Posts in Category: Personal
Truly Giving Thanks
This time last year feels like an entire lifetime ago. I said in our blog about our new son Finley that I’ve been amazed at how much someone can do on so little sleep. Well, I’m also blown away by how much we packed into this last year. We’ve been blessed with an embarrassment of riches in the supportive friends department. Thank you all for showing us so much love and grace around having our first child. Before, during and these first few weeks after Finley was born have been easier thanks to you. The outstanding friends awards go especially to the Minicks, the Pierce and Meade families. You guys have not only been our clients but have gone above and beyond being our “village” with Finley. From gifts of maternity clothes and hand-me-downs for him, to meals, practical and light-hearted advice for Ryan and me, to wanting to hold Finley, giving lessons in baby-wearing, helping with pediatrician appointments … it is a MASSIVE list and you all have been wonderful.
The Minick family
The Pierce Family
The Meade Family
You guys know how much we love to travel, but outside of Merlefest and shoots in our gorgeous mountains (which feels like an escape, but is really our regional backyard), we stayed close to home. While we didn’t take any trips this year, we did make it to our local getaway spot – our campsite and cabin by the river in Sparta, NC. It’s the most peaceful place for us and we even managed to get there the weekend before Finley was born. I was trying to keep from going into labor. Ryan’s 40th Birthday was celebrated there with a camping weekend including six other families. It’s a pretty special memory.
We’re also grateful for new insights into what we do for a living. I attended a retreat this year that focused on photography and lighting techniques, and loved it. It too became a place where I found support, new friendships and a cohort of like-minded women.
Exposed Photography Workshop
And I’m thankful for my husband. Ryan took on a role of doing most everything single-handedly toward the end of my pregnancy and after Finley’s birth. As we kept serving photography clients, he was there in situations that normally are my domain alone. I’ve got a terrific partner in marriage, in business, in parenting and in life.
Finally, this Thanksgiving takes the headcount up by one…. one perfect little head. He won’t be making multiple trips to the buffet for stuffing or raiding the fridge for the midnight turkey sandwich, but we’ve grown as a family and we’re so grateful that this child is ours.
With my girl and one of my boys…
I would love to know what that new brain is cooking up and will keep wanting to know for the rest of my life, but this picture below makes me think of how we feel when we consider the gifts of this year: our family, our tireless friends, our clients, new experiences, new pals and a new little boy. You all make us smile.
Happy Thanksgiving and we’re sending you nothing but joy, health, contentment and your own sense of gratitude for the good stuff.
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Meet the New Case – our newborn son
I’m obsessed with his cheeks. I know, but I ask for no leniency, Judge! From the moment I could see them in the ultrasound pics, so plump and round, I was enamored. They’re even more adorable in person. Close runners up are his lips, fingers, toes… well everything. So there’s the love affair portion of this which is the vast majority of it when I intellectualize it.
But there’s the exhaustion too and it’s what we all think about with newborns: the absolute lack of sleep. We’ve learned how much a person can do with so little sleep. It’s astonishing, really, but I don’t want to make a habit out of it. I’m amazed at how quickly days turn to nights and the nights are so very very hard. But when he’s awake and serene – God help me, he’s perfect.
What is not serene and perfect is postpartum depression. I thought about not mentioning it, but what is the point of sharing if I’m not going to be honest and forthright. It is a very real thing and the internal struggle of hormones, body, intellect while tired and wanting to remember who you were and who you now are is dicey. I’m still very emotional and my body hasn’t healed. I’m not yet able to do everything I was doing before and pick up life where it left off. I know I’m only 41, but I’m 41, you know? There are times when I feel that God is taking this opportunity to show me how little in control I actually am. And for a person that’s always strived for independence and perfection this is a situation where I can do neither. It’s a hard lesson. I know I’m growing, but the patience part is not easy. If you’ve been through it, I send you a hug in my mind. I get it. Thank God for perspective and knowing how to take the long view.
Professionally, this session was a study in insight. We’ve been photographing babies for a long time and wanted to capture our own portraits of Finley. For once I felt what every Mom who comes into our studio with a newborn must feel. Anxiety when he cries and doesn’t cooperate, frustration when you are so close to having him settled for that perfect shot only to have him abruptly need to be fed; discouragement because you would think it would be easy to swaddle my own child… it’s harder. If anything, being a new Mom has helped me be a better newborn photographer rather than the other way around. 
Ryan and I never thought we would see each other in these roles. It’s showing us sides of each other and our marriage that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. The few hours (never sequential – ha!) that Finley is awake and alert are my favorite times of day these days. His eyes wander all around taking in every sight and sound. We are at the beginning and it’s crazy, but the Finley shaped hole in our lives was filled just in time and perfectly by this little dude.
Thank you for loving us. We know that that love extends to our son and it means more to us than we could ever express.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just bzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
A Full Circle
We want to believe that “things come full circle.” In fact, we say it with a spirit of hopefulness. There is continuity in life: births, deaths, struggles, triumphs, remembrances, redemption, connection and repatriation. It takes age, wisdom and being observant to realize it and I would like to believe that Ryan and I are those people. We certainly try to be!
There is also the idea of creating a large and full circle of people around you: those who inspire and challenge you, have your back, love and celebrate with you and hold you up when you just cannot do it alone. Ryan and I have both in our lives: that sense that things are coming full circle as we prepare to be first time parents AND that we’re surrounded, literally and figuratively, by people ready to help, support and love us in this new chapter.
Over the last 14 years, we’ve been blessed to be a part of your lives (and we have no plans to stop). But as we get ready to greet our son (the full circle in my belly at the moment), I’m reminded of all the chapters of your lives we’ve captured on film and those chapters we’re about to embark on ourselves. We’ve learned so much watching you all.
We’ve photographed engagement portraits in all sorts of settings, celebrating the beginnings of new marriages. We’ve taken bridal portraits inside and outside with brides in sneakers or cowboy boots, in gardens, in tiaras, on staircases and in the woods. Those moments absolutely take us back to our own engagement, wedding and first years together.
And the weddings themselves we’ve photographed – too many to count – where there is the crush of emotion and relief and joy and then “let’s get out of here and go on a honeymoon!”
Children. This one is particularly tender for obvious reasons, but watching you all as we took maternity photos, newborn portraits, first birthdays, new siblings and the growth of your families has been the best. You hunker down during the hard stuff and laugh out loud during the silly bits, but your commitment to family is something we understand completely.
We love living our lives in the open amongst such amazing friends, colleagues, and family – those by blood and those forged from common interests, trust and deep connections. While we may need to hibernate a bit when our little man arrives, we’ll be happy to share stories, ask questions and continue to watch our lives come full circle. We love you all so much and thank each of you for the part you play in our lives.
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 ©2017 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Don’t Waste Time & miss the little stuff
We have a dear friend who recently suffered a blow to his health: swelling of the brain. He’s been touch and go and he’s rallying with the right care and attention and prayer. We pray. Our pals pray – and it has been a reminder of how much love is shared in our various circles of friends, coworkers and family. While he is on the mend, it got me thinking about lost moments, little hugs or tender exchanges, laughs, cuddles and the peace that is sometimes in a micro-moment. Don’t waste time waiting on the big moments. When they happen, great. Celebrate the little stuff too, though. Make time for it. That’s our goal as a couple, as photogs and as parent-to-be.
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.
5 Years of the Pixels Studio | A Tale of 3 Places (and dozens of stories)
From the day we found the property in 2011 to the day we celebrated our closing and received the keys on June 11, 2012.
This is where it all began. Not our business certainly, but the journey of the Pixels studio and the place we lay our heads each night. This place has three stories, if you will. One of them is ours. This home is our shelter and houses our personal lives and our day-to-day, holds many memories, celebrations and even more sweet, albeit mundane moments. Ryan, our sweet Chelsea and I love living here. You’ll see her in several of these images, by the way.
The second story is that of a living library. It contains the stories and moments of every newborn, every first birthday portrait, lots of teens dressed for prom or graduation, children and their parents, pet and holiday portraits and a hundred other stories that happen in a photography studio and outdoor portrait garden. This space houses our clients and friends. It houses all of you – in part. You show up at our studio to have a moment in time captured forever and you leave a little bit our yourselves behind for us to remember. It’s pretty awesome when you think about it.
After landscaping
The third story this place tells is that of an active, creative working business. It’s our portrait studio inside and portrait garden space outside and we worked hard to make this place inspiring for our clients while you’re here and inspiring for us when we’re setting up and after when we’re editing. “Place-making” is something that architects talk about a lot and we believe in many of those concepts. It’s important to us as creatives seeking inspiration and critical for our clients because we want comfort and ease for you. There was a lot of work, but it has really paid off.
Entrance foyer before and after.
Portrait studio lobby before and after.
The lobby walls and throughout the studio display wall art collections, canvas wraps and our full selection of frames.
With a house that is over 100 years old, there were plenty of renovations and we had a vision for our home spaces and certainly for the Pixels spaces. Rooms were remodeled, re-envisioned and repurposed and our equipment was housed and our work – and the possibilities for clients – were showcased. Looking back, it was a lot of labor done with a lot of love. We created an elegant space for client consultations and photo previews, a dressing room & bathroom (wardrobe changes happen, people) with a baby-changing station, and we transformed a large room into our portrait studio itself.
Client bathroom, changing room, and baby changing area.
The indoor portrait studio and shooting space underwent a major transformation.
The indoor portrait photography studio contains 3-4 hand-crafted photo backdrops that rotate seasonally.
Before and after transformation of our client preview and consultation room.
Our clients can see their images projected during their PreView sessions along with useful size aids to help during their ordering process.
The Pixels On Paper office work stations before and after.
And that is just some of how we transformed the inside of Pixels. We also have amazing outdoor spaces and getting them synced up with our vision took some doing. Seriously. Cutting, pruning, planting, mowing, sewing seeds: you name it, it happened. The best part is that we have captured some of the most memorable moments of families, babies and kids in these spots. And we celebrated our 10 Year Anniversary out here too.
Landscape cleanup was a huge effort in order to create the outdoor portrait garden
Summer sunflower portrait garden from start to finish
Our colorful outdoor portrait wall changes with every season
Unique outdoor garden spaces are ever-changing and being created for new photography backdrops.
At the risk of bragging, Ryan and I have created an amazing business space separate from but housed within this glorious old manse. It’s like no other portrait studio we’ve ever seen. It’s where modern work and technology meets a century of memories lodged in every board and room… with some updates.
NOTHING happens overnight and we were never on our own during this transformation journey. I could never name everyone in and outside of our families who’s worked tirelessly with us these last 5 years. There’s just no way. The boards inside and the dirt surrounding our home have been touched and trod on by so many. We’ve been blessed beyond expression and we love that we get to live in this place and that we are able to share it with all of you – even for a few hours during a session. It’s a magic spot where love and creativity lives, where laughter is encouraged, and where everyone is welcome.