Posts Tagged: Pixels On Paper Photography
merlefest 2019
Another year in the books and we returned with more great memories, stats and gratitude that being Official Merlefest photographers is a part of our business profile.
At this year’s festival, Ryan and I shot approximately 30 bands and performers. We’re always amazed by the talent… never surprised, but amazed, you know? I get why there are so many television shows dedicated to singing, songwriting, finding musicians with talent and the like. They are everywhere. Each year the line up is diverse, but 2019 seemed more so than ever before. It was incredibly inspiring to see and hear bands of all different cultures, races and genres. Traditional bluegrass, Americana, Afro funk, Celtic, blues, country, Indy rock, etc.
Merlefest is a little bit like going to camp. You get there and remember the things you love about your time spent and see faces you love that you’ve missed all year. I realized how much I missed the work itself, and how much I love the crew we work with throughout the event. Seeing them only once a year feels like being cheated, but it makes it more special when we’re all together again.
For Ryan’s part, he missed the atmosphere of live music and live performances. Like me, he can get lost in the sounds on stage while capturing both performers and ambient crowd fun. He also said he missed the late night editing sessions when he and other official photogs would process and laugh and swap stories.
I also felt a bit of remorse for how “out-of-focus” I was last year while juggling being a new mom to Finley. There’s some negotiating when trying to breastfeed between photographing stages, getting the work done but then wanting to make it home to tuck the little guy in by bedtime. Whoa it was hard! This year held much less pressure and felt normal again.
And on that front: Finley is no longer content riding on my back in the carrier for 10-12 hours. He attended the fest on Thursday with Grandma KeKe. He spent the majority of his day on the playground, in the kids area sand box and playing with rocks in the VIP seating. What we became even more aware of because of this kid is just how incredibly family-friendly the fest is. With an entire kids area, activities and even stages of entertainment specifically for children, it’s a huge draw for families.
Another revelation was realizing that I was approaching an A-list performer with a pre-conceived notion only to have that perception completely changed for the better after watching, listening and meeting that artist. I love those personal shifts that come with professional growth.
For Ryan – it was about being up close and personal, on stage even with musical talents and feeding off their energy during a performance. That’s what turns him on.
Each year, the fest challenges our photography skills and takes them to a level of creativity and demand that’s unlike anything we do all year. We love how much our relationship with other photogs on the team has grown. It’s fun to be in the upload room together throughout the event comparing our work, sharing experiences, laughs, and exhaustion. It truly feels like summer camp.
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.
Orozco family orchard photos & baby news
If you’ve been following our blog for any length of time you’ll remember the beginnings of this lovely family. It was born when Oscar proposed to Ashley and we captured their engagement photos. Then they asked us to be their wedding photographers and we were honored. Since then, they have brought a little human into the world, baby Leo and this kiddo is about as delicious as they come.
We’ve been sharing this year’s crop of orchard portrait sessions and the Orozco family chose that location for Leo’s one year portraits. The day was beautiful and we adore this family and loved watching them all cuddled and playing together. We can’t believe how much little Leo has grown in a year’s time and we are certain he is going to love the role as big brother.
Little did we know until Ashley & Oscar’s arrival that we would also be photographing the announcement that their family is expanding. We were literally the first to know, as they would be using the pics we took to make the surprise announcement to each of their families. Talk about feeling honored and excited!
Ashley was just 7 weeks and still in the shocked stages or her pregnancy. In fact, at the time of our photos she was pregnant with twins. Shortly after around 11 weeks they would lose one of the babies. Ashley shared this about the experience “Although we did not want to hear this news, we know God is in control and we ask prayers for our little baby as he/she grows, and for us as we lean on God through this time! Our other little twin is up in heaven watching over us. We are trusting God. That twin is being better taken care of now than we ever could.” She is expected to deliver in early November 2019.
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.
Our Boy – 18 month portraits
He’s dapper.
He’s thoughtful.
He’s got a lot on his mind.
He’s also our kid. And all that I can say, you guys, is that it’s getting much much harder for us to photograph our own sweet boy. He is getting faster, bored more quickly, and after hearing Mama or Daddy say the same thing over and over he completely tunes us out. [should I stop here, so you can laugh and nod?…… ok great.]
I am a photog AND a Mama. I am a Ninja at Merlefest capturing musicians and atmosphere. And I can coax cuteness out of sleepy kids like Holden. I want to believe that like Walt Whitman said, I “contain multitudes.”
But when it was time for this shoot – with the blooms about as perfect as our Finley, I felt what every Mama feels: “what on earth am I supposed to wear?” “How do I get it all together?”
I stressed about everyone else’s outfits, lacked time to get myself ready, lathered myself up about things going according to plan and then afterwards, worried over whether we got even one good shot.
I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again, I now have a totally different perspective and appreciation as a photographer who is also a Mom. I feel your pain.
Now that I’ve shared that … I have to say that I love these images. Ryan and I are better people because of that little ginger. We focus in a new way (no pun intended); we prioritize differently; we laugh more; listen more closely and we absolutely love more deeply. Personally, he was our game-changer. Professionally, the same is true. Perspective is everything.
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.
Priscilla and Bo’s prom portraits
Sharing is caring.
In this case, Priscilla and Bo are sharing their prom experience and going with each other to their prospective special nights. Pretty sweet, huh? This means two dresses, two tuxes, two dinners and two big parties for this pair. Not a bad deal at all, now that I’ve typed it out and reread it. Why did no one call me and Ryan to, …..I dunno…. chaperone or choose the best dessert at dinner?
Priscilla is a graduating senior at North Wilkes High School and Bo is a Super Senior at Wilkes Early College. Priscilla’s Mom had the forethought to contact me prior to these prom dates in order to work out the best dates to capture photos.
Lucky for them, Bo’s prom night was first date on the calendar and during peak bloom period in the peach orchards. The plan was born from that. The couple looked stunning surrounded by blooms.
Despite how many times in my life that I’ve heard that red heads don’t look good in pink, I beg to differ. Priscilla is proof that gingers shine. Gingers in that we’ve photographed in the orchard are among the most beautiful portraits.
We’ve got loads of orchard photos to share in the coming weeks, so consider this the first taste!
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.
Newborn baby portraits of Master Roman Pierce
Boy number 3.
The Pierce family have welcomed their newest child, another son. No, his name is not Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor – as cute and succinct as that is. And Congrats to Meghan and Harry Windsor and so on and so forth, but this little brunette with the serious face is Roman Pierce. No offense, but he rivals any kid I’ve seen recently. Just look at him. It’s hard to interpret the expression. Maybe he knows that two older brothers await him – Holden and Sawyer. They seem sweet, but maybe Roman knows innately that wrestling and clobbering and dog piles are in his future. Lay low, dude. It will find you eventually.
Roman was born on March 7th, and after a short minute at the hospital, he visited our portrait studio for his first photographs. He was an angel, perfectly comfortable in any pose, prop and backdrop. I recalled his oldest brother Holden dressed in gear that remembered their dad’s flight gear.
Mom Traci is a pharmacist and she provided the wooden mortar and pestle we used for Roman’s session. It made a perfect spot for him to grab some zzzzzzs. I love his facial expression in the left image. “Who are you?” “And any chance you could score a Coke Zero for me? I’m having a hard time staying awake.”
We’ll be photographing sweet Roman for his first year, including 6 month portraits and his first birthday. We cannot wait to see him grow a bit and watch him with his brothers. For now……….. ssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Would you like to know more about getting ready for baby portraits? Here’s a start.
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.