I love, love, loved all of the beautiful colors…the bold, bright blues and reds and sunshine and blue skies. And I love, love, loved that we got to fly a kite…a lot…and it actually worked! But my favorite image from this session can only be found here ;-).

I cannot even begin to express how thrilled I was doing this photo session. Even though she is the daughter of a photog, she did not display any signs of PCS (Photographer Child Syndrome) and that blows me away! She and her mommy are pure sunshine and watching the two of them together or even just watching the way mommy adores and appreciates her baby girl, well, it’s quite a treat. And also lovin’ that happy mistake of the blurred umbrella image above. Glad I did not delete. Looks Monet-ish. You can see an un-blurry version of that image HERE.

We had the most GLORIOUS sunrise session in downtown! I’m telling you, in the summer months, you just cannot beat beating the sunrise in Austin, Texas and I always encourage my clients to choose to brave getting up early, early, EARLY in the morning instead of waiting until the hottest part of the day (the evening) for an outdoor photo shoot. These little girlie Q’s were so much fun and I’m so glad we waited just a little bit longer for the fountains to start running so we could cool off properly when we were done. [And oh yes…still my fav from the session].

I’m sure you noticed the beautiful yoga form mommy + daughter struck up there. Lindsey is the owner of Yogapeutics and let me tell you, I was in for quite the treat when I visited her at her studio a few weeks ago…

Amazing, isn’t she???? And then there’s this one, too. Yes…I think I need to sign up for her class. Wow!

I normally work with smaller immediate family units, but when this grandmother approached me about a photo session with her grandkids on their wildlife ranch, well, I just could not resist. Those boys are full of energy and having  a space like this to run and play must be like heaven on earth for them. My hopes were a little crushed when we couldn’t get close to the zebras, but the giraffes did NOT disappoint. They have such personalities and it was obvious that the kiddos enjoy their special time with them. While the afternoon started off very grey and overcast, I got to leave with a beautiful African Savana sunset, complete with giraffes and zebras and wildebeests in my rearview mirror. Wow. What an evening!

Oh, and I have to share this with you, too. I literally laughed out loud when I came across this in my files:

MWAH!!!!

ETA: Thank you so much to my friend Angela for showing me THIS commercial which pretty much sums up a day in the life of a photographer, complete with giraffes. LOLOLOL!

…are often those in your own backyard. I swear, it was like hanging with my own children at home, them begging me to go traipsing off into the woods with them while I’m in my flip-flops, showing me their favorite trees and forts they had fashioned with sticks and leaves. Wide open spaces. Good for the soul. (Doggies are also good for the soul.)

If it looks like we did a lot at this family photo session, well, we did! How else do you keep a three-year-old happy and entertained?! It works out okay, though, because she and I both have about the same attention span ;-). I love that she pours her whole heart into everything that she does and doesn’t she fit the part of hot air balloon traveller so well? But my favorite image might just be this little moment shared between her and her mommy.

We sure did have a lot of plans for our session, but Mother Nature had other ideas. What was supposed to be a lovely spring day, turned into a rather chilly and wiiiiiiiiiindy March afternoon. The wind made it sooo tough for us to hear one another and to keep the hair out of our faces (LOL), but it was quite perfect for the awesome wind chime collection mom had brought for her baby girl to play with.  And she sure looked like an angel in that lovely cream chiffon dress by the creek. I think I could have photographed her all day in that dress if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. This was a different side of L than what we’re all used to…she usually has boundless energy and a million things she needs to do. This particular afternoon, we were privileged to get to capture the sweet, clingy, lovey, “I don’t feel well and I just want to snuggle up with my mommy,” side of her. And I think that’s quite a lucky thing to be fortunate enough to get that on camera, too. [Another fav HERE].

I’m sorry to be blunt, but Gerber’s got nothing on this little beauty! She defines all things that are cute and adorable and snuggly and baby-like and she does it with the determination and grace and drive of a fighter. Her scar makes her even more beautiful than she already is and it was an honor to get to spend some time with her a few weeks ago. Personally, one of my most memorable and moving photo sessions ever. {Another fav HERE.}

Was this really back in January? It truly doesn’t even seem like it was that long ago. What a FANTASTIC workshop group we had here and if it looks like we were having a blast in these pictures, it’s true…we did! Our in home newborn session demonstration was a dream and can you even believe the smile on that precious baby girl? (see it bigger). And, of course, there’s one pic not shown here. If you want to see that one, you’ll have to go HERE.

We had an equally amazing photo session with our family in downtown Austin later that evening:

Quick story: a workshop attendee asked me to demonstrate some poses with people lying down, so we had mom + daughter lay down on the ground for us. I asked them to get a little closer and they ended up with the worst forehead bump:

OMG! I felt soooooooo bad, but at least we all had a good laugh (cry?) over it.

And, some more fun random pics from the workshop:

Goodness me! What a talented and fun and smart and witty group of ladies! Each time I would open up a folder of pics sent my them, my jaw would just hit the floor. Man they rocked it! Check out their sites here:

• Kami Friday Photography – NH and Northern New Englandwww.kamifridayphotography.com
• The Life in Your Years Photography – NYC, Westchester County and Southern Connecticut http://www.thelifeinyouryearsphotography.com
• Little Branch Photo – Houston, TX – www.littlebranchphoto.com
• Paula Scherr Photography – Edmonton, Alberta Canadawww.paulascherrphoto.com
• Caroline Martin Photography – San Diego, CAwww.CarolineMartinPhotography.com
• Photo Jolie – Dallas, Texas www.photojolie.com/
• Laurie Herrera Photography – Dallas, Texas www.laurieherreraphoto.com

The ONLY workshop I have coming up with openings is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in August. That is it. I know many folks have requested to be on wait lists for St. Louis and Charlotte, but that list is really long :-(. Oh, did I mention that we are planning a MAJOR Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop reunion in New York City in Spring of 2014? Very excited about that…loads of fun activities are in the works as well as a charity project. (Check out my post from Chicago’s reunion last summer…that should give you an idea of the whirlwind to expect ;-). 

Finally on the blog!!! Yay!!!! This workshop was the perfect way to kick of 2013! On day one, we all got to finally meet and chit chat and had fun playing with sunflare and headshots. After a laaaaaaaate night 😉 it was early to rise for an amazing in-home lifestyle newborn session demonstration:

Later that afternoon, we headed into downtown Austin to experiment photographing a family in an urban setting:

It was so crazy…it was sunny, sunny, sunny all day long and then wooosh! All of a sudden, in true Austin fashion, the wind picked up and the sun disappeared and we were out in the elements like Nat Geo photogs ;-). By the by, you should know that I don’t believe I’ve ever worked with siblings who were as connected and fun-loving as those two cuties were. They made me look really good that day. A little too good 😉

I present to you the Pinkle Toes Graduating Class of January 2013! Sharp looking group, huh? When you get some time, I highly recommend you check these ladies out:

• Sabrina K Photography Pearland and Houston, TX: http://sabrinakphotography.com/blog
• Captured by Chrissy in McKinney, TX: http://capturedbychrissy.com/blog
• Beth Fenwick in San Francisco Bay Area, Redwood City, CA: http://bethfenwick.com
• Claire Hill Photography in  Houston and The Woodlands, TX:  http://www.clairehillphotography.com/blog
• Leslie Clawson Photography in Frisco TX: http://www.leslieclawsonphotography.com
• CK Design & Photography in MA http://ckdesignphoto.blog.com/
• Dear Ellison Photography in San Antonio, TX and surrounding areas: https://www.facebook.com/dearellisonphotography

Sadly, I don’t have any more workshops coming up in Austin (no room in my schedule ;-(). If we missed you, you can always chat with me about the Toronto, Canada workshop this August (very much looking forward to that one…my very first visit to Canada!) or if that’s too far for you, maybe we can talk about online mentoring.