Family summer wrap up
Labor Day is just days away and that truly signals the end of summer. Back to school, last family trips and cookouts and time to hunker down. For photographers, August is a slow time for the obvious reason: it’s too hot to stand around having your photos taken. I have a pal whose Uncle Max likes to quip: “you know why Southerners talk so slowly? Because it’s too hot to do anything quickly.” You take my point.
For Ryan and me it was a busy month at home and really all about family, Finley, and food from our garden. This month has been a blessing, even with a tree landing on our house, and I’ll get to that in a minute.
One summer highlight was a camping trip to Sparta – an annual summer thing and really an any season thing for us when our schedules allow. These trips have grown and that is an understatement. For this last one, there were 25 of us and the ratio of kid to adult was 50/50. I never would have dreamed several years ago that the profile of those trips would have changed so much and so much for the better. We love this group of crazies so much. Lots of wandering, swimming, chatting, snacking and soaking each other up.
We also took short trips, went to some outdoor shows and I was able to get down to the Atlanta Market for World of Prom with Kelly Shumate – the owner of Bridal Traditions and dear friend. It was a working trip and I loved it!
We also kept busy with our garden and boy, was the harvest worth the upkeep. Finley and our pup, Chelsea enjoyed eating items right out of the garden and I cooked, canned, shared and am now wondering about expanding it.
Our one Debbie Downer moment was a storm that came crashing through while I was in Atlanta and it caused a tree to position itself, uninvited I might add, in our kitchen. Ryan and I are DIY’ers to the core, but this is something that is being handled by others and I will be glad when it’s over. Too much life happens in our yard, porch and certainly the kitchen. I need it fully functional!
As we wrap up the summer like everyone else, we’re looking ahead to more commercial work, fall family portraits and we will begin thinking about (not nagging! so don’t panic), but thinking about the holidays and all that comes with that. The sooner that you start planning, the happier you’ll be. For now though, watching Finley play with his new flashlight while grilling fruits and veggies will do for me, thank you very much.
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 ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Tinleigh York newborn
Baby Tinleigh York was born a mere few weeks after we shot Mom Lindsey’s maternity session. In fact, they hadn’t even seen the images when Tinleigh made her debut. She was early, but she arrived just in time, as far as father Mitch is concerned. If you read our blog about her maternity shoot, you’ll learn that this is family largely comprised of boys. There are practically no daughters on either side of the family, so there was an almost disbelief that this child was actually going to be a little girl.
The Yorks came back to our studio and we took their first official portrait as a family of five in our portrait garden and then moved inside to capture Tate and Turner with their new girl in pink.
Couple of fun items to mention: Dad Mitch shared that he honestly didn’t think that the baby was a girl until he saw her. That’s how accustomed this family is to giving birth to and raising boys! When you think your doctor might be wrong! Now, we love watching him with Tinleigh. He adores his boys, but he is a goner when it comes to his baby girl.
And Disney played a role in this shoot. According to Lindsey and Mitch (and the calendar), Miss Tinleigh was conceived during a trip to Disney World. Thanks, Uncle Walt, for the pixie dust! So of course, we incorporated Mickey and Minnie Mouse into the photos.
Lindsey is thrilled to be able to branch out with her color palette after focusing so much on Turner and Tate who are, by anyone’s measuring stick, ALL BOY. Pink, rose and cream are a part of her room, so I made sure to choose complimentary props from Lindsey’s new stash and our own Pixels store room.
Sweet girl: you were wished for, wanted and are now loved beyond words. We’re going to love celebrating you every step of the way. Here’s to many more sessions with you and your adoring family and to a childhood filled with laughter, love and all things girlie!
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 ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
Reid Family Gathering in photos
This gorgeous family are new clients for us and they have absolutely no connection with this area. We love meeting new faces and they brought 15 new faces with them when they all converged on Boomer, NC.
Because the family is spread out all over the country, the children of the Reid parents, literally found a place where everyone could meet, rented the mountain house for a family gathering and called us in to take photos of three generations. It was a beautiful day when Ryan arrived and the vistas and grounds of the home made for an ideal setting for group and individual photos. I love the kids in their colorful clothes hugging and smiling.
I love the idea of finding a spot on the map, renting a house, finding a photographer and just making it happen. Family photos are absolutely worth it. The kids played and caught lizards and the adults caught up. With families living in all parts of the country and world these days, time with cousins, nieces and nephews is pretty precious and priceless if you ask me.
We hope the Reids will make retreating to the NC mountains in Boomer an annual event and that every few years or so, they’ll call us up to come get new photos of their wonderful family.
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.
WCC Culinary Arts Building
It has been a summer of commercial shoots and it’s been all Ryan and I could not be more proud or more grateful to have his talent and partnership in work and life. His eye for good client work and the best ways to promote it through clean, gorgeous photography is impressive. Am I biased? Probably, but that doesn’t mean that I’m wrong.
Today’s feature is the new Culinary Arts Building at Wilkes Community College. Built by our clients MBI Builders, this new Culinary Arts building is ready for new students this fall.
I can see the students filling each of these spaces and each of these stations and learning all they will need to know to be excellent chefs, line cooks, hospitality experts, and small business owners. Growth in an individual life meets economic growth and the culinary arts is indeed a growing specialty on campus.
We have a great working relationship with MBI Builders and have been photographing their amazing work in the private, residential sector over the years. This firm also does elegant commercial work for government contracts, parks and recreation and industry leaders like Procor.
We love graphic design and commercial photography whether logo design, brochure design, head shot photos, architectural photography or product shots. At Pixels On Paper we pride ourselves in listening to a broad range of clients and customizing our photography and graphic design services to meet each individual request. Our skills, styles, and visions come together to be a permanent record that either reflects an identity or delivers a message that speaks to thousands. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your business needs. Email us at mail@pixelsonpaper.net or call 336.990.0080 to learn more, receive a quote or to let us know how we can put our skills to work for you.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License
All photos are ©2019 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.
The Gift of Photography
Do you want to give the gift that keeps on giving? Give someone a pet.
OK, that is not the point of this blog, but this blog is indeed about giving.
Madelene and Gary Johnson are best buddies with Pixels’ clients Janet & Mike Martinez, the owners of North Carolina Mountain Investments. Janet and Mike wanted to give their friends something that they would love for Christmas last year, and happily for us, it was a gift certificate for a photo session. You know what this means: happy givers, happy receivers and happy photographers.
Madelene and Gary asked that we photograph them at their home away from home outside of Jefferson, NC, so we met them and their family there and it was spectacular. Their family consists of their two beloved dogs and as dog owners, we are always excited to be around and photograph animals.
Ryan photographed this family along and even in the New River and around their lovely home and outdoor seating areas and we cannot wait for the Johnsons to be able to display these and share them with Janet and Mike.
Gift certificates make wonderful holiday, birthday, anniversary or just because presents, so if you have someone you’re not sure what to buy for, consider this a reminder!
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.