It’s been a while since we’ve had a good batch of bluebonnets *right* in front of the Pinkle Toes Studio, so it was amazing to get to take advantage of this! And, for the first time ever, I found an amazing field of Indian Paintbrush nearby, too! I can’t believe we were able to catch these flowers because shortly after their session, we got that downpour and they all faded away. One of my favs of big sis is HERE. Girl can pull this look off, am I right?

From Mom:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… I’ve been married for 9 years and we just moved back to Texas from Minnesota last June. Our daughter is 5 years old and our son is 2 years old.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? It’s been a year since the kids pictures have been taken and we have always had the cold or snowy pictures; so we really wanted the Spring sunshine and flowers!
3) Where was your session held and why? Outside in the middle of the wildflowers!!!
4) What did you like about your session location? It was beautiful and gave us a bit of the country vibe we were looking for!
5) What was your favorite part of your session? Watching my kids run wild and explore!
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? I was a little worried my son would want me to hold him the entire time…but Michelle worked her magic and he warmed up right away!
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? We started out using a wagon for my son to sit in (which he was really excited about), while his big sister pulled him for a ride. Almost immediately the wagon tipped over and the right side of his face was all scratched up! We had avoided having any bumps the entire day and now we had a very obvious one for the entire session! He handled it like a champ though!
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Make sure you feed the kids first and tell them something that will make it fun. Instead of saying we are having pictures made tell them they will be going on an adventure!
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? I heard very positive things from people and really loved the website!
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? Look at those magical times you all shared!

I was lucky enough to get to visit another friend when we were in Charleston, SC: Jody! I first met Jody years ago in North Carolina for one of my workshops and we’ve been able to get together a couple of times since, including the Pinkle Toes Workshop reunion in Charleston last year. Anyway, Jody really wanted to have a lifestyle family photo session in their home as a way to preserve this time their lives as a family. As a photographer herself, she totally gets the need and desire to have images like this of her own family, but it’s definitely not something you can do by yourself with a tripod. She said over and over to me that their home wasn’t perfect (whose is???), but it was full of life and love and that’s what she wanted to make sure they documented. Perfect. Love it.

Well, a few days before I was supposed to head out to the coast, Jody said they had come down with the flu, and I mean, a knock you on your bum for days at a time flu. We pretty much gave up on making this shoot happen and we were both incredibly disappointed. However, by some miracle, they rallied! Quite literally the day before I was supposed to leave, everyone managed to put on a few smiles for a couple of hours so mama could have her lifestyle photo session in the home she loves with the people she loves. Every single person in this family deserves a huge gold star for their efforts to do this session…every one! I cannot believe they did it and even looked healthy and adorable in the process. I’m not one for pushing a family through a photo session after being so sick, but in this case, I think it worked out okay ;-).

The first image above is from the “getting ready” process (Jody talks more about that below) and I’m really quite glad to have been there for those moments. I also rather enjoyed playing auntie to Jody’s eldest daughter and fixing her gorgeous, gorgeous long hair for the shoot.

Now onto the baby girl of the family, who is like a little doll baby and obviously quite adored:

Okay, this is their middle daughter in the heels up there. And she has such incredible personality! And she spent pretty much the entire session wearing her mom’s heels and it could not have been more perfect.

Ohhhh…I believe I spy some gorgeous Danielle originals up there!! ;0) Danielle happens to be a friend of ours also (as well as a sorority sister of mine ;-)…small world!

Speaking of small world…in chatting with Jody’s hubby, I learned that he lived in the same small Texas town as my husband AND his sister and I went to the same college at the same time. What???? By the way, this poor man was sick as a dog here as well, but man, he put on a good show. He was just amazing to do this for Jody and his girls!

The three moments above = swoon.

Ooops…swoon again over the couch snuggles.

Are they not a perfect and beautiful and loving and fun-loving couple????

Okay, I’m pretty sure we can all agree that Play-doh is the bane of any mother’s existence. But Jody is not just any mother and she actually lets her girls play with Play-doh AND joins in. Wow! I think I just lost first place in the Mom of the Year contest. Who am I kidding? I was never in first place 😉

I LOVE that Jody has filled her walls with pics, by the way. The beautiful images on the stairwell are by Alice Keeney.

We ended the session like THIS and by far, it was one of the most memorable session story times I’ve ever photographed. So Jody started reading Someday and I was happily snapping away, minding my own business, enjoying life and all the things that come along with it, when out of the blue, that sweet little children’s book just grabbed me by the heart and squeezed the breath out of me so hard, tears started streaming down my face and I could not control it. Jody gave me no warning that this book was going to send me into this emotional tailspin and I’m not sure if I can forgive her for that (okay, maybe I can). Oh. My. Word. If you are a mommy and you haven’t gotten Someday for your child(ren), you need to do so stat. Just make sure you have some tissues nearby. (I may or may not have bought several copies before I even left the driveway after her session).

And now, Jody’s take on the photo session:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… We are a family of 5. Mom, Dad and three (yes.. THREE) girls, ages 8, 6 and 2. Lots of estrogen!
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? I’ve been a Pinkle Toes blogstalker for a while and attended Michele’s workshop in Charlotte in 2013 (which, FYI, was a game-changer for me and my business)! As soon as I heard that Michele was visiting Charleston, I knew I wanted to have our family captured by her.
3) Where was your session held and why? At home. We moved in to our house 3 days before our youngest was born and have existed in a constant state of blissful chaos ever since. I have never had an in-home lifestyle session and wanted to document this time in our family history (with my most favorite lifestyle photographer), when our girls are still little and there is just a tiny bit of baby left in each of them.
4) What did you like about your session location? Home is where we spend most of our time together, so I love the authenticity of having us photographed in our own space.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? It is hard to pick, but probably getting to play with Playdoh, or reading a book or snuggling with my girls!
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? If the kids would behave (the PCS is strong in this family)! [PCS = Photographer Child Syndrome and it is a very real thing.]
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? A memorable morning indeed! Michele asked me to photograph her on the beach at sunrise in honor of the lifestyle and fitness changes she has made over the past year [I’m excited about this project!] . Since she was on such a tight travel schedule, and since I live near the beach, we decided the best time for the family session would be that same morning. So, Michele offered to help entertain the kids while I got ready and even helped style their hair. She is so sweet and generous with her time! I can’t thank her enough for the entire experience!
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Relax and have fun with it! Michele is MAGIC with her camera.
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? Where do I begin? There is something about the way Michele is able to make beauty out of the most ordinary things and the way she is able to capture the connections between people that I find amazing.
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

“Mom and Dad really do love us/me”
“I remember that house”
“I remember that book”
“Look how little we were”
“Look how young Mom & Dad are”
“I look so much like Dad/Mom”
“This is your great-great grandmother when she was little” – [There go my tears again! Thanks a lot, Jody 😉 This is so beyond perfect and the whole reason we do what we do, my friend.]

…after having a son, it is such a beautiful blessing. I was so thrilled when I got the message that she had her baby and she was a SHE! I was so excited for her to experience the joys of having a daughter and to see what big brother would make of this new, sweet baby. She “performed” for her very first photo session (out of the womb 😉 flawlessly and I can tell how much she is loved and adored.

She actually smiled on her own a little bit when we first wrapped her up and we worked so hard to get her to smile again. Turns out, my favorite image from the session was not the cute smile above, but instead, the moment just before it happened HERE.

Double exposure experiment HERE.

And what could be more adorable than daddy + daughter adoring one another here?

As I’m gearing up for the FINAL Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop of 2016 [by the way, there is ONE opening left and the workshop is THIS weekend], I wanted to take some time to reflect on how much we accomplished during the February workshop. Day one was spent getting to know one another, talking all things pricing and marketing and branding and then playing around taking headshots in a lovely winter sunset. We tried to go to bed early because day two is always super busy, starting with hanging out with this adorable little guy and his amazing parents for the in-home newborn lifestyle photo session demonstration:

He was such a sweetie and gave us plenty of chances for all of the attendees to step in and take their own versions of the shots we set up during the session:

And I loved that his family wanted to take a group photo with all of us at the end of our fabulous morning. Sigh…

After re-fueling on some food and re-grouping, we went out that evening for an urban-ish, outdoor lifestyle family photo shoot. I’ve known this mama for several years so it was a wonderful experience to get to see her with her family. What a dynamic group full of personality and love! We hunkered down inside the parking garage for a little bit and then braved the wind to get more images closer to sunset. It provided us with perfect opportunities to practice in all kinds of lighting situations.

How to use shadows and light to your benefit. And then, below, embracing full sun and making it work for you.

I’m pretty sure I teared up when this image came across the screen as we culled them following the session.

That sunflare…YESSSSS! And they were just so cute together!

Finally, on the last day, we were up much, much too early to catch an incredible (albeit, chilly) sunrise for our maternity model photo session. So fantastic walking around and observing the attendees who were able to take chances and discover new skills, practicing with different lenses and techniques. I was very impressed with the images they created for our models!

Here they are…the Pinkle Toes Workshop Class of Feb 2016:

Good looking group, no? And great personalities and energy to match. They made it a fantastic weekend for us all!

And now, please if you will, go on over to Missy Mayo – Dallas Family Portraits and check out her take on the workshop (that’s Missy up on the left, by the way 😉 Loved what she told me the other day about the Pinkle Toes Workshop:

I was warned that this workshop would ruin me for all other future workshops. It is true. Every aspect of being a photographer is covered – even the parts you don’t consider. I came home with a revived passion for my art and business and pages of ideas to try.

I am beyond thrilled that we were able to work out this maternity photo session for her because LOOK at how gorgeous everything turned out to be! Seriously, her wardrobe choices were on point (Boho chic, defined!) and I’m pretty certain that little baby is going to be here any day now so thankfully, we were able to check this box in time ;-). I cannot wait to see who this new little person is! Love the color version of THIS image, too, BTW.

When it comes to photographing twin toddlers, I have had quite a bit of experience (considering my sweet nieces ;-), but I do know that it can be challenging at times with busy littles on the move. Turns out, these two were perfect little angels and getting them happy together and in the same frame at the same time was the least of my worries. I hadn’t been to this particular location in YEARS and while it is a beautiful spot, we were totally not prepared for the awful, horrible, inescapable mosquitoes that hunted us down relentlessly the whole 40 minutes we managed to stay there. Oh, my word! I’ve never felt so sorry for myself or for my subjects as we tried so hard to find a place to hide from those little monsters. I mention the mosquitoes because in spite of it all, the babies couldn’t have been more amazing! I really want to brag on how adorable and cheerful and patient they were as us grown ups scrambled around trying to escape the bugs. And so, while we may have had a very small window in which to photograph, these darlings made it possible. I know they won’t remember this photo session, but their mommy and daddy sure will and when they look back on the images, hopefully, they’ll laugh about the bugs, but more importantly, smile and be proud of their beautiful, perfect children!

Oh…there was this game that we ended up playing with the babies that had us ALL cracking up. I’m pretty sure I took a video, but while I go dig that up, here’s my favorite image from that moment.

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Reposting: The FINAL WEEKEND of the Kids-Only Holiday Mini sessions starting Friday and running through Saturday. We have a handful of openings left and I can squeeze you in if you want your kiddos to play in Santa’s Workshop! The session + one digital file of your choice is FREE to all clients who book a full session for 2016. Please message us for more details and do so quickly before all the spaces are gone!

Okay, so my two boys are about the same age difference as these two brothers, but I gotta say how LUCKY this family is that those brothers love each other as much as a they do! I mean I don’t know if I’ve ever seen my boys get along like this…not now and certainly not 9 years ago either. And it’s not forced at all…they are buds…”Nano” worships his older brother and his older brother dotes right back. I also have to admit I never dressed my boys this hip. Not now and certainly not 9 years ago either ;-). My favity fav family pic can be found HERE.

NOTE: If you are a past client of Pinkle Toes Photography, you should have received an e-mail about some pretty special things going on next year. If you didn’t get that e-mail, let me know and I’ll be sure to pass it along to you. If aren’t a Pinkle Toes client yet, you might want to be. 2016 is going to be a super year for Pinkle Toes and everyone with which I get to work ;-).

My, oh my, it is crazy to think I’ve quite literally watched these little ones grow up on my camera. And how awesome it is to get to see their baby features melt away and their little personalities shine through–even if it’s with that pretty impressive pouty face Mr. Man is giving me up there ;-0.  It didn’t last long, though. Once we made our way back to their home and he could “grill” for his Papa, all was right with the world again. Of course, the pupster, Troop, always makes an appearance in their family photo sessions and he happens to be in my favorite from this session HERE.

And from the beautiful K, herself:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… We are a fun but crazy family of 4 (5 including our awesome dog, Troop) trying to juggle it all! With 2 active kiddos, we enjoy the outdoors and exploring Austin.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? We love our yearly family photo sessions with PT! I cherish all the memories we’ve had Michele capture for our family, dating back to when Kline was just 7 days old.
3) Where was your session held and why? We chose Laguna Gloria this year because their grounds and facilities are so beautiful. We had a session here in the past and absolutely loved it (minus the crazy curator monitoring our every move)! Even though we didn’t get inside this year (their Solarium is my fav), we found some cool spots outside.
4) What did you like about your session location? I loved how it was casual and stress-free this year! We ended the session on our top floor roof deck, eating popcorn and drinking punch while the sun set.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? Just being together as a family on our deck. It was obvious everyone was back in their element and super relaxed. Great way to end the session!
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? I was a little nervous that our youngest was going to get distracted and run the opposite direction or have a pouty-face the entire time. He’s my moody one….
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? We had a little run-in with some fire ants by the water at LG. It could’ve been a disaster, but we escaped with only a couple whelps.
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Don’t stress and HAVE FUN! As easy as that may seem, I’m usually guilty of stressing over outfits, last minute details, are we going to make it there on time?, etc. This year I took a step back and just let it flow …..without any increase in my heart rate. Success on my end!
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? Because Michele is truly a genius behind the camera and she loves us for who we are – a real, crazy, wild family.
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? Oh man, probably that my kids will look back and say “you dressed me in that?!”.

So, when I was in Houston a few weeks back, I got to meet the newest addition to this family and honestly, I just didn’t want to leave. I had so much fun getting to hang out with them in their beautiful home and watching big brother and big sister love all over their baby sister. I’m not sure if I’ve ever laughed so much at a newborn photo session in all my photography days…and let me tell you, the parents are just as hilarious as the kiddos. And when they’re not being hilarious, they are being so very, very sweet.

And then, when we finished up all of the sweet newborn snuggly photos, we did what everyone naturally does at the end of their newborn photo shoot: DANCE PARTY!  

And these guys take their dance parties VERY SERIOUSLY. This was for real. Complete with lights, custom sound, and a robot dance off. Like I said, I was cracking up the whole time and feeling like these three children were very, very, very lucky to have such cool parents like this.

From mom:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family… We are chaotic and silly and a mixed bag trying to navigate life as a family of five. We have lost any notion that we can control anything, and when we try, it is a complete fail. But we love each other and we learn all the time how to do that better.
2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc? Baby Ruby arrived!
3) Where was your session held and why? At our home because we couldn’t possibly get all five of us dressed and to a location and all be in a good mo about it. I hear this is possible later, though.
4) What did you like about your session location? It was the cleanest the house has been in months. Seriously. Months. Also, it made it very laid back and we just had fun.
5) What was your favorite part of your session? Hard to say whether it was the robot dance off or the battle over the smelly stickers.
6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session? Lactating all over myself. [bwa ha ha ha – that’s a new one on me!]
7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session? Dance party again here. And August and Matilda wrestling. Standard.
8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions? Relax and just enjoy your family. [Truly…relaxed parents make for relaxed kids and babies which all make for a relaxed and AUTHENTIC family photo session.]
9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography? Michele. Done and done. [xoxoxo]
10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images? They love each other and they have fun!

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And now, I have to share a couple of outtakes – this was our first attempt at getting a solid family pic:

And then big sister totally smothering her baby sister with love:

I admit that I nearly wrecked my car when I spotted this wall a while back. It was so nice to stumble upon something a little different and SOOOOO beautifully colorful among the bold, cool Austin graffiti. And I was delighted when this family decided to hold their photo session here! It made for the perfect backdrop against their bright, colorful clothing that simply reflected their bright, colorful personalities.

Baby girl was a big fan of sticking out that tongue…and it was too adorable!

Playing airplane while holding an airplane in front of an airplane wall = we are talking multidimensional family photography here.

And here’s another cute shot featuring the whole wall.

Time for reading their favorite books. I wish I had taken audio of the AWESOME voices everyone was providing!

And then…the high school band started up their practice across the street, so naturally, we decided to compete ;-):

#winning

These two are a wonderful, loving, relaxed, joyful, down-to-earth couple. Obvs. It really took zero time for them to warm up for the session.

Time to celebrate ONE YEAR with a cupcake smash!

Success!!!

From mom:

1) Tell us a little bit about your family…

We have been married for 11 years and have been living in Austin for a little over a year. Andrew (almost 4) and Alison (almost 1) are the light of our lives and we love watching them interact with each other and seeing their personalities shine through!

2) What made you decide this was the time to do a photo session? Were you marking any special occasion, etc?

Andrew and Alison both have birthdays in early October so we wanted to capture them around their birthdays.

3) Where was your session held and why?

Our session was held at the “Hello” wall. I wanted to do an urban shoot in a space unique to Austin, so Michele suggested the wall and it was perfect!

4) What did you like about your session location?

It was just a neat space with lots of bright colors. It even had an airplane painted on it, and Andrew is obsessed with airplanes!

5) What was your favorite part of your session?

Playing the instruments and trying to be louder than the high school band practicing across the street! Also, watching Alison dig into her birthday cupcake 🙂

6) Was there anything you were nervous or worried about before the session?

The humidity ha ha! The kids getting tired, hungry and crabby (but they did great!)

7) Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Going back to the humidity… we just weren’t expecting that. [True story: I would rank it is one of the top 3 most humid sessions I’ve ever done. It was BRUTAL, but everyone hung in there!]

8) Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Just go with the flow.

9) What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

I had been following Pinkle Toes blog and love the vivid colors and overall fun atmosphere the photos depict.

10) What do you hope your kids/family will say years down the road when looking at these images?

That we had a really fun silly time getting photographed!