Posts Tagged: creative nc family photography

family outdoor portraits – at play & rest

The Minicks are family. Literally. We’ve been shooting photos of them since before Pixels was Pixels. This latest shoot was extremely fun, because the family grew by one when Matthew – Matt Matt – arrived and we all met up at a park to celebrate older sister Amelia’s first day of school. She has been the cutest little bug since birth and is now getting some competition from her little brother.

“Siblings: Children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal until they get together.” – Sam Levenson

Even though we shot after a first day of school – and sweet Matt Matt is trying to overcome his desire to ride on the school bus with his big sissy, he was not forgotten. The Minicks brought along a quilt featuring characters from children’s author Eric Carle and Matthew’s current favorite book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The family took a break to rest in the shade and read it together.
I love seeing the long legs on these kids, the complete passion for playtime and a family that hangs together. We adore this 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 License

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

our foundations part 6 – families of size

They aren’t better necessarily, they’re just bigger. Families.
As the wrap-up to our series on the types of portraits we specialize in and love, this blog is about celebrating a gathering of family. 

Poland Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

These days families spread out in ways they didn’t 50 years ago when most families lived in close proximity. When summer break and holidays roll around, we’re often asked to get portraits of the whole tribe. These families want to be captured while they are all together. Whether it’s a family reunion, a christening, a special occasion like a wedding or an elders milestone birthday, sometimes that is the necessary “excuse” to kick off a gathering. It’s always worth it and getting a portrait is always a good idea.


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 License

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

Our Foundation part 5 – family

Family portraits round out the professional foundation of our photography business. We do lots of commercial and event photography, but as the penultimate wrap-up to this series about the photography that gave Pixels our start, I’m sharing some beloved images of families that we’ve taken over the last decade plus. We’ve photographed many of these families multiple times and been in their homes for Christmas and Holiday portraits and Day in the Life sessions. Family and foundation go hand in hand.

Church Outdoor Family Portraits photo

Barnes family outdoor photos by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photographers
With autumn and winter, the holidays and new school year all around us, be thinking about a family portrait session and give us a call!


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 License

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

Portraits – stages of life

The temptation to write about the various stages of life we get to photograph – cradle to grave as it were – has been with me for a while, you guys. The grave part seems morbid, but honestly, we do capture the circle and cycles of life. Your parents have your baby portraits taken and before long, you’re scheduling your own kids’ photos.
Heirlooms are magic and they last long after the people in the frames are gone, so we consider it an honor to be the ones behind the camera during all the stages of your life. It seems like every year the baby, family, engagement, wedding and reunion photos become more profound as our own lives advance and expand personally.

Here is a topless newborn (not even 2 weeks old) in a tutu. Are you in? Paying attention? Well, a little pink lamb is always a good place to start.
But we often form our client relationships at the intention to marry. You fall in love and when you find the right one, you make it official – perhaps. Maybe you just start a life together.



Those images from your engagement and wedding are coveted by parents, grandparents and friends and they become markers in your life story. For many of our couples, kids are the next piece of the puzzle and we love taking maternity, newborn portraits, birthday cake smashes, outdoor photos and photos with the siblings that follow the first kid.
Pixels on Paper Photography Outdoor Portrait garden photo

Family’s grow and we love being a part of watching them expand – seeing multiple generations gather for whatever reason.

There are friendships, school milestones, proms and graduations. Again – your family members – those now and those you’ll never meet – will want to see these moments and relish them along with you.


Pixels On Paper Senior Photography Portraits Wilkesboro Boone Blowing Rock Charlotte Photographers

Do people from other regions of the country use the expression, “do life?” I wonder. It feels distinctly Southern, but who knows?
As you do life, no matter what season of life you’re in, we hope that you’ll make time for professional portraits that will put a pin in that particular chapter of your life. Your kids will grow and your family may spread out, you’ll head to college and fall in love or decide to venture forth and want family portraits taken. You’ll also come together for reunions and birthdays. Maybe you just want to document this year in Day in the Life photos. Regardless, we’re here and would love to be the ones to capture this specific moment for 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 License

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

5 Reasons to Have Professional Portraits

We know that you guys are busy. Believe me – we’re right there with you. You have a million things to do, so a lot of those “things” end up happening quickly and less deliberately. We’re running around constantly.

Boar’s Head – the premium deli meat purveyors – have created a tagline to get us to think about how we have to thread the needle of decision making: Compromise Elsewhere. It’s a good one, huh? And, sadly or not, it’s necessary in a busy, noisy world.

“Choose your battles.” “Spend your time wisely,” etc. and it’s true. So I would like to co-opt this idea of compromising elsewhere with regard to keeping your biggest moments in life, those things that matter and will someday become the heirlooms on film and not stuck in your phone or in a cloud. For that you need professional photography and a little bit of planning.

So here are my 5 reasons why hiring a professional photographer – ie someone who is seasoned, great at it and loves it – to capture the most important moments in life.
5 – If you make the time, the results are worth it. The quality is better and Ryan and I have worked for well over a decade to make this is true.

4 – It’s more fun than you think it will be. Seriously. People make appointments thinking it’s a box to tick because they need good photos of milestone (AND YOU DO!!), but our clients come back again and again for sessions, because there is a vibe and flow and a lot of laughter. We’re easy like Sunday morning, as the song goes, and the vast majority become our dear friends. We try to make shoots fun no matter where we are or who we’re with because who wants a job that stinks? And honestly – WE DO HAVE FUN. We are real people who are married with a baby and who love music, craft beer, gardening, hockey, family, travel and capturing portraits.

3 – Proper portraits, shot by professional photographers, are of the best quality. It’s just true. Your social media “story” or travel snapshots provide a sense of a moment and some narrative, but professionals portraits do not have to be stuffy. They are real AND turn out better than something shot on the most expensive smart phone or personal point and click digital camera. Part of this is our equipment. We use only the best cameras, lens, and lighting and then the best technology for clarity, cropping, processing and retouch. And then part of it is our experience. We don’t take photos as part of a holiday. It’s how we make our living. Enough on that. You get it. The last part is our passion. We know what we’re doing, do it with the very best equipment and software and we absolutely LOVE IT.

Madelyn McGuire Family and Child Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

2 – Professional portraits make amazing gifts. We’ve all seen the sort of “great, but blurry” or pixelated framed images and while the sentiment is there – the quality isn’t. If you’re going to give a gift, give a nice one. Whether it’s framed for your own home, made into calendar or used for some fun type of gift, your friends and family will appreciate it if it doesn’t look like it was created on someone’s lunch break in an alley.

The number ONE reason to have professional portraits taken is because the time will indeed pass quickly and when the moment is gone it is indeed actually gone. Kids grow up, the wedding day comes and goes, the beautiful bride goes back to her life and job or career path, the family disburses to the 4 corners of the earth and getting that minute back is just impossible.

Consider where you are in your life right now, what big events, milestones or celebrations are on the horizon during the next few months or even year and give us a call. We’d love to be the ones to create those heirlooms for 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 License

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