The Pinkle Toes elves are back at it again, busy creating a warm, cozy, inviting set for our “Holiday Chalet.” The 13th Annual Kids-only Holiday Minis and Toy Drive will be held at a gorgeous, cabin-like retreat in Central Austin (make note of the earlier dates this year). As always, the only way to snag this FREE mini session for your child(ren) is by booking a session for 2025. If you’ve never experienced a Pinkle Toes session, this is a perfect way for us to get to know each other while also creating adorable holiday photos of your kid(s). Or, if you haven’t had a Pinkle Toes session in a while, this is a great opportunity to come back and see what’s changed. Everyone who brings an unwrapped toy to their mini for our annual toy drive will receive an additional free file! I say it every year, but these holiday minis are always a hit and a sure way to help everyone get into the holiday spirit! Please drop a line to learn about the 2025 session options and score this coveted mini session for your child(ren). Openings will fill up quickly!

Here are some images from last year’s sessions to give you an idea of the kind of images we get at the minis:

I can’t believe I have now known this beautiful mom since we were running buddies with Gilbert’s Gazelles starting back in 2018! We spent countless hours running together throughout downtown Austin (including the location of this particular family photo session), learning so much about one another and each other’s families. I’m so proud that our friendship has remained even after our marathon goal was completed and I am always honored that I get to photograph her boys as they dote on her.

I was super eager to get to use the boardwalk, located on the shores of Lady Bird Lake, as the backdrop for their family photos not only because it’s gorgeous (duh), but because we all have so many wonderful memories along this trail. During our pre-session consult, mom showed me her stunning yellow dress and I just knew we had chosen the perfect place to show her off!

In spite of the fact it was during the wee hours of the early morning (big fan of sunrise photo sessions, especially in the hot Texas months), the boys were eager to explore the boardwalk and play around. The boardwalk offers such an amazing variety of locations in which to shoot; from the sun sparkling on the water, to the majestic skyline, to the beautiful trees that line the shore, we made full use of all little vignettes and lovely light to create a diverse set of images to cherish.

One of the things I love most about working with families year after year like this is that I start to feel like part of the family…like an aunt with a fancy camera. The boys are super comfortable around me now and they have no problem being themselves. They don’t require many prompts at all and are thrilled to create their own unique poses and shot ideas. In fact, their candid shots are some of my favorite images from the session, as they capture their true personalities and emotions. In fact, we have our next session coming up very soon and I can’t wait to see what they create this time!

This family is certainly no stranger to the Pinkle Toes blog and when mom first contacted me about their upcoming session, she mentioned that they wanted to do something different and fun. Over the years, they have set the bar pretty high (exhibit A), so I was a little nervous that we would be to do yet another session that would highlight this dynamic crew properly. But when mom brought up the idea of using color powder, I knew it would be a huge hit with the kids and make for incredibly bold, colorful, and creative family photos for them.

On the evening of our session, before breaking out the color powder, we started with some traditional family portraits:

And then we had a costume change to serve as a blank canvas for the colorful splash we were about to make! We picked a place where the sun would shine through the trees and allow the vibrant colors to contrast beautifully against the natural Texas landscape. Mom had a great idea to put the powder into squeeze bottles and on the count of three, everyone squeezed their bottles into the air creating a burst of colors that looked simply magical. Kids and grown ups alike were screeching and giggling and having an amazing time, and I could tell that this was going to be an awesome session.

One of the things I loved most about this shoot was how unpredictable it was. You never knew exactly how the colors were going to mix, and every photo turned out differently. It was a welcome challenge as a photographer to capture these ever-changing and fleeting moments.

Even their wonderful nanny jumped into the action!

The leaf-blower was the icing on the cake for me :-).

It’s safe to say that their color powder family photo session was a huge success, even if it took quite a while to clean the powder out of our hair and teeth. We were all thrilled with the photos, but I think the memories created will have an even deeper impact. I can’t help but to imagine these kiddos all grown up, flipping through an album of these images and talking to their own children about this awesome day where their parents willingly let them make a gigantic mess! I can’t wait to see what other creative ideas my clients will come up with for their own family photos.

P.S. As promised, a behind-the-scenes look of the aftermath:

This cold, blustery weather of today immediately reminded me of the morning I spent with this sweet baby boy last fall. He was SO brave and being out in the elements like this, but also much preferred to stay in the warm cocoon of his parents’ arms whenever possible. I loved the pop of color those beautiful red balloons provided against that crisp blue sky. I also love how the blue skies brought out the gorgeous blues in his eyes. But my favorite was the fact that he had just discovered a new trick that you will clearly notice in most of the images :-).

I am thinking that once this cold front (and RAIN) passes through, we are going to be welcoming some gorgeous wildflowers in the coming weeks. Now is the time to reach out to me to see about scheduling a spring session because ones those flowers start popping up, openings are going to fill pretty quickly. Please send me an email to info@pinkletoes.com if you’d like session info.

He has accomplished a LOT in all of his “21 years” on Earth and it was worth celebrating in a BIG way with this beautifully imagined photo session gifted from his “main squeeze.” I always know I’m going to be treated to something inspiring and creative each time I work with this family, but the true wildcard (in a good way) is their daughter. She has a light inside that simply shines through. She constantly has us laughing at the clever things she says and somehow, she finds a way to make each and every “pose” we try dynamic and uniquely her own. austin family lifestyle photographer

These dresses made my heart skip a beat!

This is exactly what I mean about her creativity! I asked her to dance around and twirl in her dress and she did, but then all of a sudden, she pulls out the PERFECT imitation of the “lady in the red dress dancing” emoji and we all just fell out laughing!

Based on years and years of experience, I know how challenging it can be to put together one set of outfits for a family photo session, but somehow, this mama manages to expertly create two distinct visions:

And finally, when we were inside the school bus at Sekrit Theater, I told them this looked like it could be their family album cover…from the 70’s. Loving the retro feel here!

One more image for the road:

austin family lifestyle photographer

Things I fondly recall about this family photo session on a gorgeous Austin day: 1. I was struck by their beauty…all of them. 2. The smiles and giggles were 100% authentic. 3. Little man had us running all around after him, but he was so joyful, we gladly participated. 4. There is a LOT of love among the siblings. 5. I wish I could photograph in this kind of weather and light every single day.

On this cold, rainy day in January, I am inspired to tell the story of another rainy day that nearly ruined an incredible trip to Colorado one summer. My whole family had driven up to Denver and then to Crested Butte to visit with loooooooooongtime friends (and clients). To give you a clear picture, there were SIXTEEN of us total…staying in the same house. 7 adults and EIGHT children and one ADORABLE baby. Oh, wait: this doesn’t include the two doggos :-). The adults were definitely outnumbered, but somehow, we managed to spend the first several days enjoying the cooler temps, hiking through the mountains (ALL 16 of us!!!), swimming in mountaintop lakes, exploring the charming town that is Crested Butte, and feasting…there was a LOT of feasting…and a lot of great laughs. I cannot even begin to describe how many memories were made on that trip. My eldest son christened the two other dads in the house with us were the “cool dads,” while his own father was just “dad.” It truly was something spectacular that we all managed to share that space together and have such a lovely time, working together as a team to manage meals and clean up (sister wives aren’t such a bad idea).

We had plans for all of us to drive up to this one particular spot way up in the mountains to do family photos. While it was indeed a bit of a drive from our home base, I had heard so many wonderful things about that place, I couldn’t wait to see it with my own eyes. Spoiler alert…the images above are NOT from this specific place. “Why?” you ask? Well, we had ALL piled into three cars (my mini van, included) and began our trip up the winding roads. It was cloudy, but not terrible as we started out. Rain was predicted to start later that evening, but we thought we could squeeze in the sessions before it got bad.  Everyone was already dressed and made up (a Herculean effort in itself!)…there was no turning back now.

I honestly don’t know how long the trip took us, but it felt like forever, especially when we got to the part where we tried to get my van up through the mud-covered roads. The van briefly got stuck in the mud and at that point, we decided it wouldn’t make it any further. My family would make the rest of the trip on foot while I hitched a ride to the top with the others. I should mention that by then, I was very, very car sick and growing very concerned about the storm clouds that were rolling in. “This better be worth it,” I thought.

We *finally* made it to this mystical meadow between the mountains and my word, yes, it was every bit as breathtaking as they told me it would be. I could see the storm clouds building up and I knew we wouldn’t have much time, but I thought if we hurried, maybe we could make something happen. I think I was able to get like 5 photos taken and then it started raining. And raining. And raining. And it just wouldn’t let up. I kept refreshing the radar and it kept telling us that it was going to clear, so TWELVE humans and the TWO doggos all piled into ONE vehicle to wait out the storm (I’m SO glad we attempted THIS us-ie).

We waited. And we waited. And the rain just wouldn’t stop. And now, there was virtually no daylight left and everyone was tired, and cranky, and hangry and defeated. I don’t know about you other photographers out there, but I have this recurring nightmare where I’m in a BEAUTIFUL place with BEAUTIFUL subjects and I’m so overwhelmed, I am physically not able to take any photos. I’m frozen in my dream as I watch the sunlight disappear and I’ve missed out on the perfect opportunity. *This* was my nightmare actually coming true :-(. Through tears, we called it a night and decided to go on with our dinner plans and figure out another day/place for family photos.

At dinner (and I was *still* crying), we worked out a new game plan which would involve us getting up *very* early to catch sunrise the next morning. This was not an easy sell as we were all exhausted from our travels and the rain that evening, but it was our only shot. We were “do or die.”

After a few hours of sleep that night, these guys somehow rallied and managed to look just as beautiful and put together as the day before! We stumbled upon this gorgeous little flowered meadow practically in our backyard and we. made. magic. HAPPEN! I was so thankful for the sunshine that peeked out through the mountains! I was so AMAZED that the kiddos were able to give us their all in spite of the rough evening and very little sleep! I’m so grateful that we were able to let go of our previous vision for the session and embrace this new one. I’m so glad we persevered in spite of it all!

Most of all, I absolutely treasure the memories we made through our struggles the night before. The photos we took had so much more meaning because of that experience. And oh, how we laugh and laugh re-telling the story! Very, very grateful for all of it…the good and even the not-so-fun parts.

We had a lovely spring evening celebrating a very important milestone for this beautiful young lady. Ten years of age is such a big deal and I’m so glad we were able to mark this special time for her (and her mommy). Also, is it just me or are we getting some young Christy Turlington vibes here? Maybe it’s her eyes?

The release of Taylor Swift’s new video reminded me about a project I had worked on a while back and I was so inspired to revisit it. I’m loving the prismatic aesthetic of the new album artwork and I realize that I’ve been obsessed with that for quite sometime, actually. I’ve photographed this talented young lady and her family for years now, but it was magic to get to work with her *in* her element and in such a creative and colorful way. I love the fantastical and dreamlike nature of this photo session! I love that we were able to simply play and embrace the child-like nature of this adorable Austin landmark. My love for Lisa Frank also resurfaced when creating these images…if only we could have incorporated dolphins and kittens :-). Thank you SO much to C and her mommy for playing along with this vision!!!

And now, a different take on Rosemary Beach! Seriously, can’t you see why I can’t wait to go back?