We were originally slated to take their family pictures in December, but thanks to some nasty weather and a hectic schedule, we had to wait until this month. And…I’m so glad we did because LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL BABY BUMP!!!! We had perfect, perfect, perfect weather and a stunning golden sunset and thanks to the delay, we got to turn the family portraits into maternity portraits, too. [My fav from the maternity portion ;-)]. We had to work a little bit to get big brother to smile but when we caught it, WOW! He’s got the best smile and amazing lashes and lips, doesn’t he?

Once again, a family photo session at home gets me all warm and fuzzy feeling…especially since it happened to be quite chilly the day of their session and we were all thankful to be able to spend most of our time in the comfort of the indoors! You may remember this beautiful family from their ultra colorful maternity portraits we did in downtown Austin earlier this year. It was so much fun for me to come back and finally meet their new baby girl this fall! Those big blue eyes and that gorgeous gummy grin totally did me in! Love this candid moment, too, during a little exercise to get everyone warmed up ;-).

Just a small peek into what I’ve been working on over the past several weeks. Debating on if I should show more or keep it as a surprise for all the kiddos who are taking part? Hmmmmm…

These kids-only holiday mini sessions are already HALF FULL and I only just opened the sign up last week! Wow! The 10 minute mini session + one FREE digital file of your choice is ONLY available to clients who book a full session for 2015. (Sorry, you cannot purchase the mini session on its own). Also, while I totally understand that grown ups want to play in my wondrous wintry set, these sessions are kids only. If you’ve been thinking about experiencing a Pinkle Toes photo session, this is a GREAT time to take the leap! Please contact us as soon as possible to get the full session and mini session details because there is an EXTRA bonus that comes with your holiday mini for booking early. *hint, hint*

Okay, off to play in the “snow” some more…

While I remember ALL of my photo sessions vividly, there are some shoots that I wouldn’t mind experiencing over and over again (like in Groundhog Day).  And this incredibly colorful sunrise maternity photo session for these longtime clients at the rowing docks in downtown Austin would definitely be one of them. How did we get so lucky to have this perfect combination of amazing light, vibrant colors, water like glass, and one happy, happy, happy big-brother-to-be? I don’t know, but I am grateful. Grateful to know this family, grateful to share in this celebration and anticipation of new life, and grateful for watching them grow into such a graceful, loving, and happy family.

And of course, of my favorite images…

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!

THIS group…my oh my! I’m not sure I have ever laughed so much at a workshop. Some super witty ladies in this bunch and I’m quite impressed we still managed to accomplish all of our lifestyle workshop objectives in between our constant brainstorming and amusing conversations. I think that’s what so amazing about any workshop group, actually: when you get a group of women together with so much in common, there is a bond, no doubt, but we all understand we still have work to do and are incredibly eager to do it! Did you see I even earned my own Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” meme? P.S. My underwater “assistant” would probably kill me for that last pic up there, but I couldn’t resist. I won’t out her here since you can’t tell who she is, but she knows. Oh…she knows.

Day one was spent talking all things related to the business of photography complete with headshots in the now infamous Wal-mart parking lot sunflower field:

The next day, we headed over to my sister’s house for our in-home newborn photo session demonstration. I was honestly a little afraid to use the twins as my subjects for this workshop because I knew it would be hard for me to keep my emotions in check. Sure enough, as with pretty much ANY photo session I do for my baby sis, I started out so choked up, I couldn’t speak, but we worked through it:
Aren’t my twin nieces  just so deliciously adorable? And have they not changed SOOOOO much??? Oh, and did you see they’re kinda locally famous now, lol?

That afternoon, we headed out to one of my favorite spots to cool down and photograph a dear friend of mine and her beautiful family in the creek:

And then we all got up before sunrise the next day to do a little practice maternity session at the greenhouse along with a bit of underwater photography:

It was a fabulous end to the summer Texas workshops! I haven’t looked at all of the posts yet, but I can’t wait to start going through the images in our blog circle from this group. Make sure you hop over and see Beth’s take on the Pinkle Toes Workshop:  The Queen B Photography – Houston Family Photographer!

It’s going to take some getting used to, this thing called “back to school” and living on a schedule here in Austin. It’s going to take some getting used to blogging again as well. It was certainly the most magnificent, incredible, exhausting summer of my entire life and I think we are all still recovering from being on the road so long. I know I will be equally excited and saddened to start this process of blogging about everything we did and everywhere we went this summer. Going through our pictures will mean it’s truly over and I’m not ready to face that just yet.

For now, I’m going to blow the dust off the blog and work backwards for a little bit. I know I’ve missed blogging several families that I worked with this summer and I *will* get them up here eventually. But today, let’s start with my photographer friend Angela with PB Kisses Photography in sunny California. Angela was a past lifestyle photography workshop attendee not to long ago and I was so amazed we were actually able to work out a maternity session while I was in southern California this summer to document this pregnancy for her caboose joining the family soon ;-).

Things you should know about this session:

1. Big bro and big sis up there? They are going to be AMAZING to their new baby. No. Doubt.
2. Angela is funny. Like really funny. I like that. She’s also really talented. And I like that as well.
3. There were like a bazillion people on this beach and in the water and I don’t get that. Coming from the WARM waters of the Gulf Coast, the “warm” Pacific is not so warm along the California coast. Or maybe I’m just a wimp?
4. I did this session within just a few hours of first setting foot in the great state of California. Way to dive in head first, huh?

Angela, you can be sure I’m going to look you up if I’m ever in your neck of the woods again and I want to get to hang with you in a non-business environment. Well, maybe after I snuggle on that new little one first?

Okay, okay. Technically, I am “closed” (see last post about that), buuuuuuut, I feel very compelled to pop on here quickly to say THANK YOU to Lena, Annette, and ALL of New Jersey and north east coast attendees for an incredible workshop! In spite of our challenges–well, really, the only challenge and that was the RAIN (ugh)–everyone was patient and funny and eager to learn and gave 110% to their workshop experience. And our models were pretty phenomenal, too.

From one of the attendees:

DO IT!!!! Seriously. If you are considering any workshop — Pinkle Toes is not only extraordinarily informative, but it gave me a new found belief in my ability to run a strong photography business. You will have so much inspiration and instantly feel connected with a new group of amazing photographers!

Yup. She about summed it up regarding the group of amazing photographers. Wow! I cannot wait until I get a chance to collect all of their shots and show off their work in a real blog post soon. I promise, when I get some more time, there are many, many, many more images and thoughts on this workshop to come.

Meanwhile, I am putting the pedal back to the medal to get ready for the upcoming lifestyle photography workshops being held at my house in Austin, TX in early July. After that, we hit the road for southern California (Cardiff-by-the-sea), then northern California (Mendocino), and finally Washington State (Olympia). We have just a couple of spaces open for each of those workshops and after that, there are no more workshops for 2014. Very much looking forward to what these next few months hold in store and meeting all of these new photographers all over the country!

These two (three?) did it up right! While they are expecting their baby any day now, a short time ago, they took a much deserved babymoon together to relax and to celebrate this new life to come. Wow, she looks amazing, doesn’t she??? What a perfectly round beautiful baby bump she has and you can just SEE their happiness shining through. My FAV.

[Makeup and hair by Modern Muse Beauty]

When my sister had to check into the hospital due to PPROM–quite literally the day after her baby shower and and just one day shy of 25 weeks–the time was so tenuous. Pretty much all of her pregnancy has been tenuous and full of worry and fear. Not knowing how much longer she would be able to carry the babies, we did a few quick pictures of her beautiful belly as best we could in her hospital room. Love how Uncle Chad expertly covered the IV’s and hospital bracelets ;-).

My sister has been in/out of hospitals since January and spent every.single.day cooped up in a hospital here in Austin for the last FORTY days and counting. Really. Incredible. And things are still going well, girls are still getting stronger. These chickadees have made it PAST 28 weeks (a magical milestone) and PAST 30 weeks! They are so amazing! And lest we forget to thank Uncle Chad, who has taken diligent care of his wife while working full time and trying to maintain the house. Yup. This family is full of fighters…in a good way.

Oh, I can’t wait to meet these girls and let them know how proud we are of them. And of their parents. Not much longer, my friends. We could welcome them safely any day now and that is in an amazing place of happiness to be in right now. Sigh…

All this to say, I have joined in our family’s team for March of Dimes in Austin this May. While Jen’s babies are doing well and we don’t know when they’ll be born yet, we are much too aware of how many babies are born prematurely and the immeasurable challenges they face because of it. If you have just a few minutes and few dollars to spare, I would be so grateful if you would consider sponsoring me in the walk.

xoxo,

Me