Posts Tagged: portrait garden wilkesboro
quinton’s outdoor portrait photography photos
I find myself reminding friends, family and clients not to drop off into no man’s land with professional portraits when their kiddos head off to elementary or middle school only to resume them when they graduate from high school. Snapshots are awesome and we know you parents out there are handling those with your 35mm cameras and smart phones. But professional portraits allow us not only to control lighting and help with posing, location and mood, but we’re capturing memories and creating family heirlooms. All the change you see when you look back at picture albums or the walls of your home can be chronicled in portrait sessions. They are also of a quality that can be placed on canvases, hung on walls and passed down for generations.
This handsome young man is Quinton Roberts and he’s the proof in the pudding that taking portraits over a period of time is valuable. We have been photographing his family and their family business, Brushy Mountain Dental, since 2010. He’s the eldest sibling in the family and graduated in May from Wilkes Community College. His mom wanted portraits of him upon his graduation, and while most guys at Quinton’s age are less than thrilled to have their photo taken, fortunately for us, he wanted to make his mom happy.
Quinton photographed in 2010, 2013 and 2017
See what I mean about the importance of getting photos along the way? Look how much Quinton changed in just 7 short years! This latest shoot was really easy, because we’ve built a great relationship with him over the last 7 years. He was comfortable with us and we with him. He really is a great guy and from a wonderful family.
Mom Timberli has a specific idea in mind for large wall portraits in her home of all three kids during their graduation milestones and we’ve had fun making that vision come to life. We recently photographed Quinton’s sister Paiton for her senior high school photos. This fall, the youngest sister Madi will be a senior in high school and we’re already planning her portrait photography session.
If your kids are in that age of constant growth, be it early, middle or later teen years and you want portraits of them, please contact us. We would love to be the ones to photograph those milestones for your family.
5 Years of the Pixels Studio | A Tale of 3 Places (and dozens of stories)
From the day we found the property in 2011 to the day we celebrated our closing and received the keys on June 11, 2012.
This is where it all began. Not our business certainly, but the journey of the Pixels studio and the place we lay our heads each night. This place has three stories, if you will. One of them is ours. This home is our shelter and houses our personal lives and our day-to-day, holds many memories, celebrations and even more sweet, albeit mundane moments. Ryan, our sweet Chelsea and I love living here. You’ll see her in several of these images, by the way.
The second story is that of a living library. It contains the stories and moments of every newborn, every first birthday portrait, lots of teens dressed for prom or graduation, children and their parents, pet and holiday portraits and a hundred other stories that happen in a photography studio and outdoor portrait garden. This space houses our clients and friends. It houses all of you – in part. You show up at our studio to have a moment in time captured forever and you leave a little bit our yourselves behind for us to remember. It’s pretty awesome when you think about it.
After landscaping
The third story this place tells is that of an active, creative working business. It’s our portrait studio inside and portrait garden space outside and we worked hard to make this place inspiring for our clients while you’re here and inspiring for us when we’re setting up and after when we’re editing. “Place-making” is something that architects talk about a lot and we believe in many of those concepts. It’s important to us as creatives seeking inspiration and critical for our clients because we want comfort and ease for you. There was a lot of work, but it has really paid off.
Entrance foyer before and after.
Portrait studio lobby before and after.
The lobby walls and throughout the studio display wall art collections, canvas wraps and our full selection of frames.
With a house that is over 100 years old, there were plenty of renovations and we had a vision for our home spaces and certainly for the Pixels spaces. Rooms were remodeled, re-envisioned and repurposed and our equipment was housed and our work – and the possibilities for clients – were showcased. Looking back, it was a lot of labor done with a lot of love. We created an elegant space for client consultations and photo previews, a dressing room & bathroom (wardrobe changes happen, people) with a baby-changing station, and we transformed a large room into our portrait studio itself.
Client bathroom, changing room, and baby changing area.
The indoor portrait studio and shooting space underwent a major transformation.
The indoor portrait photography studio contains 3-4 hand-crafted photo backdrops that rotate seasonally.
Before and after transformation of our client preview and consultation room.
Our clients can see their images projected during their PreView sessions along with useful size aids to help during their ordering process.
The Pixels On Paper office work stations before and after.
And that is just some of how we transformed the inside of Pixels. We also have amazing outdoor spaces and getting them synced up with our vision took some doing. Seriously. Cutting, pruning, planting, mowing, sewing seeds: you name it, it happened. The best part is that we have captured some of the most memorable moments of families, babies and kids in these spots. And we celebrated our 10 Year Anniversary out here too.
Landscape cleanup was a huge effort in order to create the outdoor portrait garden
Summer sunflower portrait garden from start to finish
Our colorful outdoor portrait wall changes with every season
Unique outdoor garden spaces are ever-changing and being created for new photography backdrops.
At the risk of bragging, Ryan and I have created an amazing business space separate from but housed within this glorious old manse. It’s like no other portrait studio we’ve ever seen. It’s where modern work and technology meets a century of memories lodged in every board and room… with some updates.
NOTHING happens overnight and we were never on our own during this transformation journey. I could never name everyone in and outside of our families who’s worked tirelessly with us these last 5 years. There’s just no way. The boards inside and the dirt surrounding our home have been touched and trod on by so many. We’ve been blessed beyond expression and we love that we get to live in this place and that we are able to share it with all of you – even for a few hours during a session. It’s a magic spot where love and creativity lives, where laughter is encouraged, and where everyone is welcome.
Fall Portrait Sessions – Time to Book!
We’re now booking our fall outdoor portrait sessions beginning in late September and running through October. Our clients are brides, engaged couples, couples with their pets, siblings, and families of all sizes. Because of our heavenly locale, clients tend to prefer the Blue Ridge Parkway, Blowing Rock, Boone, and West Jefferson for their photo session, but the Pixels portrait garden in Wilkesboro is also ideal. If you have a special location, please get in touch with us and we’ll work out details and any special requests.
Fall photos are often framed or turned into holiday cards or both. Bring props or we’ll bring them, but let’s create some memories. Contact us today to book your date! We cannot wait to see you.
Some of our favorites!
The Allen Family
The Hatfields
The Picards
The Vanmeters
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.
spotlight: our own outdoor portrait garden
One of the greatest pleasures of owning a century old home and the land surrounding it is the maintenance.
Maybe not.
One of the great pleasures of living where we do is that we were able to turn this place into whatever we wanted. We knew when we first began searching for a studio location that it had to accommodate both indoor and outdoor backdrops. What we found is part home, part studio, part offices and when you step outside, you’re surrounded by beauty. Shooting in our outdoor portrait garden is a favorite of ours and we thought – now that summer is on – we’d share some favorite shots we’ve taken there. Some babies, some sunflowers (see just below), some woods and benches, color with natural light and lots of green. We’re truly blessed. And we don’t mind the maintenance…
What nature doesn’t create for us in the surrounding landscapes, we are creating ourselves. From old tin and barn wood that we’ve rescued and harvested ourselves to antique and ReStore treasure finds that we’ve re-purposed. Our outdoor portrait backdrops are constantly changing based on need and our desire to create more options for our portrait photography clients. All within a few steps outside our studio’s front door.
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 babies and kids, 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.