Confession: I wasn’t really expecting to fall in LOVE with Charleston, SC, but I couldn’t help myself. This was the location of the 3rd Annual Pinkle Toes Workshop Reunion (I’ll be posting about that later 😉 and while I was in town, my friend Becky of  Rebecca Keller Photography wanted to have her family photographed in the same place where her husband proposed to her (the gazebo you see above). Um…I also need to pause here and let you know that Becky’s AMAZING photography was recently featured in People Magazine  for an incredibly inspiration article totally worth reading and in the same issue where Princess Charlotte first graced the cover. Yeah…you should have seen Becky’s hubby and I snagging copies at the local Harris Teeter and bragging on her ;-).

Anyway, the day I flew into Charleston, we headed right into town for an evening full of photographer’s eye candy which included a happy, loving, beautiful family; gorgeous light; unique and endlessly interesting architecture; the scent of jasmine so thick you could practically see it; a honest-to-goodness cobblestone street; and a row of homes painted so brightly, it is actually called “Rainbow Row.” I quickly learned that evening that Charleston was a city full of character, color, and charm.

This one made me giggle when I stumbled upon it! Mama definitely  has her arms full of love with these two hams. And there’s that jasmine. The streets were basically lined with it in full bloom!

Our first pass along Rainbow Row. We had to go back for seconds later ;-).

Cobblestone!!!!! Just don’t see much of this in Texas, so yeah, I was a bit infatuated.

Becky gave me the heads up that it might take a lot for little buddy up there to smile and true to form, he was pretty serious through most of the session. But he couldn’t resist the power of mom snuggles.

Yeah, there’s more of that stunning light.

Back to Rainbow Row!!! I’m kinda glad we didn’t come here first because I don’t think I would have gone anywhere else. I mean what a cool spot!

Another one of my favorite shots along Rainbow Row can be found HERE.

This little dude is sharp as a tack and SO charming! He is such a neat kid and so much fun to chat with!

Becky’s hubby has the patience of a saint. They drove in from NC that morning and then he drove back and forth to the airport to pick me up and then hauled the whole family into downtown to do a photo shoot AND then, took the boys home the next day so that Becky could stay and enjoy the reunion. I think he earned his hubby points for the entire year in just a few days’ time.

So there’s a thing about pineapples in Charleston. Didn’t know that, but they’re a symbol of hospitality and you can spot them everywhere…even as a giant fountain at Waterfront Park. The fountain and sunglasses were a big hit with big brother, but both were a huge miss with the little guy. He was D-O-N-E with us and all of our shenanigans by this point. Fortunately, Becky had a secret weapon: his bear. The first glimpse of his bear and he lit up with a full body smile! How precious it is to see something so small bring such delight to a child.

Becky, it was my absolute pleasure to get to work with you and your family. I know I said this over and over during the session, but your patience, relaxed approach, and realistic expectations of your sweet boys really gave me the freedom to create for you. It was such a joy to experience a city that obviously means so much to you with the people that mean the most to you! Thank you for sharing Charleston and your amazing family with me!

Update 6/4/15 from Becky:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Michael – grew up in Akron, OH,loves Carolina basketball and spends a lot of his free time building legos with Owen.
Becky – Grew up in Greensboro, NC, loves photography, iced coffee, fried okra, and pure barre (thanks Michele for recommending!!!)
Owen – spends most of his time building legos, reading, and playing at the park
Harrison – loves trains, his bear, his blankie and his big brother

What did you like about your session location?

I was so super excited when I found out the Pinkle Toes Workshop Reunion was possibly going to be in Charleston. I e-mailed Michele to see if it would be possible to photograph our family and was so excited that it was going to work out. Since Michael proposed in the gazebo at The Battery, I loved the idea of having family portraits there, too. Charleston has always been special to us, and I’m so excited about decorating our house with the custom portraits Michele created for us.

What was your favorite part of your session?

My favorite part of the session was just how much fun it was. There was no trying to get the kids to look at the camera or Michele – no stress of trying to get the kids into good moods because what was important to us was capturing our family have fun together and interacting together like we normally do. The session was focused on us just being us which resulted in pictures I just LOVE. When I look at the images, I see my kids personalities just shining though and I love that – Michele captured so many of their everyday expressions. It was also fun walking around Charleston and exploring all the fun spots – we did not run out of pretty places and had to keep ourselves from stopping every second! I also love that we were able to capture so much of Charleston – the Battery, Rainbow Row, cobblestone streets, and the Waterfront Park. I’m still amazed at all we captured in one session.

Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

Since we all made the trip to Charleston that day, and Michele’s connecting flight was a little delayed, it seemed like a miracle that it all came together! I had my hair and make up done only twenty minutes after we arrived in Charleston and we left about an hour or so later for downtown.

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Owen was totally Michele’s bff right when he met her and just took her hand right out of the car and started towards the park like they were hanging out – see you guys later!

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

I would just relax and spend the time playing with your kids and not focusing on trying to get them to look at the camera. Those are my most favorite images. I also loved that I had my hair and make up done and that I didn’t have to worry about it during the session and could just play with my boys.

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

Michele is so much fun, and I love how creative she is with her images and not focusing on posed portraits. I knew she would create authentic family portraits for us that captured my little ones’ personalities and us together. I also wanted something that looked more like art to decorate our home with, and I’m so excited to display these!I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about our session – that Michele would create beautiful memories for us that were unique and creative.

What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

How much fun we had as a family and what a treasure these are to look at and remember. I love our images because they genuinely look like us because we weren’t stressed, and we were having so much fun together. I hope my kids will see that – how loved and treasured they are and the love their mom and dad also have for each other. Since I’m usually the one taking photos of my husband and kids, it’s such a treasure to be in the photos, too, and to also have a photo of just Michael and I. Thank you, Michele, for capturing these sweet memories for us!

I will always jump at the chance to capture the vibrant, eclectic, funky-meets-western vibe of downtown Austin and when I get the added bonus of working with an equally fun family again? Um, yes, please! I know, I know it was a horribly early start to a Saturday morning, but I’m so grateful they stuck with it…I just love the freedom we get to enjoy when we’re practically alone on the streets of Austin and we don’t have to deal with any daytime heat! While I have worked in a few of these spots before, we really had the opportunity to try new perspectives and even discovered some new super-cool nooks!

P.S. Fav family firetruck photograph HERE (see what I did there with alliteration?).

As part of a very special project I’m working on, I was fortunate enough to be present the very moment he entered this world! This entire family is very dear to me and I cannot think of anything more wonderful than to actually get to document his (very fast) Birth Day.

And then, a few days later, we all got together again, this time during daylight hours to photograph their new family of FIVE!

Attention Disney Channel scouts: if you are looking for your next star, this little guy is your man right up there. He was cracking me up with all of his camera-poses!

Was trying to take pics of dad and his youngest boy, but oldest boy (AKA Mr. Disney Channel) couldn’t resist coming over and showing some love. I didn’t mind at all ;-).

And oh, the sister of the family. Little does she know how her little can-do spirit amazes and inspires us. She has been through soooooo much and yet she is completely unfazed and marches around like the princess she most certainly is.

 And this little prince. He has quite the namesake to fulfill and he is so very loved and adored by his entire family.

 Interesting tidbit: we used this basket during his older sister’s newborn photo session.

And this blanket was used in his big brother’s newborn session!

His little crown. So perfect for him.

And I totally emotionally lost it when she insisted that she place the crown on Mommy’s head. Yes, honey. Your Mommy absolutely deserves to wear a crown.

 He was made for this family. He fits in so magnificently (favorite image HERE). His arrival couldn’t have been at a more necessary time. He is needed. He is adored. He is perfect, Prince Jun.

Oh…I can FEEL this hug right here!

She is a complete and total ham!

Loved it when the sisters reached for one another…all on their own…

These are wildflowers…country girls through and through. They thrive when given the chance to run freely, giggling and laughing and playing on their family ranch. And when they do this in those perfect, flowy white dresses, it makes for a magical set of dream-like imagery. And I loved every second of it. And is it just me or are moms incredibly beautiful when being moms??? No. It’s not just me. I know I feel my best when I’m snuggling with my own kiddos ;-). Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mommies out there!

I’ve been lucky enough to get to work with Jennifer and her family on several occasions now and when going through the process of trying to cull the images from our most recent photo session, I realized 1) I was having a hard time narrowing them down because 2) the images made ME smile and they’re not even my family!! I got to thinking why they looked so happy in their images and I realized it was because they WERE! So we had a MAJOR rainstorm just before our session and it turned our “sunny” morning into something that looked like Forks, WA? So it was was really, really humid out? So we had to walk through a LOT of silty mud to get to our various destinations along the creek bed? It just didn’t matter because here they were…together…in one of their most favorite places in Austin…hanging out as a family…exploring…and the icing on the cake, Jennifer and her hubby just let the girls BE THEMSELVES! That is what will make or break a photo session. If mom and dad are relaxed and just let it happen, the kids will be relaxed, too, and you can ALWAYS tell it in the images. So, Jennifer…thank you for letting the session happen so organically. You really did make this photo session beautiful and fun for not only your family, but for me, too!

 I couldn’t get over how GREEN everything looked after the rain!

 Oh, this whole series we did on top of the falls was so lovely and romantical! One of my FAVORITES is HERE.

And I think we need to take a minute to talk about Jennifer’s arms. I mean, goodness gracious, she is stunning and she is such a wonderful example of being fit and healthy and looking like a million bucks! I strive to have arms like her one day, but I think in order to do so, I’m going to have to face my CrossFit fear ;-).

 I’m not going to tell you or show you why they (we) were all giggling so hard here, but just know that it’s all fun and games when splashing in the creek until someone loses their balance ;-).

Sisters….sigh…

I’ve worked with this amazing family for several years now and I have to tell you, each session seems like a dream to me…as in a dream come true (remember that time we got to photograph them with their horse in downtown Austin????). This family is so connected with one another. These sisters are so connected. The love and closeness is almost tangible in their images. I literally could not stop smiling and gasping while culling their images from the session.

 Real, true expressions and emotions. THIS is what makes my soul jump for joy and I’m always completely honored when families are willing to open up like this for me.

 Again…this is REAL. These two are SO in love!

 I mean, no words. Just…sigh…and then there was THIS.

The following images were also very dreamlike to me. I kept thinking about the visual pull of The Tree of Life (and oh, how I loved that movie. Didn’t fully understand it, but did it ever inspire me!) when processing them…

 Childhood…girlhood in it’s richest form. Dance, play, spring air and flowers. Hair wild. A halo of sunshine.

Shelly…thank you so much for trusting your family photographs with me. Thank you for being so comfortable as a family and letting your girls be themselves. My time with you never disappoints. xoxo