pixels takes a [quick] break from humans…… for a little architecture & real estate photography
… and the house sold almost as soon as it listed.
We had the privilege and fun of shooting photos for a couple who were planning to put their gorgeous home on the market. Talk about forethought. This amazing mid-century modern house deserved to be treated with the right lighting, time of year and staging. We mean no offense to real estate agents who take photos of the homes they’ve been asked to sell, but this couple wanted to capture their home at its best and contacted us to make it happen.
The shoots took place on two occasions. We photographed the exterior in April when the grounds were a knockout and everything was in bloom. We then returned in June to take the interior photos. Between the landscaping, the furnishings, the staging and the times of year, we and they were so pleased with the results.
This home in Wilkesboro is unique in that it is a true sprawling, original mid-century modern home with spectacular landscape design and a guest cottage. 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, 3 dens and an indoor pool, totaling over 4000 sq ft. The clients forwarded our photos to their agent and the house was sold very quickly and the now former owners credit the photography for helping expedite the offer and sell.
Incorporating nature, architectural structures and details into our photographs is not something new for us. We’re looking forward to many more of this type of photo shoot for families who want to sell their homes or celebrate a completed renovation or remodel. You’ll never be sorry if you hire a professional.
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 babies and kids, 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.
Welcome to the adult life ~~ sloooooowly ~~~ pre-Quinceanera Portraits
The globe gets flatter and smaller (just ask Thomas Friedman) and that is a pretty exciting thing. Now, more than ever, we know more about our neighbors. Not just the “my grocery cart hit yours and OH, HEY! our kids go to the same school.” We know about our neighbors in other countries, our neighbors from different cultural backgrounds. The transition from childhood to adulthood is a biggee, no matter where you live or whether you call it a bar or bat mitzvah, a debutante or coming out party or a Quinceañera.
Vanessa Chaquea will celebrate her 15th birthday in September, and 15 is THE AGE when a young Latina celebrates the beginning of her entry into adulthood. We captured some of Vanessa’s portraits at and near our Wilkesboro studio for her to use on invitations and at her celebration in the fall. These sessions were all about showing her youth and beauty, her spirit and sweet personality.
Vanessa is the most adorable 14 year old we’ve ever met. She is bubbly, beautiful and bi-lingual. She is an athlete and a self-taught musician. She is a big fan of America’s Next Top Model and she rocked our photo shoot as if she was a pro model herself. We’re already dreaming up ways we can have Vanessa model for us in styled photo shoots. We’re looking forward to September and photographing all the traditional customs of a Quinceanera – a new thing for us.
It was refreshing to be around this season of youth …. the beginning of the next thing. We just recently blogged about 2 week old baby Sawyer who is at the very beginning of life. We photograph engagements and weddings, with couples at the beginning of marriage. Vanessa is in the full, cool, wild, tender, scary, heartening, thrilling, anxiety-producing BEGINNING of adulthood. Remember that time? Well, hers arrives in just a few months and we cannot wait to be there for this great young woman.
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 babies and kids, 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.
Sweet newborn portraits | Sawyer surfs in
“I meant to behave, but there were too many other options.” – Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain
And it looks like he explored every single one of them before crashing.
The Pierce’s have a knack for naming baby boys, especially if you’re a book lover. Their first son, Holden, brought to mind J.D. Salinger’s hero from The Catcher in the Rye. And now they welcome little brother, Sawyer. Above is the Pierce’s Christmas card, where Holden announced that he was moving from solo to big bro in a mere 6 months. For Holden’s first session, he was dressed in a pilot theme as a nod to his father Andy. For Sawyer, the themes were both fun and summery, as he’s a June baby and we gave a little wink to his mom, Traci’s career as a pharmacist – with the wooden box we “cozed” him up in.
While Sawyer is snoozing in most of these shots, he ratified our experience that photographers do not control the schedule at newborn baby portrait sessions. This little lamb wanted to be fed every 20 minutes and was extremely happy and very alert during our time with him and his mom.
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” (Mark Twain).
One down, one to go, little man.
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 babies and kids, 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.
Jessica & Jason’s Linville NC Engagement Portraits
Robert Frost wrote that “anything more than the truth would be too much.” So how do you describe what you hope for when you tie your life to someone else’s? When we asked couple Jessica Reinhardt and Jason Clinton about what they were looking forward to on their wedding day, they told us, “That everything will change and nothing will change. We just want to be married. As long as we both are there, that is all that matters.”
These two were so much fun to work with because that “truth” of who they are elbowed to the front of the line no matter what we were talking about or doing during their engagement photo shoot in late spring of this year. While they love to hike regularly in Newland, NC, we wanted to capture their portraits in a spot that is as expansive and honest in its beauty as they are in their own skins. Speaking of hiking, Jessica can rock a pair of 3″ heels while he’s just fine in Wranglers and boots. A little bit country and a little bit rock ‘n’ roll??? Check! They told us that they didn’t want to look back at their photos and think, “this ISN’T who WE are.” 
The views in this special spot went for miles, with a gorge beneath, rock outcroppings scattered here and there and a lush forest with stone paths and stairs to climb. We had so much fun watching them together. When they get married this month in Rock Hill, we know that their wedding is going to be amazing and a showcase of that simple authenticity and cool that they brought with them during our day capturing them in the mountains.
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 babies and kids, 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.
southern belle bridal portraits ~ beauty among the botanicals
If you’re ever standing at a dinner party in, say, …….Prague… and someone asks you to describe a Southern Belle, Adrian Bridges Church should be your brain’s go-to reference point. We’re not talking the overdone, over-the-top caricature or the Ersatz Southern Lady one meets from time to time in the New South. Adrian is authentic – almost to the point of seeming as if she really is a belle from that era in the American South…….. minus of course, the strife and angst that comes from civil war and the fact that you can’t vote and whatnot.
Adrian’s belle comes out almost immediately in her sense of graciousness, sweetness and hospitality. She could have shown up for her bridal portraits in a hoop skirt and bonnet and we wouldn’t have blinked. Let’s just say she’d have given Melanie Wilkes a run for her money. When we were discussing her wedding photography (we’ll share soon!!), she mentioned that since her wedding was going to be more on the country/rustic side that she really wanted her bridal portraits to be more formal, elegant and in a blooming spring garden, filled with the lushness that comes with the season. There’s just one problem – the weather in the mountains of NC in the spring can be dodgy and sometimes it feels like late October. The solution? Head east toward warmth. And that’s what we did.
The botanical gardens near Winston-Salem were in bloom and they were absolutely gorgeous, making a perfect setting for this bride. When we can bend to make our clients happy, we do it and this was the case with Adrian. When she emerged from the car for her session in early April (after hours of travel for hair and makeup and then more time to get to the gardens), she actually squealed. The combination of her gown and glow, the green of the gardens, purple wisteria, moss and sunshine made our job that day a breeze.
Adrian told us that we’d made her dream of garden portraits come true by locating this spot. LOVE IT when that happens. This belle deserved a setting as genteel and elegant as she is, so we were thrilled to deliver.
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 babies and kids, 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.