Posts in Category: Portraits
son’s nautical 1st birthday portraits + all boy and all flirt
dreams of flight ….
For his first birthday, the theme was nautical. Blues and oranges, whales and anchors. And that little jumper with the anchor on it? Good Lord. It’s a classic. Mothers everywhere would swoon over such a throwback.
Holden is a big flirt. According to his Mom, he turns on the charm in front of ladies and knows how to draw in a crowd at church. People love to spoil him rotten. He was a smiling new baby, just days old in front of our lens (see photo above), a grinning 6 month old and he continues to up the ante at 1. It’s always been easy to get a grin out of him. So, child photographer’s dream?? Definitely.
Like most boys, Holden enjoyed smashing his cake more than tasting it. He was messy and mobile, cracking up and clambering around every set up.
Here’s to many, many more, Little Man!
8 month old’s studio baby portraits + a little “dress up”
We photographed Madelyn’s (well, Maddie’s) newborn portraits earlier this year and somehow she’s managed to get cuter, her expressions more animated, her eyes more blue and her parents, Valerie and Jason, more delighted. In fact, they should probably just keep us on retainer.
Her newborn session was a complete joy, because she’s just so perfect. I say that knowing the bias is evident, so full disclosure: this little lamb is my second cousin.
Her mouth is almost always open, either in the biggest smile or because she’s chattering away. I foresee a lucrative contract in her future …. and most likely with an opera company or any advertiser looking for a child who expresses a constant, persistent joy.
Her eyes are unbelievable and we’ve dubbed them the McGuire eyes. Those big blues are hereditary. Her dad and granddad, my own dad and I ALL have them. Suffice it to say that photographing her is an exercise in seeing how many photos are NOT close ups. And those cheeks! Those cheeks power that smiling and laughing mouth.
Of course, we get tapped to photograph our own friends and family, but we would consider it a pleasure to photograph yours. For those of you new to our blog, please know that we love to photograph newborn babies, infants, toddlers, teens, families, seasonal portraits, newly engaged couples, weddings, bridals – you get the idea. We have an indoor portrait studio, an outdoor portrait garden and a variety of places, props and ideas to share. Please see our work and give us a call. We would love to create heirlooms for your family.
a bridal portrait session in the greens of mother nature
Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.
How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity
while we ourselves dream of rising.
How two hands touch and the bonds will
never be broken….*
Bride-to-be, Kendall Shephard, reminds of us a swan a little bit. Dressed in white, gorgeous but not overdone, long, lean, elegant. She stands out, but just so, in all that green. Her fiancé, now husband Nathan Williams, works for the North Carolina Wildlife Commission and the couple spend an enviably high percentage of their time outdoors hiking, playing and exploring. We chose the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, NC for her bridal portrait session and it made perfect sense. She was happy and completely in her element, even in a wedding gown.
Kendall shined, surrounded by shades of summer green, rippling water, moss, stone, rocks and branches. She was this perfect column of light. A classic beauty in the middle of natural beauty.
These portraits were taken in June of this year and the couple were married in August. She was just as, if not more, beautiful on that day with Nathan by her side and surrounded by her nearest and dearest, so stay tuned for the blog about the Shepherd-Williams wedding. But this day was Kendall’s and she could not have been more clear and pure and alive wandering in the woods and musing with us about her upcoming wedding.
*Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.
Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.
– Mary Oliver, nature poet
baby’s one year portrait ……. AND CAKE SMASH!!
The Prevettes are lifers with us… at least so far and we hope for the next 30 years. We photographed Lindsay and Seth Prevette’s wedding in 2008 and later their first born, daughter Macanna, as well as son Walker as a new born. This session, however, is in celebration of Walker’s first birthday, so we invited them to the Pixels’ studio and outdoor portrait garden in August of this year.
Remember when you were so small that your parents could fit your bum into a baseball glove? He won’t either, but he’s so stinking cute and now there’s proof of it. Walker’s newborn portraits were delicious because he was and at 1 year, he still is. The love of baseball was a major theme in both sessions.
I look at the newborn photo below and those fingers especially and wonder if he’s dreaming about music and thinking, “I’m playing guitar. I’m the band’s Front Man…. making brilliant chord changes that no one saw coming.”
BUT. Walker may be scratching his chest and trying to decide between throwing a slider, a cutter or a change-up and hoping to impress some cute girl sitting in the stands just behind home plate.
Walker’s mom, Lindsey is very laid back. She makes appointments for portraits and always says “just do what you do best and I know I’ll love it.” That kind of confidence and faith is humbling, so we pull out the stops. Lindsay mentioned that she loved the red wagon because it reminded her of her own childhood, and we definitely love props with kids; they help distract and promote creativity at the same time.
Unfortunately, nostalgia about wagons and creative props do not stave off fussiness with toddlers and after Walker got tired of posing for photos, he decided to give us the “You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me” speech in his own made up language that consisted of pulling faces, tears, and some squawking.
And then [harp music] the clouds parted.
And there was cake.
CAKE!
Beautiful, perfect, resplendent, decadent cake.
SWEET SUSTAINER OF LIFE!!!!!
After that I think we could have left him alone with it and he would not have missed us.
There were claw marks in the cake for sure, but Walker managed to limit the smearing to his cheeks, mouth, nose, chest, hands, knees, legs and feet. Success.
Autumn portraits for ALL ~ for your albums, photo galleries, holiday gifts and as heirlooms
We gear up for Spring and the end of the school year, especially if we’re parents, along with prom preparation, graduation, spring cleaning and shedding the winter stuff. Then we gear up for Summer — vacations, travel, summer camps, weddings and family reunions. And now fall is licking at our heels and this means a lovely, but limited, time for outdoor portraits with our sweethearts, our children, family and friends. It marks the seasonal change when the sleeveless clothes are put up – like the last of summer fruits and veggies into cans – and we prepare for the turn from warmth outside to fires inside.
At Pixels, we love all the seasons (or we’d live in Santa Barbara, CA …. no offense to you all out there, by the way), but fall has a different light in it and in North Carolina, it always surprises us. Whether our dear clients come to our outdoor studio in Wilkesboro, meet us on a greenway or at a park in Charlotte, in Boone near ASU, in the Asheville mountains or anywhere along the spectacular Blue Ridge Parkway, the light is different each time, just like our subjects. It’s all new again.
We anticipate that the peek color in the mountains will be October 6-18th (that’s 2 weeks and then some) and closer to the end of October will be perfect for our fans and clients in and around the Charlotte area. We have props we can include and encourage you to bring anything that makes you think of fall with family.
Photos like these make great albums, calendars (the holidays are coming!), and gifts. Schedule your date with us as soon as you can. We look forward to seeing you and photographing you in mother nature! Contact us online or call 704.641.1131 or 336-990-0080.