Pixels as Official Photographers at Merlefest 2015 ~ because it’s pretty much … whoa.
Sorry. We meant WHOA.
ALL CAPS WHOA.
As in HOLY CRAP…. A DREAM COME TRUE AND WE LOVED IT.
We were chosen to be official photographers for Merlefest 2015 and it held so much more than we anticipated. We’d been to Merlefest before as music lovers and working with vendors, but this was amazing. Amazing personally and certainly professionally.
If you love The Avett Brothers as much as we do, then you’ll know why it was a blast to be taking photos on stage with them and a thrill when one of our shots made the front page.
You know how your senses can go into overload? That’s how we felt. So much to see …. so much new, established and beloved music to tune into plus we were working. So we were doing recon, figuring out the logistics of stages and the schedule, where to upload our shots, and visualizing photos to capture in short windows of time.
One of the first surreal moments happened on Thursday morning (Day 1) when we realized that we had full backstage access. While standing on the main stage behind performers warming up before the gates were opened to the public, we were further bedecked in extra badges, wrist-bands and more credentialling bling (credential-ling? … maybe not a word, but we’re going with it).
Between the two of us, we photographed 26 bands/musicians, plus took shots of the fans, the dancing masses, craftsmen and general atmosphere. And we worked 53 hours over the course of four days. On Saturday, we arrived there at 7am and didn’t see each other until after 7pm.
The turnaround time was such that our images had to be taken correctly and perfect in camera while we photographed them. There was no time for Photoshop work. 5-10 shots after each concert/band and keep moving. The pace was hectic and exhilarating.
When we weren’t uploading photos to share with the world – ours went mostly to our Instagram page with a special hashtag #pixelsonpapermerlefest – we were shooting everything else.
Check out the Honey Dewdrops and the Jason Lee McKinney Band. Both have decided to use our photos for their social media work …. yeah, yeah, yeah!
The Honeydew Drops
Colt Prince, Guitarist with Jason Lee McKinney Band
Chatham County Line shared Pixels’ images on their Instagram and Twitter pages and Front Country has been using our images on Instagram and Facebook. We are gratified and couldn’t be more proud.
Chatham County Line Band
Front Country
Finally, our crowd shot was used by many in the Twitter, Instagram and Facebook worlds, including Merlefest’s Facebook and flickr site and on HCPress.com.
Any downtime we had was with Ryan’s brother Todd in the wee hours of the morning when we could actually do a post-mortem and share photos from the day and say, “Oh, that shot!!! I wondered if I had it or not;” and “that turned out better than I thought – check it out!” We would talk and crack up. There was something about that time that was particularly important because while we were tired, we were this little tribe of 3, telling stories and trying to marshall our energy for the next day.
Don’t get us wrong, there were challenges, but there were also revelations about ourselves, our skills and our business. Challenges included the always-changing light (dark, direct-sun, shadows, spot lights), weather (rain & cold), fast action (drums, fiddle), indoor and outdoor contrasts, stage equipment (microphones, monitors, speakers are always in the way). We are agile and completely willing, but there were jumps from venue to venue, stage to stage.
Triumphs, however were equally deep.
For Ryan it was realizing that we had the right amount of everything and the right equipment to get results. We tend to be of the mind-set, if we don’t need a particular lens or piece of equipment, we don’t buy it. While many of our peers there had some very expensive equipment and more of it, we realized VERY QUICKLY that we had the goods. Literally and figuratively.
For me, it meant finding myself as 1 of 4 women in a field of 28 photographers. Unlike portrait photography, which is dominated by women, event photography is a man’s world. Yet there I was, shoulder to shoulder with the boys grabbing the shots that would be sought out by other media outlets and bands themselves. It was weird and cool and now there is no putting the genie back in the bottle for us.
We cannot wait for Merlefest 2016! C’mon y’all and join us.
a commercial shoot for Hitachi America and Anomaly Technical Marketing
beep…………….. beep……………….. beep………………….. We live with this sound. It says “commerce,” it says “products on the move,” and “inventory,” “profits” and “revenue.” More often, to us, it says, “now it’s mine!!”
It is all but ambient noise these days. Our groceries are scanned, our large appliances are scanned, every shirt, shoe, toy …… and our phones scan, our business cards scan and each is singular. Each bar code or QR code takes you to a specific place and time, a web address, conveyor belt, product, pallet and date, and usually all of these – right down to the person who made the actual product code. Did you know that the FDA is now able to take a single pill and lead it back not just to the very pharmaceutical it is, but to who manufactured it, when it was created, which doctor prescribed it and which drug store sold it? Well they can. Seriously.
Hitachi Printer
Pixels got a call from Anomaly Technical Marketing about taking some photos for an upcoming promotional series for Hitachi America located in Charlotte, NC. Hitachi needed commercial photos for some collateral Anomaly was creating – brochures and other materials and we were more than happy to jump in.
Hitachi Printer
Commercial photography is a different beast requiring a totally different approach. It’s more about the product and its uses rather than the emotion of our portraits of people and pets. But we love the chance to capture the inanimate parts of our world for both commercial promotions and in other graphic design applications. If you want to see more about our commercial work, have a look here.
Hitachi Printer
Hitachi Printer
Ivy Myers ~ the likeness of Garbo’s girl of “the moment” becomes the daughter of a lifetime
We showed this picture of newborn Ivy Myers to a writer friend of ours and she burst out laughing. “It’s Greta Garbo!” Beautiful, bored, tired and she wants to be [said in best German accent] alone. Ivy’s eyes, at half-mast like Garbo’s, is also glamorous and seems to crave both privacy and a nap.
Ivy however is not alone. She was very much wanted and is probably right this minute being snuggled within an inch of her life. Kim and Justin Myers, her mom and dad, had been trying to have a child for years and finally decided that they were going to be the fun aunt and uncle – relishing time with nieces and nephews and their friends’ kids. After years of praying and planning though – they now have sweet Ivy, the product of an open adoption. She is a delicious answer to prayers and a dream come true.
There’s just something about her little left hand that is hilarious …. “Oh me…. I’ve been here a mere few months and I’ve already got a fan base!”
At Pixels, we prayed during the adoption process, because Kim booked us before she was “theirs” and we knew how much they were ready for her. And then suddenly, they were parents. Creating the baby announcement cards was such a joy. Kim and Justin were now Kim, Justin and Ivy.
When it was time for Ivy’s 6 month photo session, the Myers came back to our studio in Wilkesboro, NC and Ivy had changed so much. Don’t you love it when children grow at this stage? They have those super-round Charlie Brown heads with all of their features relegated to the middle of their faces? There is all of this real estate of forehead, cheeks, chin that is perfect for smooching and snacking on. That was Ivy this past December 2014. She was also more interested in listening to Beyonce than Sesame Street tunes during the shoot. Yet another diva move!! But really, she’s more love bug than anything with her rolls and irresistible grin.
Ivy is proof that sometimes you actually do get what you want, even when the odds seem against you. Timing is impossible to control, but patience can be life-changing. At Pixels, we love these stories of how faith and a true resolve can produce unexpected rewards… like a family.
the perry family ~ one spot and 3 generations
“All that history, the love & laughter, is designed for youth. It is what keeps the story of who we are alive from one generation to the next. It ensures our indelible mark in the souls of generations we will never have the pleasure of holding in a warm embrace. Life is short people.” – E.B. Loan
You can find your way back to family using one of those ancestry sites – and they are amazing. You can also get several generations together and capture a moment like we did with the Perry family in Linville, NC …. 3 Generations. Count ’em – THREE.
While all 3 families live in Durham, NC, they wanted to gather at their second family/vacation home in Linville, NC to capture the Matriarch and Patriarch and their 2 sons along with their wives and 5 children. The setting and day turned out to be gorgeous – and so did the multiple groups of Perry’s. Sundress, sandals, shades of blues among the greens of outside and family members ranging from months old to decades old.
Pixels on Paper loves family photos that put a pin in a moment of time … grandmas & grandpas, moms & dads, kiddos, cousins, nieces & nephews, even beloved pets. We’ve watched our clients over time look back and say “Oh, there’s our schnauzer Molly when you were just 3 years old!” Or, “I cannot believe we were all so YOUNG!” It’s caught in time for good. The Perry’s, in particular the little ones dressed up and being held in laps, will treasure these as heirlooms some day. As the quote above says, “life IS short people.” So gather your clan and let us capture you all for the generations you don’t even know are coming.
man’s man & his sweet lady hit the Little Sugar Creek Greenway in Charlotte ~ Sharae & David’s engagement portraits
“You only need one man to love you. But him to love you free like a wildfire, crazy like the moon, always like tomorrow, sudden like an inhale and overcoming like the tides.
Only one man and all of this.” – C. Joybell C.
So when Sherae Jones met David Johnson, we feel confident that she didn’t require him to read the above quote printed out and then sign it in front of a notary. Well, we’re pretty sure … she is a rather organized woman. But we feel equally confident that if she’d asked him, he would have. The guy clearly loves this girl.
Here’s how we know: Sherae booked Pixels well over a year before their wedding to capture their engagement photos. We told you she was organized. David, who is a high school teacher and head football coach, had recently been to a friend’s wedding and found the aggressive wedding photographer to be ……….. a bit much. Suffice it to say, when it was time to meet us on a hot, humid day in June of 2014, he didn’t leap from the car (cue the symphonic romantic music) and run in slow-motion toward us with his arms thrown open. It meant a lot to Sherae though, so of course, he did what real men do – he showed up.
Some of our clients are incredibly effusive and physical. Sherae and David were more contained, but their love for each other was apparent.
By the end of the shoot, David was looking around the greenway location for other possible spots and making specific requests. Sherae was excited that David ended up having fun and being engaged in the process and WE were thrilled that they were happy with the results from the shoot. We grabbed some nice pics of them in the shade, where we would stop to cool off and confab about other locations. Working with Sherae, we used some of the photos to design their Save the Date bookmarks.
These two get married in June of 2015 and we wish them only love, and that it be free like a wildfire, crazy like the moon, always like tomorrow, sudden like an inhale and overcoming like the tides for many, many years.
