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.

Courtney+Kyle+Patti+Roy // At home.

We do a lot of important stuff like photographing weddings and babies and engagements and all that good, happy stuff that usually signifies beginnings rather than endings. This shoot was a little different. Courtney, whom we met a friend’s wedding a couple years ago, contacted us because her parents were selling Courtney and her brother Kyle’s childhood home. They were pretty bummed out about it, but with the kids gone (Courtney) or going away (Kyle), it was time for Patti and Roy to downsize. Courtney wasn’t going without a fight, though, and hired us to photograph her and her family hanging out inside their house one last time before the family moves in January. We felt incredibly honored to do this type of shoot as we knew how important it was for the family, and it was kind of our first shoot that signified an ending. Of course, it’s a beginning too with Kyle going off to college and the parents moving into a new house, but it was the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another, and for some reason it made me feel the significance of our job probably more than I ever have previously. We were really happy to do this for them.

Of course, the fact that the family is super awesome, hilarious, and fun didn’t hurt much either. They made us food (yum!) and welcomed us in with open arms and Vanilla Coke. We ran around their gorgeous house and yard and had a great time. Courtney and Kyle showed us how they climbed on the roof as kids, how they play board games and pool and hang out in the kitchen, how they fish and play baseball, and how they decorate the tree planted in their grandpa’s memory for Christmas. The cats hid from us, but… we tried. :) We loved doing this type of shoot, and we hope that we were able to capture their awesome family doing what they love in a space that they grew up in and called home.

At Home with Kelsey+Drew // Durham, NC.

Kelsey and Drew are my jam, you guys. Kelsey would always send me amazing emails during their engagement, and we shot their engagement session way  back in 2011 at a baseball field with them and their adorable pup Miley. Then their wedding came along in 2012 and there were also amazing emails during that time as well, and then life settled in and Kelsey eventually (*sniffsniff*) moved on from emailing me mostly because she, you know, actually had things to do. And then one day recently she e-mailed me! And I was super excited because we loved Kelsey and Drew! And now they were back! And pregnant! And expecting a little boy! And they asked us to photograph him which is a super honor for us. We just started doing these family sessions recently and it’s really been a joy for us, so it’s great to now be able to follow our clients through their different phases of life. :)

Baby Cooper was supposed to be born on October 31, but he took his good ‘ole time and, as Kelsey put it, was eventually evicted out of necessity. :) But I can’t say that he was late because he was afraid of joining his new family… this boy is right at home. He was fussy maybe once during the session but no crying at all… and he slept and smiled and gazed in the general direction of Geoff’s beard (because although he couldn’t see it, I’m sure he could sense the power). His nursery is aviation themed and he donned little striped footie pajamas with a little bear piloting his own airplane and a tiny aviation hat and it was so, so cute. We are thrilled to welcome Cooper into Kelsey and Drew’s amazing family, and we are so happy to be able to do this for them. :)

At Home with Brad and Johanna // A Family Session

On this shoot the six-year-old son developed a hand-written Star Wars test to present to Geoff before we got to the house. If Geoff were to fail it, we were to be kicked out of the house before the session began. There were a few questions designed to stump, but thankfully Geoff passed with flying colors and we were able to document this awesome family of four. :) So meet Brad and Johanna, and their kids Laurel and Sam! We love Brad and Johanna, but I fear that we had way too much in common with their kids (Goonies? Yes! Star Wars? Heck yes! Indiana Jones? You guys rule! Legos with extra Yoda heads and Chewie torsos?! Alright!!). At one point it was determined that Geoff (who wore his Star Wars shirt for the occasion) would make the best babysitter ever. We gave them a few pointers (namely that they need to watch Back to the Future and Phineas and Ferb) but overall we have to say that these are terrifically well-rounded kids who are solidly in touch with their late 1970s, 1980s trivia despite being born a solid 30 years later. We’re impressed. 

So we hung out with these guys at their awesome lake house where they showed us their Star Wars legos, played violin and cello for us (they are awesome!), introduced us to Yamslam, and showed us around their super cool fishing dock on the lake. In return, we piled all four of them into a hammock and hoped we wouldn’t need to use our liability insurance. We laughed, we cried, Carolyn got hit in the head with a whiffle ball. Brad and Johanna introduced us to the concept of mail-order bacon, and then we went home. We had a fantastic time hanging out with these four amazing and talented family members… and we rest well at night now knowing that somewhere out there exists a family that still plays baseball, board games, and instruments. They fish, have fires, and at the end of a long day, they all sit down and cuddle up with some nice early 80s Harrison Ford.