Posts Tagged: Pixels On Paper
bridal portraits embracing romance, imagination, and books
Do you ever look at a photo and think about the zillion captions that could be written? There are contests out there and most are about funny photos or cartoons, but this shot below evokes so many thoughts.
What would her groom write? “Hurry to me!!”
Or her father? “There goes my girl….”
What would her big sister say? “Wait up!” or “I miss her already.”
Or her great-great grandmother if she could see this photo? “How romantic.”But she’s off and this image of Elizabeth (Eli) Rickard walking down the steps has become one of my favorite bridal portraits to date. It’s another image that I conceived once I saw this stairway in the Green Park Inn. I described my thoughts to Ryan and along with Eli’s sister Kari, we made my vision come true. I like it because it’s different from many other bridal portraits we’ve taken. For me it portrays movement, anticipation, and represents the marriage journey that Eli was embarking on. It’s always deeply rewarding to try something creative when you have a bride so deeply ensconced and in love with her favorite things – in this case, books, fantasy, romance and Kyle.
Elizabeth is a classic romantic, a dreamer, a lover of fantasy, has a super hero spirit and a smile that’s as big as her heart. She just married her beloved Kyle Bishop on March 5th (portraits and blog to come), but these bridals were taken indoors due to rainy and cold January weather. Elizabeth loves to read (this will be this week’s understatement), so the historic Green Park Inn’s library made a perfect setting. To note: Eli’s favorite book is Black Beauty and the horse portrait fit brilliantly. Her sister Kari used pages from Black Beauty to create Elizabeth’s bouquet.
Books were incorporated throughout the wedding details (and we STRONGLY encourage you to check out their engagement photos to fill in more of the story).
I always encourage brides to include friends and family in the portrait session and day. It’s fun to witness the relationships, and time with each other on these days is often the most time they’ll get since the wedding day itself can be whirlwind. For Eli, this session included her mother, sister and niece, all of whom came in from out of town. It was a girl’s day to play dress up and they were, to the person, emotional and giddy throughout the portrait session.
Our caption for this photo above would be “She’s ready.” We promise when the wedding photos have been processed and we can share bouquets of books and the stories that made their day the fairytale that it was – you’ll be the second to see them.
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.
pixels on paper’s favorite newborn portraits (well some of them)
Dr. Seuss would have been 112 years old on March 2 and “Oh, The Places You’ll Go” remains one of the most given books to kids of all ages. When we looked over the newborn photos we’ve taken to chose our favorites, I kept thinking about their perfect faces. The world hasn’t happened to them yet and THEY have not happened to the world. YET. So, here’s to Dr. Seuss, the great and wondrous unknown, and the impact these little creatures will have on the world. “KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!”
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
It’s opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And then things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
On and on you will hike,
And I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.
KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So… be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
You’re off the Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!
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.
outdoor mountain family portraits
The Polands have 4 kids, fourteen grandkids, 2 dogs, a donkey and 2 horses. LARGE. They are spread out all over the country so capturing these photos was a one day thing and everyone in the family, pets and all, were there.We met James and Judy one night while dining outside at The New Public House in Blowing Rock and liked them immediately. We spent hours on the porch that evening sharing stories, drinking wine and enjoying each other’s company. They told us about their large family made up of their kids and grandkids and their farm just outside of Boone. The various members of the clan rarely see each other. One son is in the military and often deployed. Another son lives in Florida. The family is made up of several blended families and the only time in years that they would all be together in the same place and at the same time was a single day in between the holidays. Judy really wanted a family portrait. Who could blame her? One woman, her husband and in a mere few decades…… a cast of thousands!
In only a couple of weeks, Judy called us and gave us the ONE DAY and we were off. We love this shot of Judy and James surrounded by their fourteen grand “babies.” We found a perfect spot on their farm and all of the colorful clothes the kids wore made it work. 9 girls and 5 boys…… LORDY!! And they were so cute and funny with loads of energy.
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.
newborn pictures of sawyer jane at 2 weeks charm the pants off the jury
The cat who ate the canary. Seriously, she just knocked off her 3rd bank. Or more likely, her minions did it and just called to let her know that the funds have been successfully transferred into her account off the Cayman Islands. And there’s a cell phone somewhere buried in all of that cotton. She’s sittin’ on it. And laughing at all of us. LOOK AT THAT FACE!!! Who would convict her? Not me.This perfect little imp, this little stealer of hearts, is Sawyer Jane. Great name, right? We took these photos in our portrait studio in Wilkesboro, North Carolina and the truth about this photo is that I had no hand in getting her to look right at me and grin like that. I just let the lens do it’s thing and knew when to pull the trigger. Her grandmother and mom, Jamie both marveled at that shot above and I just smiled, shook my head and said, “I had nothing to do with it. God is better than I deserve and he equips me with what I need every day.”
So here’s a little thing about taking portraits of newborns: you have to have lots and lots of patience. The photographer has to have it, the parents have to have it. It’s just the way it is. An average newborn session can take 3-4 hours and not all of that time is spent in front of the camera. It’s mostly time spent feeding, changing, burping, soothing, and getting the little one back to sleep.
What always sticks with me and makes me smile and empathize is that every parent thinks their baby performed terribly or won’t show well in the finished photos. They worry that their baby cried too much or didn’t show personality or whatever. And a phrase I’ve heard 1000 times if I’ve heard it once is, “we just hope that you got one or two good ones.” I hear it all the time. The fun part is that they show back up for our PreView saying that very same thing right up until the moment I start the slideshow. They’re overcome with emotion in seeing all the great photos of their sweet baby. Jamie, along with every other mom, has that moment of “awwwwww. Oh my gosh, LOOK!!!” To say it’s rewarding is this week’s understatement.
Jamie and Dad Joe were newlyweds and then – BAM! – this little robber showed up. I love photos of parents cradling their newborns, especially the first born. The whole thing is rife with excitement, awe, natural worry, tenderness and all the fresh outrageousness that teeny humans bring with them to the world. I say this a lot but I mean it every time: we love watching the growth of newlyweds into solid marriages, marriages into families, babies into kids and the multiplication of love in each of those transitions. We’ve added Sawyer Jane, Jamie and Joe to that category.
They say that only the guilty sleep well. Heh, heh.
We’d love to photograph your sweet lamb, whether he or she is on the lamb or not. Call 336-990-0080 or email mail@pixelsonpaper.biz and please view other baby blogs and our website.
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.
winter portraits of a family ~ a man and his girls outdoors
An advantage to being a husband and wife team is that Ryan really steps in when husbands, fathers, grooms – GUYS – are resistant to having their photos taken, for whatever reason. He’s got the gift in these situations and can make men feel more comfortable and confident with a man-to-man perspective. Dad Will Allen pretty much proclaimed that he was horrible in photos and how he was no match for his beautiful wife Danielle and daughter Danica. Danielle had even warned me during our planning that Will didn’t like having his photo taken.
But then these happened.
Father and daughter and a sweet little snow princess!
The Sweet, Sweet Allen Family
Gorgeous mom and her girl.
The Allens drove down from their home just outside of Washington, DC to Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock for a winter break and booked this session. Mom Danielle understands the importance of having family portraits taken annually and often arranges to have them made during their travels and vacations. When they knew they would be coming this way, she contacted us about a month in advance to arrange for their session while staying at Chetola.
There’s a Christmas Card!
The moment we knew Will was comfortable both with us and in front of our camera was near the end of our time together, but we loved grabbing all of these shots while he adjusted to the experience! [Side note: at the end of the session, in this beautiful backdrop, Will suggested that we take a photo of him for an updated profile pic and headshot!] Never underestimate the power of making people feel at ease.
Interested in outdoor portraits or family portraits, or both, regardless of season? Get in touch with us and let’s start figuring out next steps. Call (336) 990-0080 or email us: mail@pixelsonpaper.biz.