He is caring, curious, clever, and creative. He is adventurous, a voracious reader, a talented writer, an excellent artist, has a wonderful laugh, is SUPER fast, loves his mama and his pup and his father, and it’s a pleasure to get to hang out in his world each year for a little bit. I love that he totally wanted to create *with* me and he was so into our experiment with the prism. Look out for him one day, world, because he is going to do amazing things.

In the world of Pinkle Toes, this was everything a family photo session should be: genuine, dynamic, fun, meaningful, vibrant, colorful, quirky, energetic, and full of LOVE. I really feel like they nailed it with their choice of location, style, wardrobe, and the overall feel of their session. What radiant smiles!! You can’t help but to smile along with them. Another favity fav can be found HERE (Pinkle Toes signature blue sky, green grass, and negative space;-).

I have visited this family out at their ranch several times over the last few years and each photo session is gorgeous and so much fun. This year was no exception. Really loved how we started this one off!

That dress, Mama. Yeowza!

The sweetest sisters! SOOOOOO lucky to have each other! 

My fav from the hammock HERE.

But then feeding Nilly was definitely the highlight of the evening!

From Mom:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… A tight knit family where little house on the prairie still lives!
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? Knew the grass would be nice and water would be pretty.
3) Where was your session held and why? Family ranch
4) What did you like about your session location? Familiar and meaningful
5) What was your favorite part of your session? Feeding Nilly!
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? No
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Be comfortable!!!! Not hungry or tired! Let Michele lead littles!!!! 🙂
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? 4th year. Easy and painless for kids, and husbands! :))).
Michele is a total pro!
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? Favorite times of our lives!

It was last year (and it feels like forever ago), when this Mama contacted me to see if by some chance, I would ever be interested in heading to Savannah, GA to photograph her and her sweet daughter. Once the idea was planted in my mind, I thought, “Why not?” and we started making plans for myself + my whole crew to head to Georgia over Spring Break. It turned out to be a magnificent trip all-around, but I have to say I quite enjoyed our afternoon together here. I ADORE Brandi’s decorating style and getting to witness these sweet little moments between mother and daughter was delicious!

Looking for their other kitty. There we go!

This one in the basket was cracking me up!

My personal fav from inside their home HERE.

Ohhhh…and then we got to go to the BEACH!!! Yaaaaassssssss!

How lucky is she to have a mama so willing to let her play and hang out on the beach and get dirty and sandy and splashy and run and do all the things that little girls should do as little girls?

From Brandi:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… Amelie and I recently moved to Savannah and share a home with our two fur babies, Macy and Lacy. We enjoy all things silly and we are always on the move (mostly because at this age, she can’t sit still).
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? After a long and hard divorce, Amelie and I now reside by ourselves, without her father. We have taken professional family photos annually since her birth but for the last two years we haven’t. I wanted to make sure that these years were still documented, even if it was just she and I. I want her to know that she is and always will be loved even though her parents live in different homes.
3) Where was your session held and why? I was born and raised on the coast. Now that we are living near the ocean again, Amelie will be too. There is something so peaceful and calming about the beach and I want her to always remember where she is from no matter where life may take her as an adult.
4) What did you like about your session location? It was super laid back and casual, just like our household.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? That Amelie was able to express herself and be the crazy ball of wild energy that she is. I hope she never loses her adventurous and carefree spirit.
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? Not really…
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? Can’t recall anything right off but we had a lovely time!
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Just go with it…if your kid is being wild and letting their personality show, let them. My child is a total ham and I found myself wanting her to calm down and be more relaxed during the session. Looking back, I realize I was trying to get her to behave more like an adult, but she’s still a kid. Let the kids be kids…soon enough they will outgrow it. Let Michelle document their youth as it is.
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? I’ve always wanted our lives documented in the way only Michelle can capture. I’ve admired your work for years!
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? “I remember that day, Mom! It was so much fun!”

I had this post drafted and ready to go before this weekend and I was so wrapped up in our recent lifestyle photography workshop here in Austin (by the way, we only have two openings left for our last workshop!), I had to delay finishing the post until today :-(. You see, a few weeks ago, I got to spend the most beautiful morning with the most beautiful family celebrating a beautiful set of twin newborns! These babies were perfect angels throughout their entire session, causing fits of giggles over their expressions and perhaps a few tears when they would do something so precious. The interactions among all of the members of this family were priceless. There was an abundance of love visible throughout this photo session and I thought it was fitting to commemorate that with this little image HERE.

From the beautiful new mommy:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… We are the Wallings- Keri, Greg, Graham and Whitney. Greg is an Austin native, we’re both loyal Longhorn fans (and proud UT alumni), and we’re so grateful for our bundles of joy, Graham and Whitney. G+W were born December 29, and have been making us smile ever since. Our first “baby” is Birdie, our cocker spaniel rescue.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? This was our newborn session to capture our precious premies at this special stage. Our session was a gift from fellow Pinkletoes client Maya Pomroy and her family. Maya and Keri have been best friends for 10+ years, sharing many of life’s milestones together.
3) Where was your session held and why? In the comfort of our home, inside our newly-designed nursery.
4) What did you like about your session location? Being that we were at home, our session was casual, cozy and authentic. Loved it.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? Michele is awesome with babies. She makes even the tiniest people feel comfy in front of the camera. I choked back tears a few different times when I stepped back and watched the beauty of my twins interact. Michele caught all this precious moments on camera. Priceless.
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? Yes! With 4-week old babies, I was prepared for an all-out meltdown or spit-up!!! Ha! Everything unfolded beautifully. Michele was prepared and asked us to keep a pacifier handy, along with a blow drier (the magic bullet for white noise PLUS comfortable heat that makes the babies drowsy).
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? full disclosure: as a new mom, I can’t remember for the life of me! Which is why I’m so excited to see these photos. They will help me jog my memory.
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Talk with Michele. She’s the pro. Trust her advice. She knows all the tips and tricks. Include your spouse. Greg had to work that day, but I asked him to join us that first hour, just for a few shots. I’m so glad he did. We got some beautiful family photos, and I cried watching him alone with the babies.
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? As I mentioned before, we received the generous gift of our newborn photos from my best friend. Pinkle Toes has been doing her family photos for years.
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? Oh, it’ll be so special, especially as twins. We’ll be able to look back and see that these little people loved each other and were each other’s best friends–even as infants.

I was lucky enough to kick off the Pinkle Toes Photography 2016 photo season with this BEAUTIFUL baby girl a couple of weeks ago! She was so perfect for her debut session, giving us the perfect blend of quiet alert (showing off her sparkly blue eyes), and then wrapping up with dozing off comfortably while her parents (and fur brother) snuggled up with her.

She does this again later on in our session. Sigh….adorable.

Puppy dog just couldn’t NOT be in the photos. Love that he sneaked in here for this shot ;-).

Check out that eye contact…and the hint of a smile, like, “Oh, dad…”

And is that  perfect little infant smile I see up there? Yes, yes it is!

See? Back to covering her face, lol.

Love, love, loved all of the great pops of color throughout the house!

A sweet necklace from her dad. Mommy has a matching one.

I told you she was perfect! And then my favorite shot from the day is HERE.

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Note: as we gear up for the Pinkle Toes Lifestyle Photography workshops coming up the first weekends of Feb and Mar, it will probably get a little quiet on here. Busy, busy, busy making plans and tidying up loose ends. We have just a couple of openings left for each workshop, but if you’re considering Feb (which is more full), I would jump on that workshop as soon as possible because there is some pre-workshop homework that you’ll want to allow time for completion.

Of course, all that depends on IF I survive a rather big event for me this weekend ;-).

He enjoys spending time with is loving parents and hanging out with his furry older brother. He’s good a hockey and making adorable faces for the camera. He hopes one day to parlay that into a modeling career for little league hockey (okay, that’s probably not a thing) or baby diapers.

Seriously, is this little boy handsome or what? And he was totally charming throughout his entire session, giving us the perfect mix of adorable, snuggly, sleepy pics and then some incredible eye contact with the camera, polished off with a great series of funny and adorable expressions.

I have many favorites from this session, so it was hard to choose. I decided to highlight my favorite moment instead…there was a time when I was watching mom and dad work so well together as a team changing him on the floor of his nursery. He was quite patient through the whole process and I remembered the early days after having my first baby and how incredibly nervous and slow and clumsy I was changing my son. It’s such a unique little window you get into this world, watching parents figure out how to be parents. I do not take that for granted.

This session was the perfect celebration of family and their beautiful new home. I LOVE so much that mom wanted to do the s’mores at the end. The kiddos were SO into it and it was the perfect reward for their amazing job they did during the “boring” part of the session. My fav from the campfire is HERE.

I know some little girls (and their “puppy”) who were rather excited we had a little “Snow Day” here in Austin a few weeks ago ;-).

He cooperated so perfectly for his newborn photo session! I was so surprised at how quickly it went and kept thinking surely we forgot something, but nope. He was just completely content…slept peacefully for the first half and then woke up to show off his adorable smile and DIMPLES in the second half. Interesting story: his mommy started having contractions the morning the moving trucks showed up at their old house to move them into the new house. All day long, they moved as her labor kept progressing. Last box unloaded, off to the hospital they went and he was born that evening! Isn’t that crazy?!? To represent that big day, we took THIS ;-).

And also, here’s a short trip down memory lane to the maternity photo session we did out here at the studio not too long ago: