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  • Maria Martins

    I'm a traveler, portraitist, and a lover of nature and all its mysteries. For 30 years I have helped create magical moments for families through fine art portraiture. I look forward to continuing my work by helping you capture your next timeless portrait!

    Asheville | Avalon | West Palm

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The most important job as a young person on the cusp of adulthood is to be yourself. This is an over-simplification of course, but really, it’s crucial that what you do now is to be yourself.

When you are honestly yourself, expressing your individuality, it helps orient you in this vast, ever-changing world. Your place is found, a space is carved out in this world as your own, you create the destiny and become it.

It is truly an accomplishment to simply be as you are. And the best part about it is that the discovery can be fun! Try everything, get involved in whatever you can, meet as many people as possible, and never stop opening your mind and learning.

Navigating through adulthood becomes easier when you’ve done this work to know your individual self. In this world, you may not be given many choices that you like. Knowing yourself allows you to act with integrity, making the choices that are not only right, but also fulfilling to who you are as a person. And if you are strong in your awarness of yourself and your abilities, then you can create your own choices.

No more waiting, go out there and live.

Posted in Senior Portraits,Uncategorized
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“When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.”

James Matthew Barrie (Peter, in Peter Pan, act 1)

As we grow older it gets harder for us to be in that world of imagination like we were as children. Harder, but not impossible.

Having children, or working with children, revitalizes that playfullness in us and gives us a space to use our imaginations all for the sake of fun. With the coming of our Fantasy Portrait Sessions we want to let you know that it’s okay to play too. We encourage it!

The farm has always felt like a magical place detached from regular worldly goings-on. Living so closely side-by-side with animals and nature has given us a peaceful haven to retreat to when we want to explore a little deeper into the mysteries that life presents us.

Behind a bundle of wild purple loosetrife may be a curiously peeking faerie. At the farthest reaches of the field, amongst wild roses and pear trees, hooves shyly nudge the earth and a long white mane is thrown back to reveal a shining spiraled horn. Beyond that is what you must find for yourself.

Everything is here for you, hidden in a sylvan dream, waiting for the spark of imagination to bring it to life.

Posted in Fantasy Portraits
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Seeing the families that come in for portraits each week is an interesting experience. These families come in endless varieties and not one family is exactly like the other. This not only makes each session fun and new, but also gives me a lot to think about.

Existances of love are infinite. Even the expressions of anger, annoyance, or frustration are ways of love. On the surface, this negative communication looks bad. People will often be ashamed of the fights and disputes that happen with their family. But I believe if you listen closer you will find that each harsh word is, at its core, a call for love.

Yes, you deserve a beautiful family portrait.

If believing your family isn’t “normal” enough, or close enough, or even loves each other enough, was stopping you from getting a quality heirloom portrait, then please believe me when I tell you that your unique family is yours, and only yours forever, and that in itself is something precious to behold.

We would love to help bring you together for the best family portrait possible.

See you soon.

Posted in Family Portraits,Uncategorized
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Hoptoads and Mud Puddles are back for another year of messy, muddy fun!

What kid doesn’t love being told it’s okay to jump into the mud and get as dirty as you want? Well, for that kid we have good clean fishing as an alternative. Summer on the farm is an adventure, and that makes for some one-of-a-kind portraits. We will have green frogs and a turtle to pose with this year, along with an old fashioned fishing pole for those who want less mess on their adventure.

We love giving kids the chance to explore the natural world in a safe and educational setting. Sharing what we know and love and then seeing the inspiration light up in a child’s eyes, just in time for that picture perfect shot, is what makes this job truly rewarding.

And there’s fun and learning to be had for the adults as well! Playing along with your child is psychologically proven to not only benefit the development of their creative and social growth, but also to maintain your own creativity, vitality, and overall health.

Come out to the farm and play this summer!

Posted in Summer Portraits
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Something we often see at the studio are clients who come in for portraits with their best friends: their pets. We love this! Seeing clients who love and respect animals just as much as us brings us so much joy, and photographing pet and owner together is such a memoriable experience.

Do you remember your first pet? It’s hard to forget them, because for many of us they became our dearest companions. Having pictures of them is something you will always treasure, and getting pet portraits is a beautiful way to honor their memory when they eventually leave to go to that farm very far away.

For now, they’ll be safe visiting our farm! Summer is the perfect time to get them outside to play, and we have just the place for them to run and sniff and explore.

Hope to see you and your bff soon!

Posted in Pet Portraits
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