Posts Tagged: baby photographers

Baby, Baby Series Part 3 – 1st BIRTHDAY & CAKE SMASH

“I just completed my first trip around the sun. Time to start my memoirs.”

If only we could record even the obtuse, undefined, blurry world of a one year old, what an interesting document that would be. What would we glean about ourselves, our sensory experiences and most especially our developing soul? I would love to be tasked with being the documentarian of the Life of the Mind – Year One Project. Here’s more of our son Finley (above) and his first birthday cake smash.

Instead, we at Pixels document the first year from the outside and it culminates with a first birthday cake smash and/or photo session. See more of Sawyer – above – on his first birthday.

Ivy Myers 12 months child and family portrait photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography
Still Life with Ivy & Cake
pixels on paper photography, portrait photography, family portrait photography, photo studio, outdoor portrait photography, photo

Gavin’s birthday party took place at our favorite orchard. Here’s even more from that day!

Carson Mathis one year portrait photography photo
Carson’s Cake Smash

But it’s not all about the sweets and the mess that follows. We ask our client parents to bring other props or take advantage of ours and if possible, we love to take the session from our studio into our portrait garden and yard.

Amelia turns one. First Birthday. Child photography, children photo

See a little more of Ivy’s first birthday and lemonade stand.

What we cannot provide in an internal monologue for your one year olds, we can provide in photography. See some of our other favorites.

And this little man below is Barrett. You’ll see more of his first birthday cake smash any minute now!

Pixels On Paper Photography Barrett Spillman One Year Portrait and Cake Smash Photo

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.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Baby Baby Roundup – Part II

We’re on a roll – or getting there – with our round-up of favorite baby blogs. This one will showcase favorites 6-month baby portrait sessions. Ryan and I are hip-deep in parenthood and love it – even the trying times are quickly turning into memories for us to laugh about and eye roll over later.
[Casual aside: If you’re going to do this parenting thing: DO IT. I watch friends celebrating another year circling the sun and it goes by so fast. AND THAT, my dear readers, is why getting professional portraits taken is vital.]

Case in point, pardon the pun… we take professional images of our own child Finley Case at every milestone. Yes, we capture images on our smart phones too, but we make time to get out the pro gear and do it right. Here’s his 6-month photo shoot.

Other favorite 6-month portrait sessions that are memorable favorites.
Sarah Grace – below – was too big for planting in a flower pot, as she was in her 8th month and a girl on the go. Getting her to sit still took creativity of anther kind. Keep reading >>

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

Harper, below, also loves pearls and ruffles and 6 months is the perfect time to get baby girls to sit up, dress up and light up. Read more >>

Pixels On Paper, photo studio, 6 month portrait photo

Sweet Ava went from a purple tutu in her newborn photos to being a little woodland fairy in her 6-month outdoor portrait session.

Pixels On Paper Wilkesboro NC Photographers Senter family and baby outdoor portrait photo

Gavin donned his autumn gear for his 6-month outdoor shoot. So it’s not just pearls and studio portraits at this age. We encourage families to join in, to dress up or down, to go outside and have props. Whatever makes you happy! More on Gavin’s 6-month shoot >>

And we close out with sweet Conner T in a summer outdoor shoot at the family orchard. Read his 6 month blog >>

Conner Tevepaugh Six Month Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography

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.

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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.

Our Boy – 18 month portraits

Finley Case 18 months orchard portrait photo

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.

Pixels On Paper Photography Finley Case 18 months orchard portrait photo

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.

Wyatt ~ the newest, gorgeous member of the Arnold family

The Arnold’s might as well be in our family tree, because we love them so much and have been able to experience so many sweet moments with them over the years while behind the lens. Their wedding was exceptionally beautiful. Then came a sweet Irish blossom – Berklee – their daughter and first child. We wandered behind them through our favorite peach orchard and later had the privilege of helping husband and father Jeremy surprise his wife Meghan with a photo shoot when she was preggers with this little man below. It was a gorgeous day with lots of love and coordinated outfits.

Pixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait Photo

During the outdoor maternity shoot that Jeremy set up with us, we grabbed some images with a very special prop: one of Jeremy’s baseballs from his time as a college player. They wrote Wyatt’s name on it in anticipation of his arrival. So we made sure to incorporate the ball into some of the shots of Wyatt.

Pixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait PhotoPixels On Paper Photography Arnold Family wilkesboro nc photographers studio Newborn Portrait Photo

Seeing these four again and especially watching Miss Berklee with her new, real life baby was – as we say in the South – precious. We love this family so much and now if time could just slow down for all of us so that we can enjoy these little moments just a little bit longer.


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

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.