A little while back, I had the pleasure of spending a few days (technically, it may have only been 24 hrs) with an amazing photographer, good friend, and past workshop attendee, Sabrina Gebhardt Photography in Fort Worth. As part of our adventures together, we photographed another amazing photographer, good friend, and past workshop attendee, Lauren in Dallas. As excited as I was to explore downtown Dallas, I’m not going to lie…the heat almost did me in completely! I live in Texas, but I just wasn’t prepared for the way the heat radiated up through the streets and sidewalks. We were super duper lucky to find a cool little building to duck into for a few minutes 😉 and believe me, we were ALL grateful for a little bit of ice cold AC. Lauren’s kiddos did amazingly well considering it was the end of the day and so hot outside and I loved being able to incorporate the city into their family pictures this time. THIS one made me laugh ;-).

I also really loved having Sabrina there with me. She and I were saying how invaluable a second shooter would be at family sessions. This is common practice in wedding photography, but I can definitely see a need for it here, too. It was so cool to see all of the different perspectives she was able to get, even though we were both photographing the same people in the same location. One HERE and one HERE for example.

Here’s Sabrina in action:

So fun to get to go back and relive that whirlwind mentoring time with Sabrina and Lauren’s photoshoot in downtown Dallas! We had a wonderful time and I truly loved talking shop with Sabrina and watching her grow her photography business!

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.

After more than a year, the Pinkle Toes Photography workshops are coming back!!!! What???? Yup! Full details and dates along with special registration bonuses will be announced tomorrow only to those who fill out THIS FORM, so…

Okay, you *may* need some shades to get through all of the images in this family session. Truly, one of the most VIVID and colorful and URBAN photo sessions I’ve done in Austin! I’ve driven by the Austin Graffiti Park many times and I’ve always wanted to check it out, so I was pretty excited when my chance finally came with one of the most Austin families you’ll ever meet. Now, I will say, it was a bit of a challenge to avoid #1 the mud, #2 me falling off a wall, and especially #3 the not-so-appropriate “art,” but we did our best and these guys were positively AMAZING! I cannot think of a better group of cool, hip, awesome people to try to pull this off with! My absolute FAVORITE image (which will also be going in my portfolio whenever I get around to updating it 😉 is HERE!

 You don’t say?

 THE COLORS!!!!!!

 Hello!

 We were *trying* to have a serious moment here, but it just wasn’t happening. By this point, we were all pretty delirious with the heat and all nice and sweaty, lol!

 You know I can’t pass up a cool reflection!

 A bit like a game of Where’s Waldo…see if you can find all five people ;-).

 Some of the randomness we spotted.

And, I want to give a shout-out to photographer Christie Goss who flew all the way in from Jackson, Wyoming (in a TROPICAL STORM, no less) to come hang with me for a few days and talk all things photography and business-related (rescheduled her Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop). She is SO wonderful, SO talented, and we had a fantastic time tooling around Austin. Thank you so much, Christie. I really enjoyed my time with you and I look forward to getting to visit with you again!

And now, from mom:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Chris and I met in 5th grade, went to prom together our senior year and celebrated our 11th anniversary just two days after this photo shoot. We created three pretty awesome small people, Paxton (8), Evan (5) and Hamilton (2.5) that we are just trying really hard not to mess up too bad.

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

Michele came to our house right after we were fortunate enough to move back to Austin in 2011 and she’s been a staple for our family every year since. This year I was in a panic trying to figure out when we could fit our annual session into our crazy 2015 schedule….needless to say, the stars aligned and she contacted me!

Where was your session held and why?

We went to HOPE Outdoor Gallery aka Graffiti Park at Castle Hills aka the Baylor Street Art Wall. Our kids had been dying to explore the park and I just love the ever changing art work and colors. Michele needed us to go somewhere urban and super Austin-y. I really couldn’t wait to see what she could do there.

What did you like about your session location?

Oh, Ha! See above??? I think it’s a place that screams Austin. It was started as an educational art project and is one of the largest outdoor galleries in the USA. There are little gems hidden everywhere within the artwork (and some not so hidden gems we tried to avoid, ha!).

What was your favorite part of your session?

That it stopped raining just long enough to squeeze the session in at all??? That, and just exploring all around the gallery…and that funky detergent baby hanging on the post…keep Austin weird, y’all.

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

No way. At this point in our relationship, a session with Michele is like a little family reunion. [I feel the same, my sista!]

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

The fact that my oldest always finds a way to pass gas towards the end of our shoots with Michele and this year the baby was old enough to get it and then proceeded to run around and tell us all over and over that, “Paxton tooooooot!!!” and crack himself up.

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

Relax and trust Michele. She sees things that you absolutely had no idea she was photographing at the time. She handled the fact that my daughter went through a phase where I had to be holding her at all times and that my boys are wild and crazy. She has photographed us everywhere from our house at sunset, to the Broken Spoke at the crack of dawn, to little pockets of west Austin, the hospital, her studio and now a giant graffiti wall. She’s photographed us dressed to the nines, casual, super pregnant and pushing out a baby. Every single image she has captured of us we have loved. Every. Single. One. Every time we see her I am anxious to see what she comes up with because I just know she’s going to produce something that takes my breath away once again. [Aw…wow…thank you, W!]

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

We spent a little time in Lubbock as a family and I had the privilege of doing some work for a neighbor that was a photographer. Having seen the behind the scenes action there, I scoured the internet when we moved back to Austin searching for the right “feel” for our family. I stumbled upon Pinkle Toes Photography, googlestalked her, and there was no turning back. Her website, her blog and most importantly, her images just spoke to me.

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

I am really glad Mom made us wear those goofy age shirts every year….when’s our next session with Michele?

But not about the tragic, horrific, sad, unspeakable event that just happened there recently (though I will admit it completely broke my heart when I heard the news). No, instead I want to talk about the absolutely beautiful, warm, friendly city with the equally beautiful, warm, friendly people living there that I was introduced to back in May. Charleston, South Carolina was the site of the 3rd Annual Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop Reunion. With previous magnificent reunions held first in Chicago in 2012, then New York City in 2014, the barre (spelling intended 😉 had been set pretty high for this informal gathering of past Pinkle Toes Workshop grads from all over. You will definitely want to read this post all the way to the end so you can follow the links to the images by all of the photographers who came to play.

The very first thing I did in Charleston was Becky’s family photo session (sigh…that was amazing) and I have to tell you, the city pretty much blew me away with its charm and beauty. The next morning, those of us who had gotten to the house early got to take a wonderful stroll along the beach at Isle of Palms. It was there we happened upon this stunning pregnant momma and Becky got the idea for us to do a maternity photo session for her on the beach when the rest of our crew arrived later! I cannot even believe this mom did not run away thinking we were crazy with the idea…instead, she was thrilled and we were very excited to get to play at sunset. I cannot remember the exact order of events, but I do know we had an OUTSTANDING lunch at Cru Café, very VERY tasty pizza from Mellow Mushroom that evening (including a surprise visit from a long-time online friend of mine, Danielle Hobbs), and then a gorgeous sunset maternity session on the beach:

With that many photographers there with cameras snapping away, you would think that would cause extreme intimidation and shyness. That, my friends, was NOT an issue here. How wonderful that this family opened up their little world to us and let us photograph this magical time in their lives. By the way…there are TWO babies in there ;-).

Pull back from the above image HERE so you can get a taste of what it must be like to have your own paparazzi. 

Loved this playful interaction here with Heather! She really had no problem hamming it up to the camera!

 I’m not sure why Nicole is hiding under Jody’s dress. #motherginger #lotsofhashtagginghappeningduringthistrip

Yeah. Pretty stunning evening all around.

Okay, all of my days are starting to blur together at this point. In true reunion fashion, we packed in as much as we possibly could during our weekend. Let’s see if I can remember what all we did. Let’s see…

1. Pure Barre Class – I was WAY impressed that these ladies decided to join me for a class and I was amazed at how Pure Barre Mount Pleasant welcomed us with open arms. Maybe not the best idea for the start of a very busy vacation (can you say SORE?), but actually, maybe it was (can you say LOTS OF DELICIOUS FOOD?).
2. There was a lot of talk about T-Rex’s and what they do and do not like ;-).
3. We had amazing sushi at O-Ku.
4. Food Tour!! – we’ve done this at each of the reunions so far…such a great way to get to know the city and try all kinds of unique dishes.
5. Oh…I will never forget dinner at The Grocery, which involved lots of incredible roasted broccoli and a few too many grown up strawberry-basil drinky drinks ;-). Lots and lots and lots of laughs that evening!
6. The most amazing cupcakes at Sugar Bakeshop. I really want one right now.
7. Cruising around downtown Charleston in Christy’s minivan dancing to Uptown Funk.
8. #hashtag
9. Sunrise Saturday – it has become a tradition as well to get up before the sun and go someplace unique for some photo ops. We chose the Folly Beach Lighthouse this year and it did not disappoint:

Rushing to catch the sunrise! It amazes me how little convincing it takes photographers to get up at 3:30 in the morning after you’ve gone to sleep after midnight just by the promise of amazing light.

Christy is being very dramatic with her hand signals. Thank you, Christy ;-).

I LOVE the shot Annette ended up getting from this perspective. It really is telling when 10 photographers can photograph the exact same thing and each come away with their own unique take on it.

Cue sun. Cue birds.

Okay, so Katie and I took a bit of a risk and basically RAN all the way around the island to get the perfect spot. Maybe not a good move as the tide came in and we had to kinda wade back to the rest of the group holding our cameras above water. Oops. #stupidbutworthit

Oh, I wish I had a longer lens.

Wish granted.

It was indeed worth it.

We had yet another delicious meal complete with homemade cinnamon rolls at Lost Dog Café and then it was off to our carriage tour. After that, we headed to Boone Hall Plantation (see…I wasn’t kidding when I said we did it ALL). What a beautiful place and yes, we did get to see the very waters where Mr. Hey Girl Ryan Gosling dove in during filming of The Notebook. (BRB, going to go watch that movie again). #heygirl

Here, Jody is giving us jazz hands. Or letting us know she has 5 fingers. Or giving us a tour. Or telling us to stop walking. Or testing the light. It’s hard to tell. #trexhatesjazzhands

They were setting up for what was certain to be a GORGEOUS wedding that night. We seriously contemplated crashing it. Who would turn down 9 free photographers? Of course, we probably would spend the whole time photographing the Spanish moss, of which, I’m certain I have about 1,000 images. Good. Grief. #photogcandy That, and poppies:

We also got to make one last visit to Rainbow Row (sigh…Jen Y). I am SO glad we got to back there. So many lovely colors and plants and details. I decided to play around with the Waterlogue app on my iPhone images from the trip. I kinda like how this turned out:

(Follow this Instagram #hashtag for more images from the trip).

I am certain I have missed major details from this incredible reunion. I’m sorry I keep using the words, “incredible, awesome, amazing, beautiful, wonderful, etc.” over and over again, but really, there’s no other way to describe it. I feel incredibly (there I go again) lucky to get to explore these new places, but even more so, I get to do so surrounded by lovely people who share the same sense of humor and a LOVE of all things beautiful, artistic, and tasty. Ladies of the Charleston, SC reunion: YOU made this trip for me. I swear my cheeks hurt for days after coming home from smiling and laughing so much. I would go back in a heartbeat and do it all over again. Much love to you all. #trexlovesfriendship

————

Now, click on over to Jody Mack Photography (Charleston, Mount Pleasant Lifestyle Newborn and Family Photographer) to see her images and take on the trip! Follow the blog circle!

————

And for the complete list of photographers who attended this reunion (visit their sites and you will be blown away!):

Jen Yancey (Greensboro, NC)

Heather Schmitt (Dallas, TX)

Becky Keller (Raleigh, NC)

Nicole Leonard (Louisville, CO)

Katie Bork (Wilmington, NC)

Christy Gant (Sumter, SC) 

Annette Goodman (Charlotte, NC)

Jody Mack Photography (Charleston, SC)

Confession: I wasn’t really expecting to fall in LOVE with Charleston, SC, but I couldn’t help myself. This was the location of the 3rd Annual Pinkle Toes Workshop Reunion (I’ll be posting about that later 😉 and while I was in town, my friend Becky of  Rebecca Keller Photography wanted to have her family photographed in the same place where her husband proposed to her (the gazebo you see above). Um…I also need to pause here and let you know that Becky’s AMAZING photography was recently featured in People Magazine  for an incredibly inspiration article totally worth reading and in the same issue where Princess Charlotte first graced the cover. Yeah…you should have seen Becky’s hubby and I snagging copies at the local Harris Teeter and bragging on her ;-).

Anyway, the day I flew into Charleston, we headed right into town for an evening full of photographer’s eye candy which included a happy, loving, beautiful family; gorgeous light; unique and endlessly interesting architecture; the scent of jasmine so thick you could practically see it; a honest-to-goodness cobblestone street; and a row of homes painted so brightly, it is actually called “Rainbow Row.” I quickly learned that evening that Charleston was a city full of character, color, and charm.

This one made me giggle when I stumbled upon it! Mama definitely  has her arms full of love with these two hams. And there’s that jasmine. The streets were basically lined with it in full bloom!

Our first pass along Rainbow Row. We had to go back for seconds later ;-).

Cobblestone!!!!! Just don’t see much of this in Texas, so yeah, I was a bit infatuated.

Becky gave me the heads up that it might take a lot for little buddy up there to smile and true to form, he was pretty serious through most of the session. But he couldn’t resist the power of mom snuggles.

Yeah, there’s more of that stunning light.

Back to Rainbow Row!!! I’m kinda glad we didn’t come here first because I don’t think I would have gone anywhere else. I mean what a cool spot!

Another one of my favorite shots along Rainbow Row can be found HERE.

This little dude is sharp as a tack and SO charming! He is such a neat kid and so much fun to chat with!

Becky’s hubby has the patience of a saint. They drove in from NC that morning and then he drove back and forth to the airport to pick me up and then hauled the whole family into downtown to do a photo shoot AND then, took the boys home the next day so that Becky could stay and enjoy the reunion. I think he earned his hubby points for the entire year in just a few days’ time.

So there’s a thing about pineapples in Charleston. Didn’t know that, but they’re a symbol of hospitality and you can spot them everywhere…even as a giant fountain at Waterfront Park. The fountain and sunglasses were a big hit with big brother, but both were a huge miss with the little guy. He was D-O-N-E with us and all of our shenanigans by this point. Fortunately, Becky had a secret weapon: his bear. The first glimpse of his bear and he lit up with a full body smile! How precious it is to see something so small bring such delight to a child.

Becky, it was my absolute pleasure to get to work with you and your family. I know I said this over and over during the session, but your patience, relaxed approach, and realistic expectations of your sweet boys really gave me the freedom to create for you. It was such a joy to experience a city that obviously means so much to you with the people that mean the most to you! Thank you for sharing Charleston and your amazing family with me!

Update 6/4/15 from Becky:

Tell us a little bit about your family…

Michael – grew up in Akron, OH,loves Carolina basketball and spends a lot of his free time building legos with Owen.
Becky – Grew up in Greensboro, NC, loves photography, iced coffee, fried okra, and pure barre (thanks Michele for recommending!!!)
Owen – spends most of his time building legos, reading, and playing at the park
Harrison – loves trains, his bear, his blankie and his big brother

What did you like about your session location?

I was so super excited when I found out the Pinkle Toes Workshop Reunion was possibly going to be in Charleston. I e-mailed Michele to see if it would be possible to photograph our family and was so excited that it was going to work out. Since Michael proposed in the gazebo at The Battery, I loved the idea of having family portraits there, too. Charleston has always been special to us, and I’m so excited about decorating our house with the custom portraits Michele created for us.

What was your favorite part of your session?

My favorite part of the session was just how much fun it was. There was no trying to get the kids to look at the camera or Michele – no stress of trying to get the kids into good moods because what was important to us was capturing our family have fun together and interacting together like we normally do. The session was focused on us just being us which resulted in pictures I just LOVE. When I look at the images, I see my kids personalities just shining though and I love that – Michele captured so many of their everyday expressions. It was also fun walking around Charleston and exploring all the fun spots – we did not run out of pretty places and had to keep ourselves from stopping every second! I also love that we were able to capture so much of Charleston – the Battery, Rainbow Row, cobblestone streets, and the Waterfront Park. I’m still amazed at all we captured in one session.

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

Since we all made the trip to Charleston that day, and Michele’s connecting flight was a little delayed, it seemed like a miracle that it all came together! I had my hair and make up done only twenty minutes after we arrived in Charleston and we left about an hour or so later for downtown.

Any funny stories or interesting happenings during your session?

Owen was totally Michele’s bff right when he met her and just took her hand right out of the car and started towards the park like they were hanging out – see you guys later!

Any advice to other families before their photo sessions?

I would just relax and spend the time playing with your kids and not focusing on trying to get them to look at the camera. Those are my most favorite images. I also loved that I had my hair and make up done and that I didn’t have to worry about it during the session and could just play with my boys.

What made you choose Pinkle Toes Photography?

Michele is so much fun, and I love how creative she is with her images and not focusing on posed portraits. I knew she would create authentic family portraits for us that captured my little ones’ personalities and us together. I also wanted something that looked more like art to decorate our home with, and I’m so excited to display these!I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about our session – that Michele would create beautiful memories for us that were unique and creative.

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

How much fun we had as a family and what a treasure these are to look at and remember. I love our images because they genuinely look like us because we weren’t stressed, and we were having so much fun together. I hope my kids will see that – how loved and treasured they are and the love their mom and dad also have for each other. Since I’m usually the one taking photos of my husband and kids, it’s such a treasure to be in the photos, too, and to also have a photo of just Michael and I. Thank you, Michele, for capturing these sweet memories for us!

I had the pleasure of seeing the beautiful state of Washington this summer. I loved my first morning there, shopping an AMAZING farmer’s market in Olympia with our awesome hostess Casey with Phreckle Face Photography (and be sure to visit her website because it is REALLY cute!).  I mean, we have have farmer’s markets in Austin, but it’s nothing like this. The air was so fresh and cool. The smells of flowers and berries and hand-crafted soaps was intoxicating. We may or may not have spent nearly half of our food budget for the workshop there (which may or may not have resulted in two Thai meals that weekend with minimal complaining), but oh, it was worth it.

Our fabulous attendees arrived later that afternoon and after going over the traditional workshop business stuff, we played outside along the beautiful bay practicing finding light and embracing sunshine. We were up early the next morning to photograph a *very* expressive newborn baby girl who had us all entranced with her adorable whole body smiles:

Later that evening, we had the incredible opportunity to photograph the family who owned the STUNNING Lighthouse Bungalow that housed us (pics of the house below). This session was such magic…it was all things boy and beach and energy and light and sparkle and love:

Our final morning together, we were up at the crack of dawn to hone our photography skills and try out new techniques with our oh-so-fun maternity couple along the docks (continuing the nautical theme that sort of naturally developed during our stay here):

LOVED playing with that perfect mirror-like reflection that greeted us in the water that morning!

And here’s some house decor eye candy for ya:

We had such lovely evenings out there, overlooking the Capitol building, watching the drastic changes in the tide, sipping drinks, watching the sunset, discussing all things photography. What an amazing group of ladies and a fantastic way to end our 21 day journey workshopping up the west coast (click to read part 1 and part 2; my personal pics from the trip will come…eventually).

And be sure to follow the next link in our blog circle to see another perspective on this photography workshop: the beautiful and talented Carrie with Yi Li Photography, Seattle Family Lifestyle Photographer. I can’t wait to check all the posts out myself! I have purposely not looked until now!

Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know that we do not have any more workshops coming up in the states this year or next at this time. However, we are gearing up to head all the way down under to Sydney, Australia sometime late in 2015. If you would like to be notified if that changes or if you want to get information on the Australia workshops when they are available, please drop a line.

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!

I’m not even sure how to put into words the experience my family and I had this summer on the west coast. I guess I’ll try to break it down by each of the three lifestyle photography workshops I did along the coast and then come back to blog about what we did as a family. So let’s start with Cardiff-by-the-Sea in southern California. This group of ladies was so fun and up for anything. The first night, we got to venture out to the beach so I could take their headshots (all the way at the bottom of this post) and we could dip our toes in the ccccccccold waters of the Pacific Ocean (I had NO idea how chilly the water was compared to the Gulf of Mexico out here, lol).

After staying up all night covering all of the standard workshop stuff about preparing for sessions and equipment, etc. (oh, did I mention we did much of this discussion in the amazing hot tub by a fire at the house?), we got up early the next morning to head out to our first official photo session of the weekend: the in-home lifestyle newborn photography demonstration. We could not have asked for a more laid back, perfectly California cool family with which to work. And I mean, look at little guy’s hair? It just doesn’t get any better than that!

Later that afternoon, I had the long-awaited privilege of photographing my wonderful photographer friend with Caroline Martin Photography in Carlsbad, CA. I’ve “known” Caroline for several years now (she is a Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop graduate) and she also served as our amazing hostess for this workshop in Cardiff. We got to work in Caroline’s home…the place where she brought her boys home from the hospital after they were born…the place that they love and have grown up in. SO many memories there!!! It was rich with love and happiness. I teared up so many times while editing this session because Caroline radiates joy in all things she does…especially when she is around her family. She is a talented, vibrant, determined, energetic person and I feel very lucky to know her:

The next morning, we had to get up at sunrise (which is BRUTAL on the west coast) to practice all of the techniques and skills we covered on this gorgeous couple, who at the time, were expecting their third baby:

Workshops are always equally exhausting, inspiring, and cathartic…this one was no exception and the attendees who choose to attend a Pinkle Toes Workshop truly give it its own personality. Here are some of those personalities:

As always, I’m excited to follow along in this workshop blog circle to get all of their perspectives and see the images the attendees took for the very first time. Follow along with me! Next up is Brittany Lynn Portraits all the way from Milwaukee, WI!

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!