Posts in Category: Kids
Roman Turns One. Airplanes and Cake Smash
We cannot stop it. Time is going to do what it’s going to do….. keep passing. Suddenly Roman, below, is a year old.
The third child of Andy and Traci Pierce just celebrated his first birthday and this family does not “phone it in.” They come to PLAY with themes and props and outfits and the big dessert – cake.
Father Andy is a commercial pilot and we have used themes before in photo shoots with his two older brothers. Holden was Pierce baby number one and the aviation them was chosen for him. Then Sawyer came along as a little surfer and pharmacist like his Mom. He even had (and still has) the curls of a man who lives by the sea and in hammocks during his downtime. Roman is the last and third child for Andy and Traci, so they decided to go for it one more time. Traci got the idea from Pinterest of shooting on location, and tasked Andy with finding a plane.
He did. From WWII. Decked out in flack jackets and aviator shades, we all met up in Concord on a gorgeous mid-March dad, with perfect blue skies and lots of wind.
The weather always plays a role, if only to bless you or challenge you. Thank goodness that it was merely a challenge instead of a curse. Traci is detail-oriented, admittedly type A – something she and I share, so she wants all of our time and effort to be worth it. With the wind blowing us all around, Roman was freezing, but Holden and Sawyer were loving it! They fit the roles of pilot and copilot already. We had a couple of “is this going to work?” moments, but we couldn’t be happier with the results.
I feel confident that the family will be having caption contests with the image above for many years to come. Holden with his tongue sort of sticking out conspiring the plan, Sawyer with his curls and “about to pounce lets get do it” posture and little Roman looking like “LETS TAKE A MINUTE TO THINK ABOUT THIS BOYS.”
We ended up back inside, playing around the hangar and avoiding the wind and Roman’s mood shifted from “I’m freezing” to “this ROCKS!” Everything turned out beautifully and I loved capturing the colors of the plane, the natural light and the boys. We adored the plane’s owner who was so accommodating and cool too. He helped make the day a success.
The cake smash went off well too. First birthdays have to have cake and like his older brothers, Roman was able to get the anticipated – and much deserved – sugar rush. Cake theme: why yes, planes!
Roman: we’ve said this about your older brothers, but we are serious when we say it to you: we cannot wait to watch you grow up in front of our lenses and in our midst. Congratulations on your first year on earth. Here’s to so very many more.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Valentine’s Day Expressions
This is love.
So is this.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought I would just celebrate what love looks like on people’s faces, in their body English, and in their overall gestures because of their connection to each other. It’s not always easy to spot love, especially when you’re trying to capture a variety of images during a scheduled photo session, but I’ve been training my eye for a while now, and sometimes, it’s right in your face.
Couples who are no longer newlyweds really make me smile. You made a commitment and it held, through good and bad. The familiarity has not, as the saying goes, bred contempt. We married couples know each other well and that love has deepened.
Parents with their babies = undeniable love. It spills out and they cannot help it, even with a photographer circling them, lighting them, and getting multiple shots. And the same is true with siblings who snuggle.
There are those quiet, less obvious moments too. Resting in love is soul-restoring.
And there’s friendship. God gave us so many types of love, but one of the greatest is our love for our neighbors, our weird friends, the people who aren’t bound by blood, but who show up to “do life” with us.
We need love for each other now more than ever. Whatever it takes or looks like, I plan to take a moment this week, whether it’s with the Valentines I share a name with, or just someone who makes my life better, and show them a little love. I hope you will too.
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
2019 highlights
If this is our 2019 Year in Review, then little Riley above has perfectly summed up how we felt at the end of the year. Contented and tired! We did it! I wanted to share the visual breadth and depth of what our year looked like, but that would be volumes… volumes of images, stories, back-stories, comedy segments, prayers and all of the rewards that come with this gig. It’s a full life.
So instead: enjoy some of the highlights. There are plenty more, but here’s a sampling of people and places we had in our lens last year!
Above: on the commercial side – we took headshots for Krusch Divorce Resolution – a wonderful firm out of Charlotte. The cozy plaid, attic bedroom was captured to promote a real estate project from Kathryn Lily of Kathryn Lily Interiors in Cornelius.
Below: Spring in the orchard, included prom portraits, the Overby family’s return to the orchard, baby Ava checking herself out in a mirror, the expecting Orozco family of 3 about-to-be-4, and finally little Miss Paisley in a fabulous tulle skirt. The blooms and trees provided the backdrop, but the people made the experience and results perfect.
Late spring, early summer is the mix we always hope it will be.
Below: senior portraits (gorgeous McKenzie on the left), several delicious babies, kids and pets, some commercial work for the Wilkesboro Town Council and, of course, Merlefest!!
Above: more commercial photo sessions for MBI Builders, Wilkes Community College’s new Culinary Building, architectural exteriors and real estate projects, the chef and owner of the elegant Craft Bistro in West Jefferson, and a special trip to the Touch-a-Truck event.
Below: more prom images of high school besties dressed “to the nines,” and the full-on summer portraits of families with new babies, those expecting babies, family reunions at mountain homes, and a couple getting married at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh.
And finally, a round-up of faces we’ve known and watch grow for years, some very, very new faces, a celebration of high school and college grads and a destination wedding at The Biltmore Estate.
It seems fitting to start and end with babies. They are our symbols of hope, our reminder that life keeps moving no matter what and, let’s face it, they are cute as heck. Again, we want to thank the families and businesses we worked with last year. What a blast and a privilege and your commitment to working with professional does not go unnoticed. We’re looking forward to seeing all the highlights that 2020 is going to bring.
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
All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Marion Is One – First Birthday portraits
If you think this little be-pearled girl is adorable, scroll down. She and her brother are stinkers!! (That’s a compliment, by the way.) They are delicious and you can tell that they are going to be thick as thieves as they grow up. Hint: tongues out = laughter.
But first – meet newly minted one year old, Marion.
For Marion’s first birthday, we want classic old school. First birthday cake smash images are fun, but I have to say, I stand and applaud working moms when they share that they cannot do it all. They cannot create magic every day out of thin air, including a homemade or store bought picture-perfect unicorn cake and Pinterest-worthy birthday party. We love our kids and we’re busy, and guilt helps exactly no one. Sweet Marion’s amazing mom wanted professional portraits but had little time to plan a theme. I had all the goods to help.
Marion in pearls, pink and a tulle tutu absolutely shined during her session. And while Pinterest boards are great, it was easy for me to set up something simple, elegant and pretty.
NOTE: I have outfits and props for babies and toddlers, you Moms out there! If you don’t come with a trunk of stuff, you aren’t failing. I’ve got your back.
Below, enter big brother Connor who is clearly a very serious type. These two….. big fun or big trouble, maybe both. Marion and Connor – come back to visit us again soon please. We loved the laughter in our studio that day!
Want to see more? Here are the family’s portraits and Marion’s newborn session, as well as Mom’s maternity shoot.
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
All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Ava Turns One
Sweet little Ava enjoyed this one year birthday portrait session almost as much as we did. She toddled with her Mom and Dad all over an Ashe County NC pumpkin patch, with more wardrobe changes than a pop icon on tour. Great facial expressions – check. Cuteness on cue – yup. She loved sharing Zinnias from the fields, laughed at squatting on pumpkins, eagerly tugged on her dad’s beard while giving him Eskimo kisses, and jabbered away in her special language with her Mama. This year has been filled with so much joy in her presence. I’m excited to watch and photograph her in all the years ahead. We LOVE you, Miss Ava.
It’s hard for me to believe that it has been a year since we took her first photos, even though I’ve quite literally watched this child grow. Her parents are close friends of ours. We photographed mom Judy’s maternity portraits, Ava’s newborn portraits, an outdoor orchard session in blooms and a 6-month portrait session where this little nugget looks like a fairy in every image.
During the last 12 months, I’ve given Ava some of my very own clothes, some hand made and others hand-me-downs from when I was a child. My son, Finley, has shown no interest in girlie fashions, and to be honest, I’ve found it hard to resist shopping for frills for her while I’m thrift store shopping. So many options sing out to be hers, even though often I find that she’s going to outgrow them 10 minutes after I drop them off! I’m not even her mom, but the pull is strong ya’ll. I just adore this kid.
I also love her doting, attentive and thoughtful parents. I’m so looking forward to her next year ahead and all the fun, silliness and growth we can expect to see for her.
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 LicenseAll photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.