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.

November 8, 2023

Erika+Emmanuel // Museum of Life & Science, Durham, NC

Long-time CSP readers of the blog will recognize some beloved clients of mine here, Erika and Emmanuel, and their incredible kid! In fact, we ran into one of my other clients in the lobby of the Museum of Life and Science while we were checking in, and he recognized Emmanuel! Amazing. It’s a small world, folks. I’ve loved working with these guys forever. They’re smiley and upbeat and positive and adorable. They love each other and their kid and are always a joy to work with. Their kid is AN INCREDIBLE HUMAN. He is hilarious, polite, intelligent, curious, and creative. He made me a bat clip for my hair (honored). He loves looking at bugs and talking about bugs. He can identify his mom’s favorite butterfly, as well as butterflies that are close to his mom’s favorite butterfly, and he points those ones out too. He is a little ray of sunshine. He likes posing and taking pictures and smiling directly into the camera. He’s a little ham, and exactly a 50/50 Erika/Emmanuel split. It’s been wonderful taking photos of this family for so long. A huge thanks to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC for their permission to shoot at their campus.

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November 2, 2023

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

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October 27, 2023

Cat+Mitchell // Greensboro Family Photographer

This was my second time visiting the incredible Greensboro Science Center for a shoot with Cat and Mitchell! They’re members there and their kids are obsessed, so it’s a great place to spend the day and explore. I love this family. They’ve been close friends of ours for a long time, and we’ve known their kids since they were babies. And their kids are INCREDIBLE. They’re both really sweet and silly and insane and I love them. The youngest said she would “only be taking pictures with silly faces” during this shoot, and she did not disappoint. In fact, I think one of the few normal pictures she took was when I said, “Look at that llama made out of tinsel,” and she then ran over and posed and smiled politely with him. Smiling politely the rest of the time is not really her thing – her thing is mostly making weirdo faces and being the most excited child in the history of excited children. She also loves Halloween. I think we’re the same person. Her older brother is also very excited but in a slightly more reserved way, as evidenced by his extraordinary professional posing abilities. Can he walk over to a dock and put his hands in his pockets and pop a hip like a 1993 JC Penny’s catalogue or an ad for Dawson’s Creek? You bet. Can he find a turtle statue and sit on it in such a way where it looks like it’s a presidential campaign photo? Absolutely. Meanwhile, his sister is fake vomiting off the same dock. I love them so much.

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