Posts Tagged: portrait photography studio
Tinleigh 6 months portraits in Ruffles and Bows
Tinleigh is the only girl among her siblings and it feels like a blink since she had newborn portraits taken. On this occasion, we turned our studio over to her and her stylist and let her go nuts. For her six month portrait session, with no brothers around, and my stash of dress up options, ribbons, ruffles and pearls, this little light shined. Man, she is cute! And her mom loved seeing her all girly for the photo session.
Although it was hard not to see a little tomboy in her since she’s surrounded by brothers, Tinleigh loves all things girly at the moment. I created a creamy Victorian setting and in a little ruffled onsie she was adorable. We also let her drape herself in a bright pink tulle number, … as one does.
I love the expressions this little girl makes. Her face says a million discerning and hammy little things in micro-seconds. I cannot wait to chat with her when she starts talking.
I typically keep my two year old Finley out of the studio during sessions, but Tinleigh is so accustomed to being entertained by her brothers that when she appeared to be getting bored I allowed my little curly haired Ginger to join us. She loved it and was all eyes and smiles. He perked her right up, something I know from first-hand experience that he’s great at.
I cannot wait to get this little nugget, with or without her older brothers, in front of my lens again. Maybe another outdoor, day in the life session with the whole family……….hmmmmm. I have a phone call to make!
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.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
Family portraits ~ 3 generations sustaining each other
When the late poet (and part-time North Carolinian) Maya Angelou said, “I sustain myself with the love of family,” she was speaking for pretty much all of us. There are exceptions of course, but even when you run away like another NC native, Asheville author Thomas Wolfe, you find that your dreams are always tied to home and family. How do we pull together? How do we sustain ourselves? The Johnsons are an example of what that pulling together looks like. They are tied together and holding on to each other through welcoming new lives and encountering new struggles.
Mary Jane Johnson, seated in the center and surrounded by her family.
Recently, we photographed Kristen Andrew’s newborn son Jaxon with his big brother Luke. They were delicious. New brothers. New besties. Then Kristen contacted me with news that her Mom Mary Jane’s cancer had changed. Despite the early radiation treatment in the Spring of this year, Mary Jane was going to need chemotherapy in less than a week.
Their family had literally just grown by two with Jaxon’s birth in July and Kristen’s sister Lindsay’s son arriving soon after. Mary Jane’s chemo would begin on the 28th and I got the call on Thursday the week before giving me the update. We all know that chemo and hair loss are wedded, but I promised Kristen that I’d find a way to get the entire family photographed on the Monday before chemo began.
“Families are the compass that guides us. They are the inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter.” – Brad Henry
Monday arrived and it was pouring rain. Our plans for an outdoor session fell through, but with no time to spare I arranged the indoor studio with a backdrop that would suit what I knew about this fun-loving, country-inspired family of 10 and we made Mary Jane’s wish for family photos come true. She couldn’t have been more in her element surrounded by her husband Steve, daughters Kristen and Lindsey, and their husbands and their sons.
Chemo has been brutal and Mary Jane has already spent days in the hospital recovering from her first cycle of treatment. When the family returned to the studio last week to view all the photos, they were thrilled to have captured these memories. I hope that these images give Mary Jane a renewed energy and strength before she goes into treatment #2. Nothing will make you fight harder than love and she loves her family first.
“The family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.” – Dodie Smith
The Johnsons are strong in their faith and prayer is going to be a big part of them holding together as they move forward. As we love them and pray for them, we hope that ALL of our clients know how completely loved they are. Chemo is tough. It throws everything and the kitchen sink at cancer. We throw everything we’ve got toward making our clients happy. If Ryan and I can be there for you and help you create a memory of a moment, we’ll do it.
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.
acre upon acre ~ the mathis farm welcomes a new member
“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” – Wendell Berry
We don’t know about you, but we look at this picture above and do not think: “Oh, sure! They’re farmers!” This picture says, “welcome to our world, sweet thing.” They might also say, “You’re going to be outside quite a bit as a kiddo, and there will be tons to learn and many places to explore, but we love you and promise to show you the way. You have no idea what grace you’re about to inherit.”
Megan and Luke Mathis however are, wait for it, farmers, and they are the real deal. But what did we expect? That couple from Grant Woods’ famous painting American Gothic?? Remember those two – you know the old, dour pair with the pitchfork and sense of despair and exhaustion? On the contrary, Megan and Luke are the full time farmers that the 21st needs and depends upon and we have no doubt that their little boy Carson will continue to nurture the land, care for what surrounds him, contribute to the family business and bless everyone he meets. We adore these 3 and want to be a part of documenting every single moment they want us to grab.
We were also honored to create a new wall for the Mathis’ of pictures from this shoot. We hope they consider it a tribute to their generation and the next and the next – “acre upon acre,” family after family.
We envy you, Carson. That’s really the bottom line. The adventures you’re going to have on that land are untold, but your story is waiting for you to write; and you will add a line or verse every time your feet go running through the woods. Get your sleep now, boy. It’s all out there.
Following is a video we put together from our shoot with the Mathis family and we love creating these as part of family photography packages or as special requests. We find that people are anxious to share the shoot in one file that can be passed to family and friends.
Have a look at the video and maternity photos of Megan and Luke, pre-Carson, on their gorgeous land.
pixels on paper studio under construction
You may have noticed a bit of an absence from the blog for a couple weeks. It was not for lack of things going on that we have not posted, but for the exact opposite reason, tons going on. If you follow us on Twitter or FaceBook, you may have noticed that there have been loads of posts about our new studio space and the renovations under way.
So far we have done a lot of repair work to the exterior of the space, including washing from top to bottom, repairing some rotten wood and painting, lots and lots and lots of painting. It was a family effort as it took four of us to install a new 14′ support beam under the house that will soon bear the load of our new kitchen.
Now most of the work outside is on hold and we have turned our focus to the interior spaces. We have grand plans for the studio side that we cannot wait to show. The electricians are almost finished with the task of running all the new wiring we need and surround sound throughout the house. We have removed 100% of the popcorn ceiling texture so far and tore out the old kitchen to make way for an updated and more suited to us space. We still need to get the floors refinished, the walls repaired and painted and the studio and office set up, which is no small task, and will take some time with a lot of thought and effort on our part. In the mean time we wanted to give all our fans a peek at what has happened on the outside.
Ryan got to have fun in a bucket truck while using it to replace gutters on the upper roof and paint the trim on the 3rd story dormer windows.
Removed and replaced a rotten beam under one side of the porch that was also supporting the front corner of the house.
The old tongue and groove porch was in dire need of a few coats of paint before it began to rot. It will need to be painted again after construction is complete.
Our repurposed store displays hung to give the wisteria a place to grow.
One of two rotten window sills that Ryan replaced.
Water damage at the side door ended up going all the way through the sub floor. Once again Ryan’s carpentry skills were put to the test and he passed with flying colors.
The landscaping outside was in dire need of help and family have taken over that task since Misty continues to get poison ivy whenever working in it.
We continue to be amazed at all the people who are stopping in to check on us and offer encouragement. Our clients continue to be our life, and for that we are thankful. We have gained so many friends through the years, and we hope that by what we are working towards will make that number grow for years to come.
We are also thankful to our families who have put in their fair share of the work. Without their love, support and back breaking work, none of this would have been possible. Blessed beyond measure does not begin to describe how we feel. This has been God’s plan for us all along, and we are excited that we are finally able to start to see what He has prepared us for through our journey so far.
If you are able to, and are in the area on the weekends when we are there the most, give us a shout and come on by to see the journey unfolding. And thank you in advance for our patience in dealing with us as we throw ourselves into the renovation because at times we may be slow to respond due to the work going on.
Stay tuned for more progress going on in the inside.