austin urban family photography

I’ve had the pleasure of working with this family for years…many of my most memorable sessions have been documenting their lives and the girls growing up. We’ve spent most of our sessions at their beautiful ranch land, exploring the outdoors. However, they have since traded some of their ranch life for city life in the heart of downtown Austin and it was a super cool change of place to explore the urban outdoors for this session. Such a fun family, always up for anything and we always create something unique together! (Favorite family shot is HERE.)

Looking at these images together like this, it’s very Halloween inspired, huh? Very much looking forward to seeing everyone’s pictures on Instagram and Facebook tomorrow! Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

[Magical sunset in the greenhouse Austin family photographer]

It is hard to comprehend sometimes that I have been working with this beautiful little girl since she was a beautiful little newborn baby. Every. Single. Year. Since she was born. And that makes me proud and tear up at the same time. Each year, I can still see *some* bits of that little baby, but each year, it gets more and more difficult to find. It’s like watching my own daughter grow up, but because I only these guys once a year, this leaving childhood seems to happen at warp speed.

I have so many favorite images from their family session in my greenhouse…that one of her leaping onto the bed like a little flying squirrel, lol…the double kiss on daddy’s cheek…her holding her puppy dog in the wildflower field (you have to go HERE to see that one)…a shared secret between her and her mommy…and many more that I don’t even have room to post. I so enjoyed our afternoon together. What a pleasure! What an honor! What a treasury of memories collected over the past FIVE years!

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I know I keep hinting around at the upcoming 4th Annual Pinkle Toes Holiday Mini sessions and it’s been killing me because I haven’t had time to finish the set to give you the full picture. Actually, maybe I should take a picture of my studio now so you can see it all laying around in carefully crafted bits and pieces, lol. But, if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have seen a few teasers ;-).The minis are coming at the end of November and did you know that everyone who books a full session with me for 2015 can snag one of the spaces for the minis (while they last) which includes at least one FREE image for your holiday cards and gifts and let me tell you, the spaces fill up VERY fast! If you’ve already booked a session with me this year, you should have gotten the sign up sheet (if not, let me know). To get on the list to receive details when the holiday mini sessions are officially announced, be sure to contact me ASAP.

I hope you can’t tell from these pictures, but little buddy just was not having a good day. I think it may have all started when on our way to the cool red barn, he spied a playground and he wasn’t too keen on leaving it. Ever. LOL. They finally pulled out the big guns (his toy plane) and we managed to tear him away from the playground for at least 5 minutes worth of family photos. Oh, we also learned he likes to take selfies 😉

We finally decided to give up on the ol’ red barn and take him over to the creek where we KNEW he would have a blast. And he did. And so did his sister. We even managed to let him play on a more photogenic playground for some pictures at the end of our session and that seemed to make up for separating him from what was evidently, his most favorite playground in the whole wide world (giggle, giggle.) Mom and dad…thank you so much for sticking with me that morning. Little boy blue sure pulled through! (My favorite image of him and his plane HERE).

Oh yeah, almost forgot there was soccer, Legos, and even a zipline involved! The last time I worked with this awesome fam a few years back, we played in their swing set. They have since had a more grown up upgrade and I love the boys’ new outdoor playspace! I love working with these guys, period. They are just so much fun and easy going. What a pleasure to get to capture their little world like this! My favorite family image is HERE. And some more treehouse fort pics (zipline, too??? LUCKY!):

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Side note: I have just about put the finishing touches on the 4th (FOURTH???) Annual Pinkle Toes Holiday Mini sessions. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, you may have seen a few teasers ;-). Can I just say how much fun it is to invent these sets each year? Everyone who books a full session with me for 2015 can snag one of the spaces for the minis (while they last) which includes at least one FREE image for your holiday cards and gifts, so if you’ve been thinking about scheduling a Pinkle Toes photo session, this is the time to do it! To get on the list to receive details when the holiday mini sessions are officially announced, be sure to contact me ASAP.

I know in most parts of the country right now, fall means lovely golden foliage and crisp temps. Here in Austin, it’s a little different, but just as beautiful, I think. So excited the timing worked out where we could use these beautiful purple flowers (such a short window as they are all gone now) and play outside without having to be bundled up. And this little girl is just a ball of beautiful energy! She just radiates joy, doesn’t she? FAV family image can be found HERE.

I can’t say it’s any big secret that I kinda dig Georgetown and have quite enjoyed photographing several families and high school seniors there over the past 8 years. It’s got this cute vibe that’s retro, Texas, antique, vintage, funky, cool, hip, and country all at the same time without the same level of traffic and parking issues as one might face here in Austin. So I was thrilled when I got to work with these guys again, but this time, on their turf.

While I’m very used to the little ache in my heart I often get when I see a newborn baby or toddler grow up before my camera, it still amazes me how much even older kids can change so quickly in the span of just a few years. I take this little preview into what I have in store for me as a blessing and a constant reminder to relish every single moment and milestone I have with my own kids.

K…your boys are still as fun and funny as they were two years ago. I think you are obviously doing something right. And they are obviously kindofamazing all on their own.

A little moment that was both spontaneous and created as I was leaving that night HERE.

completely modeled after her:

Don’t you agree? I mean how could you not love all of that adorableness???

It was a little over a year ago when I first met her and she was a newborn baby at the time. Normally, when I see newborn clients for their one year birthday session, I recognize them right way, but I admitted to her mommy, if I saw this little girl on the street, there is no way I would peg her as the same baby I had photographed last year! I mean, I guess now looking back, I can see some similarities, but wow! She changed and grew and matured so much! She was cute back then and she’s cute now, but she does not look like the same kiddo to me, lol.

I really enjoyed getting to hang out with her and her amazing family for this fall-like session (even if it was like 110 degrees outside that day). Most of all, I loved listening to little miss chatterbox tell us all kinds of stories. And, an added treat: we were able to re-visit one of their newborn images (which I noticed was proudly displayed in the house) and LOVE how it turned out!

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!

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.