Posts Tagged: creative photography

our foundations part 6 – families of size

They aren’t better necessarily, they’re just bigger. Families.
As the wrap-up to our series on the types of portraits we specialize in and love, this blog is about celebrating a gathering of family. 

Poland Outdoor Family Portrait Photography photo

These days families spread out in ways they didn’t 50 years ago when most families lived in close proximity. When summer break and holidays roll around, we’re often asked to get portraits of the whole tribe. These families want to be captured while they are all together. Whether it’s a family reunion, a christening, a special occasion like a wedding or an elders milestone birthday, sometimes that is the necessary “excuse” to kick off a gathering. It’s always worth it and getting a portrait is always a good idea.


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

our foundation part 4 – babies

Continuing our series on the foundations of our photography business with another focus on baby portraits and MAN ALIVE are they fun. They can have their moments, don’t get me wrong, but the results are always worth it and we love partnering with parents to enjoy the time and get the best shots of their newest family memories.
More of our favorites are below, including birthday cake smashes, playing dress up, orchard portraits and more. Enjoy!
Fun Portraits with Pets and Babies

Six Month Photos of Finley
First Birthday Cake Smashes

Adding a Sibling


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Our Foundation part 3 – newborn baby portraits

At Pixels, we’ve been revisiting the foundation of our photography business, and so far I’ve shared the wedding and bridal portraits that were the beginning. It’s funny, because in some ways, they happened in the same order that life does. Weddings and then kiddos. This blog is a round-up of baby blogs . . . newborns, first birthday cake smashes, meeting new siblings, outdoor portraits. We LOVE BABIES!!!!!!! [And you have to say that like a crazy grandma from the South….. BAAAY-BEEEEEES!!!!!]

The newborn category will bring any person with a pulse to their knees. These little creatures are a reminder of both fragility in life and HOPE. Pure potential, perfect skin, projected attributes all end up assigned to these images and there is nothing wrong with that.


BABY, BABY, BABY BLOG

NEW BABY WYATT

WHAT TO EXPECT AT NEWBORN PHOTO SHOOT

PINTEREST VS. REALITY

BABIES & PROPS
Aaron Schlinsog Newborn Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

5 Reasons to Have Professional Portraits

We know that you guys are busy. Believe me – we’re right there with you. You have a million things to do, so a lot of those “things” end up happening quickly and less deliberately. We’re running around constantly.

Boar’s Head – the premium deli meat purveyors – have created a tagline to get us to think about how we have to thread the needle of decision making: Compromise Elsewhere. It’s a good one, huh? And, sadly or not, it’s necessary in a busy, noisy world.

“Choose your battles.” “Spend your time wisely,” etc. and it’s true. So I would like to co-opt this idea of compromising elsewhere with regard to keeping your biggest moments in life, those things that matter and will someday become the heirlooms on film and not stuck in your phone or in a cloud. For that you need professional photography and a little bit of planning.

So here are my 5 reasons why hiring a professional photographer – ie someone who is seasoned, great at it and loves it – to capture the most important moments in life.
5 – If you make the time, the results are worth it. The quality is better and Ryan and I have worked for well over a decade to make this is true.

4 – It’s more fun than you think it will be. Seriously. People make appointments thinking it’s a box to tick because they need good photos of milestone (AND YOU DO!!), but our clients come back again and again for sessions, because there is a vibe and flow and a lot of laughter. We’re easy like Sunday morning, as the song goes, and the vast majority become our dear friends. We try to make shoots fun no matter where we are or who we’re with because who wants a job that stinks? And honestly – WE DO HAVE FUN. We are real people who are married with a baby and who love music, craft beer, gardening, hockey, family, travel and capturing portraits.

3 – Proper portraits, shot by professional photographers, are of the best quality. It’s just true. Your social media “story” or travel snapshots provide a sense of a moment and some narrative, but professionals portraits do not have to be stuffy. They are real AND turn out better than something shot on the most expensive smart phone or personal point and click digital camera. Part of this is our equipment. We use only the best cameras, lens, and lighting and then the best technology for clarity, cropping, processing and retouch. And then part of it is our experience. We don’t take photos as part of a holiday. It’s how we make our living. Enough on that. You get it. The last part is our passion. We know what we’re doing, do it with the very best equipment and software and we absolutely LOVE IT.

Madelyn McGuire Family and Child Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photo

2 – Professional portraits make amazing gifts. We’ve all seen the sort of “great, but blurry” or pixelated framed images and while the sentiment is there – the quality isn’t. If you’re going to give a gift, give a nice one. Whether it’s framed for your own home, made into calendar or used for some fun type of gift, your friends and family will appreciate it if it doesn’t look like it was created on someone’s lunch break in an alley.

The number ONE reason to have professional portraits taken is because the time will indeed pass quickly and when the moment is gone it is indeed actually gone. Kids grow up, the wedding day comes and goes, the beautiful bride goes back to her life and job or career path, the family disburses to the 4 corners of the earth and getting that minute back is just impossible.

Consider where you are in your life right now, what big events, milestones or celebrations are on the horizon during the next few months or even year and give us a call. We’d love to be the ones to create those heirlooms 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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.

Pets & Babies – Photos of Life

I feel like I’m in a little series of sorts – about life vs. posed photography. Just recently – casual family portraits and more about day in the life sessions.
Don’t get me wrong. I love weddings. But more and more Ryan and I are enjoying the Not Formal. So today, it’s about dogs and babies. Or pets and kids. We’re flexible.

pixels on paper photography, portrait photography, family portrait photography, photo studio, outdoor portrait photography, photo

Can’t we all just agree that dogs and babies – pets and children generally – are the tonic we need these days? Can you count on them to pose? Nope. Can you count on them to want to wear something that they don’t want to wear? Not really. Are both pets and children happier running around naked? Welllllll…. yes, generally. We aren’t endorsing the nude approach, but we do want the photos we take of your pets and your Littles to be honest, real, endearing and fun. There is time for posing your kids in their later years. For now, let’s celebrate asymmetry. Let’s enjoy a little unstructured time and play and let’s get it on film.

Brock's 12 month baby photography, pixels on paper studio family portrait photography

That’s our Chelsea (“she said, trying not to sound like a bragger”) catching a ball mid-air. I know….. she’s fab.
Pet Photography by Pixels On Paper Portrait Photography photoWhether it’s Day in the Life photos, pet photos or photos of babies, call us to discuss ideas! Our outdoor portrait garden is a great spot, but there are parks galore that make perfect backdrops.


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 weddingsbrides, 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.

88x31 lucy & glens valle crucis wedding photography | pixels on paper boone wedding photographers

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License

All photos are ©2018 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.