 6 month milestone
Senior Year Portraits
pixels-on-paper-child-family-fall-portrait-photographer-photo
Fall Family

Senior year portraits that aren’t strictly cap and gown, family time and events, even personal milestones, all of these are perfect opportunities for a photo shoot. The temperatures are also premium in North Carolina as are venues.

If you’re even just thinking about an autumn portrait session in the NC mountains or at a private and favorite spot, contact us to start planning. We look forward to capturing a moment in time with people you love!


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

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.

Reid Family Gathering in photos

Reid family Pixels On Paper Boomer NC outdoor portrait photographers photo

This gorgeous family are new clients for us and they have absolutely no connection with this area. We love meeting new faces and they brought 15 new faces with them when they all converged on Boomer, NC.

Because the family is spread out all over the country, the children of the Reid parents, literally found a place where everyone could meet, rented the mountain house for a family gathering and called us in to take photos of three generations. It was a beautiful day when Ryan arrived and the vistas and grounds of the home made for an ideal setting for group and individual photos. I love the kids in their colorful clothes hugging and smiling.

I love the idea of finding a spot on the map, renting a house, finding a photographer and just making it happen. Family photos are absolutely worth it. The kids played and caught lizards and the adults caught up. With families living in all parts of the country and world these days, time with cousins, nieces and nephews is pretty precious and priceless if you ask me.

We hope the Reids will make retreating to the NC mountains in Boomer an annual event and that every few years or so, they’ll call us up to come get new photos of their wonderful family.


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

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.

The York family’s maternity photos

Yes, this photo session included husband and kiddos! We love shoots of the expectant mother glowing and showing off her belly, but we also appreciate capturing the group that will be this kid’s welcoming committee. Mitch, Lindsey and their young sons, Tate & Turner met us in the woods near a stream to celebrate some pretty fantastic news for this family.

Both sides of Mitch and Lindsey’s families are largely populated by boys. For whatever reason, there just aren’t that many daughters born into the mix. So when the couple found out that their third child was a little girl, let’s just say that there was great joy.

york family wilkesboro nc outdoor maternity portrait photo

We met up with this crew on a VERY hot Memorial Day, but planned ahead as moms with boys will do. Since we brought our son Finley to the shoot, Lindsey and I decided that when we were done for the day, we would let the boys play in the creek and just get dirty and wet! And they did.

Tate and Turner had some adjusting to do to get ready for a little sister (the Yorks greeted Miss Tinleigh in late June and you’ll meet her soon!), but on this day it was about fun in the woods, something this family thrives on. We LOVE interacting with families who are now friends so despite the heat, we lived it up and got lovely shots of mother, father and kiddos.

Mitch and Lindsey bought the one year baby package, but this session was free because they took advantage of our referral program. We’re not kidding, folks: we honor these and love it when people take advantage of saving AND getting heirloom portraits.

We also captured some absolutely stunning belly photos of Lindsey, but these guys are private and have kept those to themselves. Moms: take note. If you would like photos of you in your 7th, 8th or 9th month with a bare belly, we take those all the time. We won’t share them with the world without asking!

Keep your eyes peeled for the blog about their new little girl! She is a living doll.


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

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.

Baby Ava is 6 months and makes a perfect woodland fairy

Mom Judy has vision. Maybe she uses Pinterest, maybe they come to her in a dream, but if you look at her maternity photo shoot you can see that this lady is not your “let’s book an hour at some studio and sit under hot lights in chairs wearing semi-happy expressions” kind of woman. She has tons of ideas. She, husband Travis and baby Ava – now 6 months – came to a spot I selected after listening to Judy’s ideas. She wanted it to be outdoors, light and airy (see the shots in her maternity session of her in nature, wading into a stream), with everyone bathed in natural elements and surroundings. I took a moment, talked to Ryan about a plan to capture it all in natural light and said, “let’s go!”

For this particular shoot, I chose a spot that reminded me of a woodland cathedral – with trees, dappled light and multiple shades of green. It is a heavenly setting. The day of, it was mercury-busting hot and the mosquitoes thought Travis was scrumptious, so we had to work hard not to melt or be chewed alive, but <dramatic sigh> we were all troopers.

From a creative photography standpoint, Ryan and I decided to try two techniques in tandem. He shot using only the natural light and I worked using our portable studio and supplementing the natural light with studio lighting equipent. You can see in some of the images slight variations in light, but the results are beautiful and our clever client mom was happy.

At the half way mark to her first birthday, Ava is adorable and a little ham. She was perfect as a newborn, is clearly comfortable in nature, but she really captured the essence of a woodland fairy at this shoot. It helps that Judy and Travis are pals of ours. Everyone was comfortable around each other and having Ava crawling and sitting up was exciting to watch. That first year is an adventure to say the least. We love these guys.

Want your portrait session in mother nature? We’ve got 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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

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.