The Artist
Award-winning Christina Ward creates beautifully-crafted portraits for families throughout the Triangle. Christina is a Certified Professional Photographer as well as an active member of both the Professional Photographers of North Carolina and the Professional Photographers of America. She strives to make every portrait session a memorable and enjoyable experience for her clients, and helps them create a portrait their family will treasure for generations. Christina lives in Durham, NC with her husband, James, their two children, Jillian and Zander, and the family dog, Java.
Details, Details…
Christina began her interest in photography at an early age, receiving her first camera from her parents (the Pentax K1000) at age 9. She spent countless days documenting family birthdays, holidays, vacations, along with photographing anyone she managed to convince to model for her. She learned the fundamentals of photography from every book she could get her hands on, along with many hours in a friend’s darkroom learning to develop and print film. She spent high school afternoons working in a 1-hour photo store and went on to work part-time for a wedding photographer while attending UNC-Chapel Hill. Though her career path took a few unexpected turns, she eventually found her way back to photography where she is truly at home as an artist. She has been photographing children, families and babies since 2007 and opened her professional studio, Copperlight Photographic Art, in early 2009.
The Art of It All…
I think it’s easier to describe my style of photography with images instead of words, but I’ll give it a try. My favorite images, the ones that make me stop and look, or look again, are the ones that tell a story. Not an obvious, in-your-face story, but more of the “look closer, I have a secret to share” kind. Portraits should reveal something about a person that might not be so apparent in their everyday life, even to those closest to them. That’s not to say family and friends shouldn’t recognize you, just that they should be intrigued with the image in some way, as if it looks just like you, but there is something there they’ve never noticed before – even if they don’t know what that “something” is. I love connecting with people through my lens, and creating a sense of timelessness and emotion are what I strive for with every finished piece. I care about my clients and the image they have of themselves, the image they want to show others, and what they think is most special about the moment they are allowing me to photograph. I want every image that leaves my studio to become a treasured part of that family’s home for generations to come. I absolutely, without a doubt, love what I do and can’t imagine spending my days doing anything else.
