I had the pleasure of seeing the beautiful state of Washington this summer. I loved my first morning there, shopping an AMAZING farmer’s market in Olympia with our awesome hostess Casey with Phreckle Face Photography (and be sure to visit her website because it is REALLY cute!).  I mean, we have have farmer’s markets in Austin, but it’s nothing like this. The air was so fresh and cool. The smells of flowers and berries and hand-crafted soaps was intoxicating. We may or may not have spent nearly half of our food budget for the workshop there (which may or may not have resulted in two Thai meals that weekend with minimal complaining), but oh, it was worth it.

Our fabulous attendees arrived later that afternoon and after going over the traditional workshop business stuff, we played outside along the beautiful bay practicing finding light and embracing sunshine. We were up early the next morning to photograph a *very* expressive newborn baby girl who had us all entranced with her adorable whole body smiles:

Later that evening, we had the incredible opportunity to photograph the family who owned the STUNNING Lighthouse Bungalow that housed us (pics of the house below). This session was such magic…it was all things boy and beach and energy and light and sparkle and love:

Our final morning together, we were up at the crack of dawn to hone our photography skills and try out new techniques with our oh-so-fun maternity couple along the docks (continuing the nautical theme that sort of naturally developed during our stay here):

LOVED playing with that perfect mirror-like reflection that greeted us in the water that morning!

And here’s some house decor eye candy for ya:

We had such lovely evenings out there, overlooking the Capitol building, watching the drastic changes in the tide, sipping drinks, watching the sunset, discussing all things photography. What an amazing group of ladies and a fantastic way to end our 21 day journey workshopping up the west coast (click to read part 1 and part 2; my personal pics from the trip will come…eventually).

And be sure to follow the next link in our blog circle to see another perspective on this photography workshop: the beautiful and talented Carrie with Yi Li Photography, Seattle Family Lifestyle Photographer. I can’t wait to check all the posts out myself! I have purposely not looked until now!

Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know that we do not have any more workshops coming up in the states this year or next at this time. However, we are gearing up to head all the way down under to Sydney, Australia sometime late in 2015. If you would like to be notified if that changes or if you want to get information on the Australia workshops when they are available, please drop a line.

austin urban family photo session

I mean really…how could you not look up there and smile at all of that wonderful, loving energy up there?! These three kiddos truly brought their A game to their family photo session in downtown Austin that night. They were up for *anything* I asked of them, including laying down in the grass that may or may not have had a couple of bugs hopping around. And fortuitously, we even happened upon a toad (NOT a frog, right T?) which happened to be one of his most favorite animals! Little Miss Sassafras definitely stole my heart sporting those fashionable boots and big bro was absolutely amazing at leading his younger siblings and getting everyone to cooperate happily. Yup, rockin’ session all around!

Let me start by saying that Mendocino is no easy drive up from San Francisco. While the Google Maps says it takes 2.5 hrs or so, it’s more along the lines of 4+ hours considering all of those windy mountain roads. Thank goodness our amazing hostess Melody White Studios gave us plenty of warning about that and we were all equipped with sea sick bands and Dramamine ;-).

Every inch of that windy road was totally worth it as my breath was completely taken away when we pulled up to the house that night just in time to catch the most incredible sunset over the Pacific. I mean it was something else and thank goodness we managed to see it that night because the sun pretty much disappeared into a very thick fog for the rest of our stay there (pics below).

It was a small, intimate group for our little workshop, but that ultimately tied right into the cozy little theme we had going on in Mendocino. I mean, how lucky were we to get to do some serious workshop discussions in a hot tub overlooking the ocean??? (And yes, Miss E is probably going to kill me for posting that pic up there, but I can’t help it. It was just so cool!).

As with all of the workshops, the first official photo session was the in-home lifestyle newborn demonstration. Loved meeting this family and check out “Crying is for Babies” below. Classic!!!

That afternoon, we drove out of the fog to get to spend time with a SUPER DYNAMIC family (the sister of our hostess) feeding pics, playing in the sunshine, collecting chicken eggs, dancing to records, and playing music. It was perfection!

Don’t miss their not do American Gothic 😉

The next morning, we explored downtown Mendocino, which quite honestly, looks like something out of a fairytale book. The flowers…oh the flowers!! And the houses and storefronts are like little cottages. I really wish I had the chance to go back and explore and shop more because it was truly a beautiful place. Our maternity models were so stunning, don’t you think? And, they even stayed extra long so we could take them out on that amazing arch (it looks scary, but the walkway is actually quite wide and safe ;-). The fog actually worked in our favor as we were able to shoot much longer than full sunlight would have normally allowed.

And now, back to the lovely home which welcomed us with open arms in Mendocino:

Magical house. Just magical and I am so thankful we got to experience its charms. Like I said HERE, Mendocino is like no other place on earth. And maybe someday, you can stay in this cozy house yourself (HERE).

Thank you, Melody, for a BEAUTIFUL time in Mendocino and to the attendees for making this workshop absolutely amazing! Also, a very special thank you to Aderyn–those little touches you put onto everything you do just have a way of making things seem so magical and heartfelt. For a little eye-candy and continued look at life in Mendocino, you might want to start following her on Instagram ;->

And most importantly, check out Emily from Pure Light Photography and her beautiful images from the Mendocino workshop!

My little sunshine has been under the weather for the past few days and I’m anxious to start seeing this smile of hers again. Every year on our land, the Gayfeather (aka Blazing Star) comes into bloom and it always makes me think back to 5 years ago when I first photographed my daughter in them. I always think about revisiting that shoot, but somehow it never works out. I was determined to make it happen this year. Doesn’t even seem like the same little girl to me. Well, her beautiful spirit hasn’t changed 😉 [My absolute fav HERE].

Then:

While it was stifling hot the evening we did their family lifestyle photo session in downtown Austin, we were sure treated to some incredible light and a BEAUTIFUL sunset. I loved that they brought their puppy dog with them to the session and even more so, that he could pull the skateboard! How cool is that? We did spend more time than I should probably admit stuck in the parking garage, trying to get everything to align for that perfect shot, but I’m fairly certain it was totally worth it. What I first considered to be an outtake, actually turned into one of my favorite images from their session and you can check that one out HERE.