charlotte-nc-senior-portraits | jay

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Jay run at meets for a few years now and let me tell you he is a blast to watch on the track! I’ve photographed his whole family for his gorgeous mama a few times now and she always comes with a lot of style and flair and I knew Jay’s senior uptown session was going to be amazing! Last minute we had to rearrange our track location and I’ve never had such a happy accident - the new location not only had his primary school color but always showcased the awesome Charlotte skyline in the background. Good luck running for the UNCC 49ers next year and congrats on an amazing senior year!

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harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits | payton

What can I say about Payton? She was quite possibly one of the most natural people I have ever had in front of my camera. I tell everybody I work with that they don’t have to worry about posing; that’s my job! I don’t want anyone to think that I’m just going to throw you out into space and expect you to work like a supermodel. I come to each session with a whole flow of posing techniques and directions to get the very best out of each person. Usually after about 10 or 15 minutes everyone starts to relax and realize that they’re in good hands and we work through all of my posing together. Payton didn’t even take three minutes to warm up - this first image was the very first image I took! She has the most engaging and natural smile and seriously I was just in awe of how beautifully she moved and reacted to every direction.

And one of my favorite things she decided to include - she brought all of her favorite books along for our field shoot! I adored every single second of her sessions and all of the time I got to spend getting to know her and her equally adorable mom:)

harrisburg-nc-senior-portraits |hickory ridge|mckenna

It's no joke to say that I had probably 4x as many images as I could possibly share from McKenna's session! No need to add a lot of fluffy words either; these portraits speak for themselves! I had so much fun capturing this time for this truly wonderful girl and I know that her whole family will treasure the amazing artwork we created! I can't wait to work with her again in the spring for something truly spectacular; I'll keep it a surprise but I'm so excited!!!

harrisburg nc senior photographer | kieran by staci noel photography

I believe that everyone can take a good picture - even people who don't consider themselves photogenic. However, it's not a natural thing for the majority of folks which is why without guidance in posing or directional lighting people hate a lot of the images that their friends or family take and really despise how they look in snapshots on phones, etc. - it isn't the camera y'all! I have spent years learning how to pose people so that they can take a flattering image and I take great pride in guiding subjects through the process during a portrait session so that they love the images we create together. We work on finding poses that look best, feel natural and make them feel confident; everything from what to do with your hands, what kind of expression works, how to relax their body and their face to get the most natural moments.

All of that being said, there is occasionally a person that I've photographed who required very little to no direction or maybe just a one time suggestion and after that they just practically flew through the session on their own. I wish I could take credit for it but this guy knew how he wanted to be photographed and he rocked this session with some very basic direction and then just naturally rolled with it! It made it such a blast each time we worked in a new location in Harrisburg or Charlotte because I knew we were getting killer senior portraits that he loved and mom would cherish!

He's off to college this month and I know that he will see amazing success because he's talented and just as focused on his goals! It was absolutely my pleasure to capture this part of his senior year at Hickory Ridge High School and I can't wait to hear about all of the wonderful things he does moving ahead!

charlotte nc family photographer | staci noel photographer | our lovely neighbors

One of the things I love best about the town we live in just outside of Charlotte is that here in Harrisburg, we have met some of the best neighbors. We lived in the same house for the first 7 years and we just adored our neighbors; our kids had best friends right across the street and we mad so many friends that have been a part of our lives in such amazing ways!

We moved into our current house about 18 months ago because my business simply outgrew the space we were in and we finally felt that we were ready. The worst part was leaving our dear neighbors and honestly, our kids were super sad about not having their friends be able to pop over whenever they wanted!

Since we built our new house in a new neighborhood there weren't a ton of people here at first and so our neighbor options were tiny. Thankfully, Charlotte and specifically Harrisburg, are growing so fast and we have seen house after house pop up and lots of new friends moving in!

And now, not only do we have some really great neighbors here at the new house, but I am so honored that I got to give some of them their first chance at officially updated family portraits! This family is a nonstop riot and it has been such a joy getting to know them and hang out as friends! I absolutely could not stop laughing as we worked together to get some of these portraits and I cannot wait to deliver their final artwork that we have designed for their living space!