You truly cannot go wrong when you #1 let your family photo session take place at your own home and #2 you let your boys just be themselves and do the things they like to do. It creates an opportunity to capture their childhood in such a real and authentic way…an invaluable gift to give your children that they may not fully appreciate until years and years down the road. These boys are beautiful, yes, but their smiles are genuine because they were genuinely having a wonderful time and the love is visible because their parents were so incredibly relaxed. And then you add the underwater photography and yup, perfection all around. Check out the black and white version of one of my favorite color images blogged HERE.

Every single second of this Austin urban family photo shoot was fun, dynamic, and full of love and energy. And that’s extra impressive because we meet up at about 6:30 in the morning to take these photos. I was TOTALLY impressed with how everyone rallied and even more amazed there was really no posing and not much direction required. They were amazingly skilled at just being themselves, something that isn’t necessarily easy for kids or grown ups to do. This was definitely my kind of photo session! One of my many many favs HERE.

…were definitely our sunshine on a VERY cloudy day! As I watched the skies grow darker and darker, I didn’t think there was any way we’d be able to pull this session off without it pouring on us. I was incredibly impressed with how cooperative the boys were and I think they understood the urgency of our photo shoot that day. Absolutely gorgeous family with gorgeous smiles to match. My favorite moment HERE.

I love that she greeted me at the front door in her mommy’s heels. I love that we got to hang out at their home and just do the things they like to do at home. I love all of the snuggles that took place (especially THIS one). I love that the sun came out for just the last few minutes of our time together. I love red hair. I love freckles. I love mom’s necklace. And I love that she wanted to do this session for the three of them (well, four counting the pupster). What a special thing to have captured…the love between a mother and her children.

From Mama, herself:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… I have two ridiculously amazing kids – Jackson (7) and Kennedy (4.5). We have a rescued Boxer named Teddy Roosevelt. Collectively, they are my presidents and we live in the White House that just happens to be brown.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? The past year was full of challenges for us all. I had a medically necessary hysterectomy, my grandmother died, our first family dog died suddenly, and my ten year marriage ended in divorce. As the wedding pictures came down, I decided that wanted to do a session like this to fill our home with photos of our recomposed family. It’s up to me to set the tone for this next phase of life, and I want my kids to have prominent visual reminders that we are still the happy, silly, loving family we have always been.
3) Where was your session held and why? Our session was held at home – partly because of yucky weather, but it turned out perfectly.
4) What did you like about your session location? My kids were relaxed at home and had fun showing Michele all of their favorite things.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? I loved that Michele never asked us to do anything that felt unnatural or staged. She went with our flow, even when my kids got seriously silly, and that made for the most authentic part of the whole session.
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? I was definitely worried about getting the house “camera ready.”
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? I bake and the kids love to help me in the kitchen. I decided to incorporate that into our session, and I’m glad I did, but I should have saved the chocolate batter for the end! I was wiping the kids’ faces right to the very end!
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Relax! Michele’s got this!
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? As an amateur photographer, I’ve always admired Michele’s style. I knew she would give us a fun session and amazing images.
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? I hope they’ll say that these images are evidence that, even in our most difficult time, we were full of joy and love. I hope these photos reflect what I most want them to know about life in general – we can’t control what happens to, but we can choose how to react and move forward, and that makes all the difference!

When I first learned that my daughter would have to start going to gymnastics in Cedar Park 4 days a week this spring (which is about a 30-45 min. drive one way), I was none too pleased. But thanks to a tip from Katie (who also did Rebecca’s beautiful hair and makeup for this photo shoot ;-)), I chose to make the trips to Cedar Park EXTRA worth my while by taking classes at the new Pure Barre studio that had opened there. And that’s where I officially met Rebecca, the owner of this Pure Barre studio. It was so much fun to get to see her outside of the barre…all dressed up and without her headset ;-). Her family is pretty amazing, too, and I was totally smitten with her son. Sure, he has a lot of energy (what little kiddo this age doesn’t?), but he’s got a great sense of wonder and enthusiasm for *everything* around him and you can’t help but to be drawn into that with him.

Loving the family snuggles up there!

So precious, the two of them. Dad is soooooo tall. Baby boy is soooooo small. Love the contrast between the two of them, knowing that one day, he’ll be just as tall (if not taller than) his daddy.

When I’m running in Cedar Park, I often pass this amazing rock wall. It looks prehistoric to me, with the ferns and greenery growing out of it. I was so happy to finally get to use it as a backdrop.

This. Dress. Um. Wow. Does it not show off that Pure Barre definition perfectly?

Such a handsome young man! We did have to have Mickey Mouse along for the photo session, too. By the way, his dad does a SPOT on Mickey voice!

This last photo is one of my favs from the session. While I’m usually pretty decisive when it comes to color vs. black and white, I happen to love both versions equally.

Rebecca…thank you so much for getting up soooooooo early to take these pictures and you did a fantastic job pulling everything together. I feel so lucky that barre has introduced me to so many people I might never have met otherwise, and that absolutely applies to you!!! I respect and admire what you’ve put into your studio and what you are giving your clients with each and every class!

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.

Oh, wait! *I’m* not saying goodbye to Austin…but I am sad to know this family is. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to work with them a couple of times during their short time living here and it was my honor to help them document their life in this wonderful city. I know they are probably busy packing right now, but I hope they get a few minutes before the big move to see these images that will hopefully commemorate Austin for them and their children.

I definitely hope they never forget how much fun they had here…

at the gorgeous parks.

Always remember those big, blue,

beautiful Texas skies.

The wildflowers, sigh.

Golden sunsets.

Oh, yes, never forget the grackles 😉 and yummy treats!

Doesn’t THIS look tasty?

And magical sparkles in the water.

Most of all, never forget that no matter where you are, home is where you are loved.

I wish you all the best on the upcoming move and come back and visit Austin any time, y’all (I had to throw one in there ;-).

{Hair and makeup by Katie at Modern Muse Beauty}

Beth is a beautiful person with a radiant smile. Her son’s laughter is completely contagious. And her hubby is so incredibly patient while letting us play at our photo sessions. And everyone was beyond patient as we tried to get this photo session actually to happen! Every now and then, I’ll travel to the Houston area and usually, it’s not a big production. But it seems like for this trip, each time I would pack up and get ready to leave, there would be torrential rain and historic flooding. So, about a month after we had actually planned to do this photo shoot, we were able to get together. I’m glad we waited it out because we could not have asked for more amazing weather or more beautiful blue skies!

Flowers = gorgeous. Mosquitoes = annoying. But everyone is still smiling!

Ohhhhhh…that one up there through the jasmine? Look at his look…his smize…the protective love he has for his mommy in those eyes and in those hands that still have a trace of baby chub.

And I was LOVING the colors and patterns here!

Mr. Man decided he wanted to play hide-and-seek with us. I’m certain you won’t be able to find him…

Meghan Trainor look-alike, no?

Favity fav from this session is a tie between that jasmine photo and this one HERE.

Seriously, he can have anything he wants. Those sparkly eyes! His coy smile! What a charmer!

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;-).

Things you should know about this session:

1. These boys got to be 100% themselves. Pretty much everything you see up there are things that *they* invented…including the heart shadow.

2. They kept me on my toes. But that’s good because it allowed me to get creative.

3. They are amazing brothers and get along so incredibly well. Yeah…I may have a bit of envy in wishing my boys loved each other as much as these two do ;-).

Favity fav from their photo shoot HERE.