Back in 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting Megan Grommes of Megan Crown Photography (Twin Cities) at one of my professional family photographer workshops. Totally out of the blue, I got this note from her a few days ago:

I read your blog post about lighting and people’s houses and wanted to share this: That was one thing I feel I learned from the workshop and PT4P – finding light and making it work in client’s houses. I love this session. The thing is – there was literally NO LIGHT except for one window. Before I would have freaked out! However I was calm and used that one window for all it was worth and I really liked the results – so thank you for your mentorship! I appreciate what you had to teach us.

Megan…that was super cool to hear and man, I love that session, too. I think you did a phenomenal job of working with what you had. The way you used the light captured the perfect amount of emotion and drama and yet, it’s still soft and newborn-like. Well done!

In case you all might like to see some of the work that Megan did at the workshop in Austin, here are just a few of my favs from her:

And, for goodness sake, please be sure to check out Megan’s phenomenal birth photography as well. You’ll be glad that you did!

Regarding the 2013 Pinkle Toes workshops, the deadline is literally just a few weeks away to receive the first $100 discount, so if you want to reserve your spot, you’ll want to do that ASAP.

P.S. I think most photogs out there already know that this is peak holiday season right now, so my communication on the blog and e-mail is going to be sporadic at best ;-). [Of course, I do still Instagram a lot, LOL, because it’s faster and easier and doesn’t require me to be at my computer or using Lightroom]. I have gotten several e-mails wondering if I’m still going to follow up with my little experiment and the answer is of course! I just need some time to sit down and write out a thoughtful response. Thanks so much for your patience, gang!

They say the grass is greener. So I had to take another look. If you’ll recall, I switched from Canon to Nikon in 2010. Now, two years later, I guess I must be getting bored ;-). Thought I’d do a little side by side comparison with my Nikon D700 50mm 1.4 (which I currently own) and the Canon 5D miii 50mm 1.2 (just because I hear all of my colleagues raving over this camera). I’ll let you know what my personal verdict is in the follow up post. Meanwhile, feel free to weigh in…

Also…still gauging workshop interest and possible locations for 2013. You’ll definitely want to check out THIS PAGE and fill out the form “let me know” if you want to be notified when we decide.

I met Jackie about a year ago at Barb’s amazing workshop and learned that Jackie lived just down the road from me (which is rare because I’m in the boonies!!!). Love Jackie’s work, too!! So glad she was willing to come out for some underwater play before her sweet baby girl was born! (One on dry land HERE and my personal underwater fav HERE.)

Speaking of workshops, did you see my announcement on Facebook? I’m considering starting professional photographer workshops back in 2013!! I’m incredibly excited about the potential plans (which may include me traveling for the first time–eeep!). To make sure you’re among the first to know the details, fill out the “let me know” link on THIS page!

I think you all know by now I ADORE family photo sessions at home…especially when working with small children or larger groups of kiddos. It’s soooooo much easier for everyone. You tend to be more relaxed. You’re more comfortable. We can take more breaks if needed. Kiddos are in their own environment. But perhaps most importantly, you’ve captured where they lived and how they lived so that years from now, after they move away, they can always look back on these images and say, “Hey…I remember when I used to play with that toy.”

I met Brandi (a photographer!) last summer when she attended one of my professional photographer workshops. I knew I liked her right away and as I got to know her more, I realized she is quite the incredible mama! It was such an honor when she asked if I would photograph her family while I was in Houston this summer. Gosh, I was so impressed to see how they run their household first-hand (they are a GREAT team) and she just seems to bask in the glow of being a mommy, even when her youngest daughter decides to put on eyeliner just before the photo session. They have done a wonderful job cultivating these personalities and I can honestly say I loved every second of this session.

(Which ones are my favs from this session? Pretty much all of them, but to highlight, I love these ones HERE and HERE and HERE).

So when his mommy told me that he was on the move and full of energy, I thought, “That’s cool. I can handle that.” But see that little sweaty-boy-head? Trust me, Nina and I probably had it 10x worse trying to keep up with him, LOL! I like a challenge, though, and I like having to think on my feet and move quickly to capture what I’m seeing and anticipate what I’m about to see, so thanks, little man, for making sure we were on our toes!

This was session #2 of my one-on-one photography coaching session w/ Nina from Singapore. So funny how Austin was in this long, horrible dry spell until all of a sudden, I need to be shooting outdoors and then it decides to POUR! Lucky us, we had a small break in the storms this evening. Lucky us, the rain cooled things off a bit and provided a bit of a reward for us all at the end of our session.

Behind-the-scenes:

And one more here.

After our busy day of shooting and talking and all things photography, Nina and I treated ourselves to a fab dinner at Chuy’s (she had never had Tex-Mex before!). As we were pulling into the restaurant, the sun came out and we had the most wonderful light. Couldn’t resist:

Isn’t she purdy?

I mean, seriously? How did he get to be so lucky as to be born with those amazing locks? He was an absolute perfect little newborn baby for what I believe was his 2nd or 3rd newborn photo session, LOL. Loved his expressive eyes and little chunky thighs! For the last shots, mom had pulled out part of her wedding dress. I was trying to figure out how to use it (it was a bit scratchy to wrap him it it) when we decided to shoot through it. I loved how those turned out!!

This session was actually part of a one-on-one photography mentoring session I had put together for Nina all the way from Singapore! Did you see the shot she took from this session HERE? WOW!!! I was a little nervous about doing this kind of thing because I had never done any one-on-one mentoring before, but Nina convinced me to give it a go. Our time together was too short and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Nina and her work and finding ways to help her grow her own business. Here’s Nina in action at this shoot:

More images from our other adventures together will be coming soon and Nina, I mean it…it was a pleasure hanging out with you and I very much look forward to visiting you again someday! Photogs: if you would like to be notified of possible future photography workshops and coaching, drop a line.