Monthly Archives: February 2016

newborn pictures of sawyer jane at 2 weeks charm the pants off the jury

The cat who ate the canary. Seriously, she just knocked off her 3rd bank. Or more likely, her minions did it and just called to let her know that the funds have been successfully transferred into her account off the Cayman Islands. And there’s a cell phone somewhere buried in all of that cotton. She’s sittin’ on it. And laughing at all of us. LOOK AT THAT FACE!!! Who would convict her? Not me.Sawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoThis perfect little imp, this little stealer of hearts, is Sawyer Jane. Great name, right? We took these photos in our portrait studio in Wilkesboro, North Carolina and the truth about this photo is that I had no hand in getting her to look right at me and grin like that. I just let the lens do it’s thing and knew when to pull the trigger. Her grandmother and mom, Jamie both marveled at that shot above and I just smiled, shook my head and said, “I had nothing to do with it. God is better than I deserve and he equips me with what I need every day.”
Sawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoSawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoSo here’s a little thing about taking portraits of newborns: you have to have lots and lots of patience. The photographer has to have it, the parents have to have it. It’s just the way it is. An average newborn session can take 3-4 hours and not all of that time is spent in front of the camera. It’s mostly time spent feeding, changing, burping, soothing, and getting the little one back to sleep.
Sawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoWhat always sticks with me and makes me smile and empathize is that every parent thinks their baby performed terribly or won’t show well in the finished photos. They worry that their baby cried too much or didn’t show personality or whatever. And a phrase I’ve heard 1000 times if I’ve heard it once is, “we just hope that you got one or two good ones.” I hear it all the time. The fun part is that they show back up for our PreView saying that very same thing right up until the moment I start the slideshow. They’re overcome with emotion in seeing all the great photos of their sweet baby. Jamie, along with every other mom, has that moment of “awwwwww. Oh my gosh, LOOK!!!” To say it’s rewarding is this week’s understatement.

Sawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait PhotographySawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoJamie and Dad Joe were newlyweds and then – BAM! – this little robber showed up. I love photos of parents cradling their newborns, especially the first born. The whole thing is rife with excitement, awe, natural worry, tenderness and all the fresh outrageousness that teeny humans bring with them to the world. I say this a lot but I mean it every time: we love watching the growth of newlyweds into solid marriages, marriages into families, babies into kids and the multiplication of love in each of those transitions. We’ve added Sawyer Jane, Jamie and Joe to that category.

Sawyer Sherill Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

They say that only the guilty sleep well. Heh, heh.

We’d love to photograph your sweet lamb, whether he or she is on the lamb or not. Call 336-990-0080 or email mail@pixelsonpaper.biz and please view other baby blogs and our website.
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.

 

winter portraits of a family ~ a man and his girls outdoors

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photoAn advantage to being a husband and wife team is that Ryan really steps in when husbands, fathers, grooms – GUYS – are resistant to having their photos taken, for whatever reason. He’s got the gift in these situations and can make men feel more comfortable and confident with a man-to-man perspective. Dad Will Allen pretty much proclaimed that he was horrible in photos and how he was no match for his beautiful wife Danielle and daughter Danica. Danielle had even warned me during our planning that Will didn’t like having his photo taken.
But then these happened.

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

Father and daughter and a sweet little snow princess!

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

The Sweet, Sweet Allen Family

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography

Gorgeous mom and her girl.

The Allens drove down from their home just outside of Washington, DC to Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock for a winter break and booked this session. Mom Danielle understands the importance of having family portraits taken annually and often arranges to have them made during their travels and vacations. When they knew they would be coming this way, she contacted us about a month in advance to arrange for their session while staying at Chetola.

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

There’s a Christmas Card!

Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photoThe moment we knew Will was comfortable both with us and in front of our camera was near the end of our time together, but we loved grabbing all of these shots while he adjusted to the experience! [Side note: at the end of the session, in this beautiful backdrop, Will suggested that we take a photo of him for an updated profile pic and headshot!] Never underestimate the power of making people feel at ease.
Allen Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photoInterested in outdoor portraits or family portraits, or both, regardless of season? Get in touch with us and let’s start figuring out next steps. Call (336) 990-0080 or email us: mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.

 

Will you go to prom with me? spring, pink dresses and pretty portraits

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoThe movie, Pretty in Pink was a massive hit in the ’80s, which means that only the moms of kids going to prom this year will know what I’m talking about. Molly Ringwald and her not-as-cool friends struggle with the usual high school angst that comes to a crescendo at ….. wait for it …… the PROM. The fashions in the movie do not hold up over time, but the story does. High school is a wondrous, complicated, anxiety-producing, profound and fleeting time in life. You can’t grow up without going through it, so you just dive in and have as much fun as possible between exams. Which leads me to: It’s prom season again and time to book your portraits. 

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photo

Our amazing models, L-R: Hannah Holbrook, Molly Holbrook and Erica Walker

Our job – and privilege – is to capture you and your friends dressed to the nines, laughing, having fun and celebrating the fact that spring is coming, followed by prom, followed by SUMMER! Whether it’s on location (like this orchard we love), in our studio or outside in our portrait garden, we’re booking sessions and look forward to seeing you all and taking portraits that you’ll love and look back on with fondness.

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoprom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photo

This photo session from 2015 was particularly fun, because of the bohemian theme and styling with chic dresses and accessories for our models, the blossoms on the trees, the props and the girls themselves.

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoprom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoprom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoprom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On PaperFor Hannah, Molly and Erica, dresses, shoes, and accessories were provided by BeYoutiful Prom by Bridal Traditions. The flower crown and corsages were provided by Innovative Occasions. And not all of the pictures we take are of girls in pink surrounded by flowers, folks. Here’s a look at a bit from last year…

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photoWe’ll be creating orchard portraits like these again this year! Weather permitting, we’ll schedule them for the first week of April. Times and sessions in the orchard are limited, so please book now. And if you’re not going to prom but want to take advantage of the orchard this time of year for family portraits, a bridal or engagement session or portraits of your kids, let us know ASAP and we’ll get you in our books.
Call us (336) 990-0080 or email mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.

prom boho fashion portrait photography by Wilkesboro NC Photographers Pixels On Paper photo

wedding expos ~ get ready, ya’ll!!

[with the oh-so-familiar backup music] “It’s the MOST won-der-ful tiiiiiiiiime of the yeeeeeeeeear!”
Ok, actually that was Christmas and it’s over, people. Valentine’s Day is also over and we hope it went well for ya. Spring is around the corner and that means – for those of us in the business and those out there who are engaged – Wedding Season. It’s a time when brides, friends of the bride, mothers of brides, coworkers of the bride and All God’s Children are making haste to get to a bridal show or wedding expo.
Expos are where you get ideas and find the people you want to work with as you plan your wedding. At Pixels, it’s where we can show who we are and what we will do to make your day exactly what you want it to be. We love meeting brides, couples and families while visiting with favorite and new vendors. And it’s where we meet YOU. Some of our favorite clients were met at bridal and wedding expos.
We believe in cross pollination when it comes to ideas. Good ideas come from everywhere, and if you’re a photographer it could be an ad, something overheard or read. It could be a headline we saw in the airport on the cover of Outside Magazine. Seriously. You never know where your next idea will come from, so part of going to wedding expos is to get inspiration. 

Pixels will be participating in the following upcoming wedding expos, displaying photos, meeting couples, and accepting clients for 2015 & 2016 wedding dates.
March 13
th
Wilkes Wedding Expo, Wilkesboro NC
1:00-4:00 at The John A Walker Center
$5.00 when bride registers online, $8 at the door

March 20th High South Wedding Expo, Boone NC
1:00-4:00 at Boone Shopping Mall
$8 at the door

Below is our booth at the High Country Wedding Expo in 2015. Keep an eye out for us. We’d love to meet you.

Sarah Grace ~ portraits at 8 months with a girl’s best friend: bling

We humans measure time in a thousand ways. Clocks …….. seconds, minutes, hours. And calendars …… days, weeks, months. Changes in seasons, hash marks in inches on door frames, tire wear, grey hairs, dimming light bulbs, sunrise, sunset,……… and growth of babies. Their facial expressions, ability to crawl faster and then walk signal the passage of time. We measured Sarah Grace’s in photos.

Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

Remember these pics of Sarah Grace as a newborn? She was as good as any Easter bundle could be. In November of 2015, we took her 8 month portraits in our Wilkesboro studio. Sarah’s mom had visions of her little charmer in a flower pot a la Anne Geddes. We all love those photos for their creativity and whimsy and at Pixels, we love props as well. This child, however, is not only too big now for planting in a flower pot, she’s a girl on the go. Getting her to sit still took creativity of anther kind. Still, we used Geddes as inspiration and integrated an old washtub, daisy accents, ribbons and lace into her scene. Way to measure time: she’s grown too big for a flower pot.

Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

“I’m just gonna test these pearls and make sure they’re mikimoto quality.”

Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

Curls, curls, curls!!

The pearls were meant to be purely a momentary distraction but pearls and diamonds are a girl’s best friend and clearly Sarah meant for them to play a primary role by not allowing me to take them away once introduced. And you want to know another way to immobilize a baby on the move? Dump her cute bum in a basket. Ways to measure time: it takes 4-2 trips scooping up a crawler and placing her back in the basket to get the right shot.
Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography

“This is my tongue.”

Sarah Holey 6 month baby Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography

One of the things we love to do is work with clients to design wall art for their homes. It’s yet another way to mark time: photos of your kids on the wall.
We believe that we aren’t just capturing memories, we’re creating heirlooms and even in a world of selfies and smart phones with cameras, you cannot get the same warmth and clarity that you can from a professional session.
From the beginning, I knew that we would be photographing Sarah Grace for years, so I began scouting locations, taking photos of her home and special spots where the family has wall space they can fill with photos.

Through our own software program, we can design to-scale images on the walls and show clients renderings of what their photos would look like before they buy. Rather than fill an entire wall with just newborn photos, I planned ahead, so we are designing their particular wall to reflect an entire year of portraits of Sarah. We started with a 16×24 newborn photo as an anchor and then added two 11×14 images from this 8 month session. After her one year portrait session, we will complete this wall with four 5×7 images.
We’ll share the results with you when we can. In the meantime, we’d love to work with you and your family to take photos that will last for generations.