Posts Tagged: pixels on paper outdoor portraits

Austin’s Senior Photos

Ryan was on point for this senior portrait session with Austin and the proof is in the visible smiles. Ryan makes the guys we capture (think graduations, engagements, … posing!) feel at ease for portrait sessions and once we get them outside, and around people they love, the rest is pretty easy. This was the case with Austin.

Austin wanted to wait for his Army sash to arrive because he wanted to display it proudly, but after it came, Ryan met up with Austin, his girlfriend and his mother at North Wilkes High School to wander and shoot pics. They chatted, loosened up and laughed while Ryan found moments to capture moments.

Ryan shared that Austin would smile when asked, but lit up completely when his girlfriend joined him in front of the camera. Naturally! He clearly adores her, as he does his mom and we are so glad that we have images of them all to mark this time.

Austin will be moving into his new life in the Army in the weeks to come and is excited about the next chapter of his life. We are wishing you all the best, dude! We are all in such a hurry to finish one thing and move on to another. It’s good to take a breath to be in the moment and celebrate.


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 newborns and families, 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 License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Allena’s outdoor high school senior photos

Allena is a new high school graduate and our recent rambling photo shoot was such a treat. This girl is cool, artistic, fun, and creative, and she’s the daughter of a dear friend of mine. Home-schooled and smart, bohemian and earthy, I loved being around her energy.

Allena was extremely close to her maternal grandfather, and while he’s passed away, he lives on in her memories, their shared interests and time together exploring, and her total adoration of him. The hat she’s wearing belonged to him and is a nod to their time together. She loves to be outdoors and so we chose to wander, chatter and explore while capturing images. No studio portraits for her!

The pick up truck was passed to her from this same granddad. Allena restored it and is incredibly proud of it so of course, we incorporated it. Check out the name plate on the front. The truck is named Jolene (thanks, Dolly) and was a song that Allena and her grandfather would sing when driving around together in that truck. Their bond is just another reason we love this independent, spirited young woman. Her old soul shines through everything she does.

By the end of the shoot, we had officially chased the sun, and ended our time at an old home place where the flowers were in bloom and Allena could don her cap and gown. Unlike her sister Macy who wanted a big party when she graduated, Allena wanted to celebrate with family and keep it simple, so her dad loaded up with photos from this shoot. Pixels created a custom photo album as well as prints for them to frame or give. We also created her graduation announcement cards. Allena: We wish you only the best in the years ahead!


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 newborns and families, 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 License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

David’s Starmount High School Senior Photos

David, David, David …….. you were once a boy and I know because I was there. And now, even after a year of pandemic and readjustments, you’re a graduate. What on EARTH?

We were able to capture David Eldridge’s Senior Portraits earlier, where he could show off his All Guy style and love of the outdoors. Finally, after some quarantining, Ryan was able to meet up with this graduate at his former Starmount High School to get great shots of David in his cap and gown. These milestones are so important and when I think about David and his brothers when they were little, I just shake my head that time has run – sprinted! – to this point.

We’ve photographed this family many, many times, including brother Gage’s senior portraits, a family gathering or two, and the earliest years when mom Stacy was wrangling them from all corners of the property. They are the sweetest family.

Congratulations, David! We’re so proud of 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 newborns and families, 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 License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Aryan One Year Cake Smash and Milk Bath Portraits

May 5th was a fun day! For Aryan’s first birthday, her guardians and co-moms, Stacy and Becky brought this little cutie pie to our studio and portrait garden to celebrate with a milk bath and a cake smash. Aryan’s family members are long time clients and friends of ours, and their family has loads of boys, so this was a chance to have a little girl time with their youngest member.

Aryan’s birthday theme was all about the color yellow and bumblebees, and Stacy sent over a bunch of items that were right on brand! She asked that I work my magic in our studio and I had a blast setting up the studio first. We’re all about boy stuff around here, so all of the cute elements combined in the space were an absolute treat and Aryan completed the picture. I just loved watching her little ruffled fanny crawling around! We let her nibble on frosting and cake, and Stacy even brought Honeycombs cereal to sprinkle around so that Aryan could graze as she played.

Then, we headed out into the portrait gardens, for her post-cake milk bath. The yellow theme carried from bumblebees to lemons and this little girl splashed around and cracked herself up. The whole scene was delicious, just like Aryan. I’m always so honored to have families trust us with their babies. Newborns, six-month olds, and first birthday parties are favorites for us. They mark time and allow us to tell the stories of individuals and families. I treasure that.

I am just so honored to be documenting this amazing family and cannot wait to see Aryan grow into a toddler next. To see more of our time with this sweet family, check out Aryan’s newborn and family portraits.


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 newborns and families, 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 License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Bennett family and six month old Angelina

This day felt like a family reunion and I’m so grateful for it. We’ve all had a year of struggles and regrouping with familiar faces and old stories felt so good. Ryan has a history with this wonderful family. He and baby Angelina’s grandma Ann Russo became pals while working together a couple of decades ago. Long after they became friends, Anne’s daughter Jessica was getting married and they thought of Pixels to photograph their wedding. We’ve been friends since. On this day, we took Angelina’s six month portraits with parents Jessica and Bobby and grandparents Ann and Rich Russo at the peach orchards which were gorgeously in bloom.

Angelina was born while we were all in the teeth of the pandemic and mom Jessica worried that she wouldn’t know how to socialize, but this angel has a TON of personality. She’s not shy at all. It was so fun seeing parents and grandparents mixing it up with her. It was such a beautiful day in a warm setting with people we love.

Obviously, with all of this history, this wasn’t the first time we’d photographed these guys. Check out Jessica’s maternity portraits and Angelina’s newborn portraits.


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 newborns and families, 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 License All photos are ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.