Posts in Category: Personal
Pixels on Paper – An Intro
“Please allow me to introduce myself.” A great Rolling Stones song begins that way and I’m running with it. The doldrums of January and February need tweaking into shape.
The more I watch the world shift and watch social media bind us together (and tear us apart ….), I see how some of us are working to find each other – maybe even find each other again – through simple introductions. Introductions are a beautiful thing. So consider this a brief online How Do You Do.
For those of you who may not know, there we are – on our wedding day in fact, August 2, 2003. Ryan Case is my husband, my best friend, my houseman, my baby-daddy, my darling, my co-conspirator and the man I run this business with. Pixels was born of shared interests and talents and a desire to work for myself. Want to know a little more about what fuels us? Here you go!
Ryan is a fabulous and skilled photographer, graphic designer and work horse. Great with tools, remodeling our century old house, and not at all shabby in the kitchen, he’s a keeper. I am a photographer, book lover, soft touch, explorer of moods and lighting, gardener, and always down for a newborn baby portrait session, and a nap (in no particular order). I believe in prayer and outdoor concerts.
Together, we are Pixels on Paper Photography and Graphic Design and have been since 2005. We love to work and play, travel and camp. We celebrate creativity, sound and music (c’mon MERLEFEST!!), families and their specific milestones and we are dedicated to being a part of our community.
In 2015, we threw a big 10th Anniversary Party with friends and family, something that we were unable to do in 2020 for our 15th. But we’ve been so pleased that over the last 15 years, our business has grown and changed.
Newborns and One Year Packages
For parents-to-be, the one year package allows us to capture images during the first two weeks, at 6 months and the first birthday portraits. These have become our favorites and families love them too. That first year flies by.
a milk bath at 6 months 
a cake smash at one year
Families
From Day in the Life sessions to family reunions to gatherings to mark special occasions, we embrace family photography. I would encourage you to search our blog under family to see the breadth of our work over the years.
Commercial Work
We cover the commercial side of photography as well as the more personal and Ryan handles graphic design too. We love supporting small businesses and local ventures.
photography for a favorite brewery 
Local business photos and head shots
Personal Growth
The addition of our son Finley changed so much for us and if you need a fix of cute pics of a pretty adorable ginger, follow us on social media. This little boy manages to keep us young.
More than anything, our goal is to capture forever those moments in our own lives, the moments in the life of a business, a community, and those fleeting moments in a family. As our business has changed (we only do very special requested weddings these days), these values continue to be a guiding light. If you have a milestone or just a notion for a photo shoot and would like to discuss it, we would be honored. We’re always for a bigger party, a full table and lots of connections.
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 newborn and baby portraits, engagements 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.
Family Photo Albums
Dear Kids: Many years ago, people would gather at the houses of relatives and occasionally flip through books of images. Members would point to pictures and tell stories about individual moments, people or places. Other times, whole pages could tell a story all by themselves. We called these books albums.
Ok, all light generational teasing aside, I am grateful for our technology that allows us to share with a click, I’m grateful for digital picture frames, and for the Cloud. We use these in our lives and for our business too. But there is just something about an album that encapsulates a time period, something you can hold in your hand and put on your shelf that is priceless.
Every year of our son’s life, we’ve created visual retrospectives of the year – in photos of course – to give as gifts to our family. We create one large album for ourselves and smaller replica albums for the Grandparents. These contain images of the big times, milestones and trips, but more importantly these pages showcase little moments that might have been missed as well as the “regular, day-to-day” that some family members were absent for.
This year, I want to encourage clients to consider having us create an album for them from previous photo shoots with Pixels. More than a few of you (most in fact) have hired us for a variety of shoots over the years. A one year or multi-year album that tells the story of that time in your life, the birth of your kids and the addition of siblings, maybe high school portraits through college graduation images, a series of family reunions or yearly fall portrait sessions would make a perfect album to keep or give. Every time we’ve created one of these for a family, we’re called later to receive an extra thank you. Talk about priceless!
Contact me if you have been a client of ours and let’s discuss the possibilities. ALL PIXELS CLIENTS: if you would like for me to reload an expired gallery for you to review, just contact me. You can revisit those special images and consider adding to your collection of memories at home or plan gifts for the future. We would love to take this time to design albums 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 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 ©2021 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Merry Christmas from our family
We blog to share and we blog for our business.
SEO, client outreach, project features and other promotions are important for our survival as a creative company.
But this is Christmas and the culmination of a tough year. So instead of talking about professional photography, Ryan and I would just like to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Peace to each of you.
Our plan for the next two weeks or so is to hug each other, relish down time with our son and close family, count our blessings and focus on getting some rest before the new year arrives. We have this same wish for all of you.
Take time for peace, for quiet if you can find it, for reading and naps, for calls with those far away who would like to hear “I love you,” and be sure to take care of yourselves. We love and appreciate you all.
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.
Thanksgiving Message from Pixels
Maya Angelou said, “Be present in all things, and grateful for all things.” I’m not always able to square that circle. How can you be grateful when it’s entirely possible to wake up every morning to bad news, worrisome statistics, and personal fear of the unknown future?
I had a friend share a quote from a monk with me the other day. It went something like, “see your anxiety and fear and sit with them, welcome them and smile at them.” Being present with anxiety? CHECK. Smile at it? Hmmmm. I think the monk meant that our goal is to familiarize ourselves with the concept that we have very little control in this life and we must do our best to adjust our outlook.
This year does not need another commentator, so I’ll skip the phrases we’ve all heard about 2020 since March. Endless complaints, like platitudes, don’t help, so let me just say this:
I am present when I am with my son at the breakfast table each morning. We’re just here, eating and jabbering, and plotting what the day may bring. Recently, watching him do something as simple as stuff acorns into his overalls was a moment I soaked up.
I’m present when I’m in prayer, reading scripture or from my daily devotions. Yes, my mind wanders, but with focus and discipline, I find the message meant for me, or at least I try.
I’m present when I chat with my family. There are still decisions that need to be made, stories to tell and retell, and – when possible – memories to make. I’m present when Ryan and I have time after Finley goes to bed. Sometimes it’s a struggle, but we need that connection for sure.
All of these – and more – make me grateful. It as if being present is the parent of gratitude. Slow down and tune in and you’ll see reasons to give thanks.
Ryan and I know that this year is like no other many of us have seen in our lifetimes, but it’s important to count our blessings. We are certainly grateful for each of you. You fill us up creatively and with your friendship, laughter, encouragement, prayers and collaboration. Thank you for that. We hope that we always give it back to your in spades.
Happy Thanksgiving. Whatever that looks like for you and your family, I hope you feel both present for the little moments and grateful for what you have.
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.
Fall portraits of Finley
I’ve said this before and there is a reason for that: the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote that in a poem, and as a descendent of Scots (McGuire), believe me – I get it, Robbie B!! I hear you, brother!
We’ve been capturing Finley in his Carhartt overalls as a kind of theme, for a while now. Whether I am behind the camera, or we’ve hired a pro, I love these images. With apple picking season upon us we set a course for Apple Hill Orchard in Morganton. As parents do, we hyped it up, packed the cute clothes, got our little guy ready and arrived to find they were closed. There was so much traffic over the weekend that our Monday plan was not to be. No apple picking. The good news is that we had a blast on a nearby trail and the day was glorious.
As memories go, what I will tell Finley when he’s older is that he spent 90% of his time that day, storing acorns in every pocket he had. If they had been pants, they would have fallen down. Like a little squirrel prepping for winter, he put handful and handful in those overalls. The snacks I had, including Cheerios and cashews just mixed right in. Hilarious!
Yes, I will probably try to get some apple picking portraits again before it’s too late, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t pleased with how these images turned out: happy boy, fun day and when we reached the farm shop to buy some apples, his acorns spilled out all over the place to the delight of other customers. It was a good day. Don’t give up Moms. Joy is out there, even if it isn’t what you envisioned.
My advice is that you do the best with what you’re given.
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.