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.

Lauren+Jacob+Jane+Oscar // Raleigh Family Photographer

Lauren and Jacob live in a really rad house with a 2 month-ish baby named Oscar and a vivacious 2 year-oldish toddler named Jane. They all share, together, a really great blue fireplace and and several awesome vintage chairs. But most importantly (to me, anyway), they share all of Lauren and Jacob’s meticulously cared for childhood toys. We’re talking everything I loved and used to have as a child, and then some. It was awesome! Plus, they didn’t seem weirded out when I got out my phone and started sending pictures of the toys to family. My old Care Bear purse was there, in ridiculously pristine condition and complete with original tiny change purse that I’m sure I lost about 2 days after receiving it! My old My Pet Monster was there (technically my sister’s BUT MINE IN MY HEART), in almost brand-new like condition, complete with original plastic handcuffs (!!)! And my old, purple Popple was there! It was my dearest childhood toy that I really couldn’t be parted with… but that I also threw in the local lake (then burst into tears and made my dad swim in and retrieve it). Lauren and Jacob also have a lot of Cabbage Patch Kids, which were also, obviously, an 80s-kid favorite.

It made my day to see all this stuff again, and in such great condition! Quite impressive. But even more impressive is that they also have in their possession a vintage Michael Jackson doll that kinda looks like a Ken Doll except it’s Michael Jackson in his American Music Awards circa 1984 outfit, complete with visible white socks. The 100% best thing about this is that Lauren holds up this doll and goes “hee-hee!” and thus has taught Jane to also say, “hee-hee!” when she picks up the doll (definitely click on that link). I don’t think I’ve ever been more impressed and delighted in all my years of photography. Hee-hee!

Anyway – besides their vintage toys, they are also pretty great all on their own. Oscar sleeps a lot because he is a baby, but he does smile charmingly and is quite adorable. Jane took a strong liking to Geoff and wouldn’t go anywhere in the house or outside without him. “Geoff!” she’d say, and then point upstairs. “Geoff!” she’d say, and then point downstairs. There was a lot of ordering him around, but also handing him babydolls. She took a lot of delight into forcing him inside her playhouse and then repeatedly ringing the doorbell like a bad prank situation (Jane is really great). She also likes eating lunch (me too!) and cats (YES!) and when she sees a cat outside makes an immediate beeline for it with squealing delight (THIS IS ALSO ME!). They are a cute-as-a-button-on-a-vintage-Michael-Jackson-American-Music-Awards-jacket family and we’re happy to have photographed them.

Cortney+James+Georgia // Family Session

We have a special place in our heart for Cortney and James! We photographed their wedding nearly 8 years ago, shortly after our own wedding, and during a time of my life when I was quite sick with a mystery illness. Both Cortney and James are chiropractors, as well as Cortney’s dad, and their family was aware of my various medical problems because I was in the emergency room several days before their wedding, but released without a diagnosis (something that had happened multiple times that year, despite every test being run under the sun from both Duke and UNC). Cortney’s mom Paula convinced me to go see Cortney, and since then she diagnosed and solved not only that illness, but many, many more random illnesses to come. I am the queen of having completely oddball stuff go physically wrong and not having any conventional doctor be able to solve it, and Cortney has fixed me every single time. Gluten intolerance? Cortney! Random things that went wrong throughout my whole system as a result of gluten intolerance? Cortney! Shoulder problem that was repeatedly misdiagnosed by several orthopedic doctors? Cortney! Random stabbing pain in my brain after receiving a cortisone shot from another ortho? Cortney! She has diagnosed and fixed so many things, and I truly would be a hot mess of medication without her, instead of not being on any meds at all. So basically, Cortney is my lifeline, and I love her and owe my physical wellness to her badass wealth of knowledge.

In addition to being our chiropractic heroes, Cortney and James are also dear friends and neighbors. They have a dog named Buddy who is very fluffy and smiley and who I desperately have tried to befriend so I can pet. But alas, Buddy is quite shy, and despite meeting us repeatedly, usually hides behind James or Cortney when he sees us. However! We had a true breakthrough during this session by simply giving him dog treats. Turns out, Buddy is won over with food, and suddenly became our best friend and dog model. I was able to pet him a lot, and I was happy (we’ll see what happens next time we see Buddy out and about, but we’re hoping he remembers). We also attempted to win over their adorable human child Georgia (18mo), who was never quite as convinced about us as Buddy was despite a wide variety of coaxing tricks. But this was probably because she just woke up from a nap (to be fair, I am exactly the same way). However, she came out of her shell when walking buddy and being tossed in the air. Next time we’ll try giving treats to her too and see if it works. Georgia is an excellent, A+ dog walker who also enjoys dandelion puffs, baby dolls, the Lion King, spotting bunnies across the street, trolls, Buddy, and her mom and dad. Cortney and James woke up the next day to Georgia running around saying, “Carolyn! Geoff! Carolyn! Geoff!” so we must’ve made quite the impression on that sweet little lady. We love this entire family to bits.

Abby+Aaron // Newborn Twin Session

This family is quite near and dear to our hearts. As in, when Geoff and I had to spend our first Christmas in 32 years away from our own families, we spent it with Abby and Aaron’s. They are very, very precious to us and some of the most wonderful friends. If you want a backstory, here’s their engagement session, their wedding, and their session with their first newborn Logan. We also photographed Abby’s brother’s wedding here. And then all of a sudden one day Abby and Aaron were like, “WE’RE HAVING TWINS!” and we were like “WHAAAAT!” and they were like “WHAAAAT!” and now the family that I previously knew that consisted of 2 has been replaced with a family of 5 in a matter of years… and Abby is now seriously outnumbered by boys. :)

We’ve worked over the years with a number of sets of identical twins for some reason (I think this may be our 5th or 6th set), but this is our first newborn set… ones that aren’t old enough to have a wedding yet, let alone walk or talk. It was a bit intimidating, but thankfully they slept like the little baby angels that they are. Max, for the most part, is on the right hand side of the frame. Abby and Aaron claim he looks like Benjamin Button, and I can currently see the resemblance. Lucas, for the most part, is on the left hand side of the frame. And the excited looking sandy-haired toddler you see is Logan, now almost three, who has been happily upgraded to Big Brother status. And that’s me, over here in the corner, trying not to cry at the big beautiful family that I’m now kinda a small part of because I’ve invited myself over a lot and used to babysit their dog Casey. We love and adore each and every member of this family.