I first spoke of my friend Michelle (my sister in Virgo-hood) several years ago on my blog. I have longed for the opportunity to do something for her and I was thrilled when I finally got the chance to photograph her stunning family. She and the rest of the Heartsong family have given me and my kiddos and many, many other families in the Austin area the precious gift of music...together (did you see her on the news???).  It is a gift which has extended beyond the classroom at Heartsong for me and has even allowed my mother and I the opportunity to sing together in the Women of Heartsong Choir. I am eternally grateful for that.

Michelle was gifted with not only a beautiful voice and the talent to play the guitar (did you ever hear her song, "Welcome Baby" featured on this birth slideshow?), but she is magical when it comes to working with children...and their parents. Not surprisingly...she is also magical when it comes to her own family. It was a beautiful evening and I hope you love these images as much as I do, Michelle.

But of course, then look at his parents! We were delayed a bit for one reason after another, but we finally got to celebrate his one year birthday at tad late.  We definitely did it in style:

I always get emotional at newborn sessions, but recently, I've started getting choked up at the 1 year sessions. I guess it's just the shock of greeting a family and all of a sudden, their little baby is walking (or in his case, running) all around. He's not a baby...he's a toddler...and then next thing you know, he's going to be a teenager. Okay...a big leap, I know, but it just seems so in-my-face lately how kids (read: my kids) are going to keep growing up and I'm kind of stuck in this time vacuum. Does that make any sense? Probably not. But it sure does fill me with a strange mix of joy and longing. I mean...I photographed that beautiful couple when they hadn't yet become parents...and then I saw them again during one of the most joyful and yet vulnerable times of their lives as parents of a newborn. And now I see them again and how gracefully they've embraced parenthood and how this little guy is thriving and it just overwhelms me. 

I'm a mess. I'm a big ol' mess tonight. But that's good. It means that I don't take this responsibility lightly. I'm honored. Truly.

See them all large HERE. In no particular order. Vote below (if poll is not showing properly, you can vote HERE):

Narrowed down from 40 entries, the finalists were selected as follows:

The quest to find the 2011 Pinkle's Pic of the Year has begun! This year, my clients got to select their own entries and wow...this is what they produced! 

Round 1 - Jan 16 through midnight central on January 22nd, 2012

Use THIS poll below (for Round 1, you can select more than 1 image!):

Review the entire gallery HERE (you can also click on each image to make it bigger). Poll not displaying properly? Click THIS LINK to vote instead. Again, you can vote for more than one image, but you can only vote one time.

Round 2 - January 23rd-31st, 2011

- 4 finalists will be chosen based on this poll.

- 4 additional finalists will be selected by a panel of professional photographers.

- 4 more finalists will be added by me.

- Another poll will be put up so you can make your final decision from among those 12.

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you probably already saw that my attempt to take the kids to experience the Architects of Air luminarium at the Long Center yesterday was a bust (we ended up having fun on Soco, instead). But I really didn't want to give up, so back we went today. For you workshop girls, you know that this is no short jaunt for us and I was really nervous the line would be too long again. 

Well, it was too long, but we waited anyway. At least this time, I had my husband with me so we could hold our place in line and let the kids go run and play while we waited. But considering it was only a 1.5 hr wait, I think that's pretty good in comparison to the the folks in line behind us because it got baaaaaaaaaaaad. Oi. At least the cash bar they set up (including goldfish snacks for the kids) made it a bit more bearable.

It was fun, though. I don't think I would have wanted to wait any more than we did, however. Wish we could have done a weekday instead. (If you're in Austin and want to see this, the 20th is your last day, I believe). If you're taking pics, bring the widest lens you've got (I had to use my fisheye to get anything really) and be prepared for funky low light and lots of strange people in your shots, LOL. It was nice to spend this time with the fam.   

Got some fun things coming up on here in the next few days, by the way:

1. Later tonight, I'll be posting the gallery of our client selections for the 3rd Annual Pinkle's Pic of the Year contest! I'm really glad to have relinquished control over the nominations to my clients...they have made some amazing selections and I am so excited to see who is going to come away as the 2011 Pinkle's Pic of the Year.

2. Got some lovely ladies coming over in a bit to test out a fantasy make up idea for the .emme. boudoir sweetheart mini sessions coming up this weekend (I can still squeeze a couple of people in on Sunday if you can make it). Can't wait to post a sneak of Katie's creation.

3. And finally...a little peek at a project I'm working on for the workshop folks and for my clients. Interesting experiment looking at the print quality side-by-side from several different professional and general public printers. Wow! You can't see/feel it here in a picture, but wait until you get up close.

Back in a bit...