Melanie+Ryan // Holly Springs Family Photographer

Just a normal, lovely day photographing this family in Holly Springs. Surrounded by sensational skulls, beautiful bats, sublime serpents, spirited skeletons, gorgeous gourds, and breathtakingly “restored” babydolls, I set about photographing this family with all the whimsical trimmings of the Halloween season. The kids went on a hunt for the elusive seasonal pumpkin eggs, containing treats and occasionally cash. The family decorated their beautiful black tree, adorning it with vomiting jack-o-lanterns and zombie unicorns, all while being watched over by a charming 8′ skeleton who eternally places a giant eyeball on the tree top. Melanie and Ryan celebrated the season by opening a box of “aged” cereal that they were letting ripen until the exact right moment, and grimaced with what I can only assume was sheer delight as they ate hardened bites of expired food from ~2018. Their cat Chloe participated by dressing up as a bat and modeling in the most adorable way in front of a black tea set. Finally, a killer clown emerged with an enormous, glimmering pair of scissors and chased everyone around – presumably to give them free haircuts, how nice. I love this family and their love for Halloween, which continues to live in all of our hearts 365 days a year. And always remember, if you can’t summon the flames directly from Hell, store-bought is fine.

8' skeleton hanging an eyeball on a Halloween tree
Cat walking past couch with a Creepshow blanket on it
Family running and hugging in a backyard in Holly Springs
Gray cat sitting with a Halloween tea set and bats coupled with a picture of a mother and daughter hugging outside
A variety of Halloween costumes laying on the floor
Dad giving his daughter a piggyback ride coupled with a picture of a Halloween themed entryway
Shelves around a TV covered in Halloween town houses
Family hugging and laughing in the backyard in Holly Springs
Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger Nike shoes
An orange ceramic Halloween tree sits on a green end table and pictures of a Horror memorabilia collection on a shelf
Picture of parents with their kids wrestling in the backyard in Holly Springs
Pictures of Lemax Spookytown Halloween houses on a shelf
Picture of parents with their kids wrestling in the backyard in Holly Springs
Chucky doll in a box coupled with a picture of a mother hugging her daughter
Pictures of Lemax Spookytown Halloween houses on a shelf
Picture of parents with their kids wrestling in the backyard in Holly Springs
Big sister holding her little sister coupled with a picture of skeletons lying in lounge chairs next to a pool
Mother and daughter laughing during family photos in Holly Springs
Family laughing during Holly Springs family photos
Pictures of Lemax Spookytown Halloween houses on a shelf, a Viewfinder, and the Gremlins 2 soundtrack on vinyl
Father giving his daughter a piggyback ride
Gray cat sitting with a spooky black tea set and bats on the wall for Halloween
Father picking up daughter outside in North Carolina
Horror movie rug and Lemax Spookyhouse
Mother and daughter hugging while the mom laughs outside in Holly Springs
Collection of fake Halloween weapon props
Parents laughing outside in a yard in Holly Springs while hugging
Gray cat with green eyes sitting on kitchen counter
Two sisters hang out by the side of a swimming pool in fall
Sisters going on a Halloween egg hunt around house
Sisters going on a Halloween egg hunt around house
Sisters going on a Halloween egg hunt around house
A collection of colored Halloween artwork hangs on a wall
Girl opens up an orange Halloween egg with money inside
Sisters sit on a couch next to a fireplace and a giant skeleton and open Halloween eggs
Girl opens up an orange Halloween egg with money inside
Parents stand by a couch and laugh
Sisters sit on a couch and open up orange Halloween eggs to see what they got after their hunt
Mom shows daughter Halloween ornaments for tree
Eight foot skeleton stands in living room and holds an eyeball tree topper for a Halloween tree
Girl hangs pumpkin ornament on a black Halloween tree
Mother and daughter decorate black Halloween tree with horror ornaments next to eight foot tall skeleton in living room
Eyeball horror ornament hangs on tree
Skull heart ornament hangs on black Christmas tree
Sisters decorate black Halloween tree with horror ornaments next to eight foot tall skeleton in living room
Horrorments hang on black Halloween tree
Family decorating black Halloween tree with horror ornaments
Girl crouched down on the kitchen floor giving gray cat a kiss on the head
Gray cat with green eyes walking toward you on kitchen floor
Woman putting a Halloween bat costume on her gray cat
Gray cat with green eyes walking around with a Halloween bat wing costume
Gray cat with green eyes walking around with a Halloween bat wing costume
Teenage girl sitting with her arm around cat in stairway
Dad helping his daughter with cup o noodle Halloween costume in living room
Gray cat walking around the house
Girl prepares Ramen in kitchen while gray cat watches
Dad puts away something in a kitchen cabinet while daughter prepares Cup o Noodles soup
Gray cat lies in a sunbeam on the kitchen counter
Girl prepares cup of noodle soup on kitchen counter
Cup of Noodles sits next to a bowl with cat chopsticks leaning on it
Girl in Noodles Halloween costume laughing in kitchen as she prepares noodle soup
Girl in Noodles Halloween costume laughing in kitchen as she prepares noodle soup coupled with a girl in a dark fairy costume plays piano
Girl in a dark fairy costume with black wings plays piano in a parlour
Girl in a dark fairy costume with black wings sits next to the piano and smiles while wearing black flower crown
The back of a girl wearing dark fairy wings playing piano in a living room that's decorated for Halloween
Girl with fishnet gloves for Halloween playing piano
Girl in a dark fairy costume with black wings plays piano in a parlour
Girl wearing a dark fairy costume with black wings walks through a sunlit living room
Family standing around kitchen making Noodle Soup
Mom helping daughter prepare noodle soup in the kitchen

Melanie+Ryan+Scarlett+Raven // Halloween Family Session

Halloween is quite near and dear to our hearts. My birthday is in October, and I’ve usurped Halloween as my own personal holiday since I was born. Then Geoff and I were married on the 23rd with a Halloween-themed wedding, and basically Halloween all year, Halloween all the time, Halloween Halloween Halloween. We met Melanie and Ryan some time ago, and they are ALSO Halloween Halloween Halloween in ALL THE BEST WAYS! We were unfortunately unavailable to photograph their wedding but they’ve returned to us now with their sweet daughters Scarlett and Raven and booked us for a Halloween family session and we were SO EXCITED!! Their decorations are quite impressive, and we’ve learned we need to up our outdoor game a bit. They also have the most fabulous and wonderful collection of tiny little Halloween houses that light up and have moving ghosts and they’re all very elaborate and spooky. We had Christmas houses like this when we were little, but had I known Halloween houses existed, my parents would’ve been in trouble.

So we hung out with this Halloweeny crew at their place, checking out their decorations and running around the house playing! Scarlett is a brave and strong girl, who doesn’t flinch when her dad turns the corner wearing a terrifying clown mask, but instead attempts to block him with a Wonder Woman arm maneuver while still trying to hold onto some M&Ms. Raven loves the Zombie Man in the yard, and the giant inflatable spider down the street at a neighbor’s. She also adores the Chucky dolls upstairs in their attic, but isn’t quite okay with the terrifying clown mask yet (we’re working on it). Both children love their Halloween balloons, candy-dispensing mummy head, and the giant rubber rat sitting on top of their play kitchen. They also enjoy telling Alexa to play “This is Halloween” but forget the Danny Elfman part so Alexa plays the Marilyn Manson version and the kids hide. Melanie and Ryan enjoy horror movies (surprise!), getting their pictures taken with Robert Englund, collecting wonderful horror movie art, and being our heroes. Cheers to this spooktacular family of ghouls and ghoulettes! We are so happy to have been a little part of your boooootiful Halloween season.

At Home with Dena+Richard // A Family Session

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Fall is our favorite. And it’s even more our favorite when we walk up to a house to photograph a family session and a six-year-old werewolf answers the door. Meet Dena (mom), Richard (dad), Abi (Pocahontas), and Jacob (werewolf)! They spent their day-in-the-life family session carving pumpkins, doing dance routines in the living room, splashing in puddles, and exercising some serious restraint in not cuddling their cat Snickers too hard.

The first thing we noticed is that everyone was American except dad who had an awesome British accent. So naturally we asked how he found himself to be living in North Carolina with a werewolf and a Pocahontas and it turns out that him and Dena were pen pals when they were young! Legit pen pals! Anyone who’s probably borderline thirty and older remembers this… but you used to be like, “Oh hey, I wonder what it would be like to exchange letters with kids in other parts of the world and hear about their culture and country. Let me get involved in a group that exchanges addresses with other kids!” At the time this was completely normal and safe, but it turns out that you learned less about culture and countries and more just about how middle school actually sucks no matter what part of the world you live in. But anyway, that’s how they met, and eventually when they were in college they actually met in real life, and now they both live in NC with their kids and cat and this one other cat that isn’t actually theirs but comes around a lot. They like the Counting Crows surprisingly as much as we do (a rare breed).

Abi and Jacob are seriously good, polite, well-behaved children who actually seem to enjoy each other’s company despite being relatively close in age and a boy and girl (the only sign of dissent was a large poster hanging from Abi’s bedroom door that said “Unless Emergency DO NOT come in NOTICE NOW” that she informed me was directed at her brother). At one point Abi was using a suction-cup bow and arrow set while Jacob got out his rubber-band gun, and nobody aimed their weapon at the other’s head, which I found incredibly impressive. So A+ parenting, Dena and Richard! We enjoy your crew immensely.