Durham Family Photographer

Carolyn Scott is a Durham family photographer. She specializes in candid and documentary at-home family photography in the Triangle area (Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Cary, etc). Carolyn’s work has been published in several popular books and magazines, including Apartment Therapy, BuzzFeed, and Fangoria. Locally, she’s been voted Best Photographer in Durham Magazine’s Best Of Durham and INDY Week’s Best of the Triangle. She lives in South Durham with her husband Geoff and three cats.

A lot of my photography depicts super happy times in the lives of people, but it’s also necessary to document the not-so-happy times. Even though it might not seem like it now, the not-so-happy times are still happy because you’re together. So even while you’re fighting a difficult battle, you have each other, and every day is worth celebrating.

It’s the celebration of Zoe’s life that brought Spencer and Ed to me, and I was happy to help them document the love that they have for her, and she for them. It was a bittersweet session, but the sweet outweighs the bitter in that they care so much for this adorable little pup, and they are making sure she makes the most out of her life and is living happily and comfortably in her remaining days. The photos were taken in the gorgeous front yard garden of their house (Ed has worked so hard on it!).

Spencer adopted Zoe when she was just 12 weeks old, and they have an incredibly close bond. That bond was shared when Spencer fell in love with Ed three years ago, and now Zoe loves them both (and vice versa). Zoe, at age 6.5, was diagnosed with lymphoma. While a little tired between rounds of chemo, she is still a major cuddlebug, and happily follows Spencer and Ed around. It was a joy to get to know her fluffy face and to capture the bond between this family (minus the cat, who was out galavanting but I’m sure he shares the same sentiments). I wish Zoe the best with her treatment and care, and know that she has two very loving parents who are making sure she knows she’s loved.

Martha and Justin are dear friends of ours whose wedding we photographed way back in 2011 (!!) and whom we’ve played many games of Killer Bunnies with ever since. Martha’s from Chicago and Justin’s from Minnesota, but they met in Chicago. Martha left to attend Duke, and Justin joined shortly thereafter… and they both became Durhamites through and through. Here they adopted a cat and later had a real human child named Emilia, who is the friendliest and most adorable kid on earth. She is a fantastic hugger and excited ALL THE TIME! and also loves pizza. She is also incredibly patient, especially for a 2.5 year old. I’ve seen her look lovingly at pizza that wasn’t hers (while clapping) yet remaining seated (!) and just politely sitting there until her pizza arrived. I’ve seen grown adults who can’t do that and have zero chill when it comes to waiting for pizza (namely my husband).

Now they are sadly (to us!) moving to Minnesota, and taking their knowledge of amazing food with them (Martha helped us discover the joy that is pupusas, and, of course, El Cuscatleco). We will miss them greatly. They wanted a family session that documented a little bit of their time spent in Durham at the playground in Central Park and The Parlour, where Emilia makes the best ice cream eating face. It’s like the face you would make to imitate a tiger, only instead you’re just eating ice cream. I love her. And them. When we visit you in Minnesota you have to promise you’ll take us to see Prince stuff. xoxo.

Jane and Alex are engageeeed(!) and getting married in MEXICO (jealousss) and hired me to photograph their engagement portraits (yaaaaay!) under the stipulation that we try our best to avoid ticks (ewwwwww). Jane has gorgeous hair and incredibly fit upper arms, and Alex has very impressive eyelashes in an almost-Richard-from-Lost type of fashion. They are very cute. They have also lived in every state beginning with the letter C, visited 46/50 states, and have both lived abroad, which is so impressive! We had fun discussing their travels, work, and hobbies. They met while they were both attending Wake Forest and now live happily in Durham with their two dogs. They spend a good deal of their time now browsing PetFinder, and trying to convince one another that they don’t need a third dog. When not contemplating the pitfalls of life with three dogs, Jane spends her time lifting heavy things, and Alex spends his watching baseball or playing video games. Together they’re rock-solid, and they can thankfully both lift each other in a pinch should the occasion arise where the floor would suddenly become lava and they’d need to take turns carrying one another to safety. I enjoyed working with them very much, and thankfully all ticks were avoided during this shoot.