Attention Class of 2026! If you are graduating high school or college in the Austin area, it is neither too early nor too late to have your Senior Portraits taken! January and February are actually incredible months to check this important To Do off your list. Why?

1. “Busy season” for most photographers is over, so we can give you our full energy to creating unique senior portraits that capture your authentic personality.
2. It’s before 2nd “busy season” begins (springtime in Austin). This is an especially great time to work in more urban and developed areas in Austin (like our session above on South Congress). You don’t have to wait around for leaves and grass and plants to reappear.
3. With the exception of a few days here and there, the temps are usually pretty mild and humidity is low. You won’t need to worry about insects, sweating, or hair misbehaving.
4. It’s early enough to have your finished images back in time for graduation announcements!

The above senior photo session was so memorable! I LOVED that she wanted to show off all sides of her very dynamic personality. She wasn’t afraid to be bold and colorful…be it in the outfits she put together or in her mid-session makeup change. The entire time we explored South Congress with her and her mom, it felt so energizing and exciting! These are not your run-of-the-mill “Senior Portraits,” which is perfect because she’s not a run-of-the-mill kind of person.

I very much encourage everyone who is having a photo shoot done (for any occasion) to prepare your vision for the session with your photographer ahead of time (just like she did), but then embrace flexibility for new visions and ideas to crop up as we are inspired. That really is the key to any successful photo session: plan and prepare and then prepare for that plan to change and grow during the shoot. Her willingness to collaborate with me and let the session evolve allowed for a palpable creative flow state among all three of us that morning!

If you are ready to start planning your senior portrait session with me, let’s talk soon!

I can’t believe I have now known this beautiful mom since we were running buddies with Gilbert’s Gazelles starting back in 2018! We spent countless hours running together throughout downtown Austin (including the location of this particular family photo session), learning so much about one another and each other’s families. I’m so proud that our friendship has remained even after our marathon goal was completed and I am always honored that I get to photograph her boys as they dote on her.

I was super eager to get to use the boardwalk, located on the shores of Lady Bird Lake, as the backdrop for their family photos not only because it’s gorgeous (duh), but because we all have so many wonderful memories along this trail. During our pre-session consult, mom showed me her stunning yellow dress and I just knew we had chosen the perfect place to show her off!

In spite of the fact it was during the wee hours of the early morning (big fan of sunrise photo sessions, especially in the hot Texas months), the boys were eager to explore the boardwalk and play around. The boardwalk offers such an amazing variety of locations in which to shoot; from the sun sparkling on the water, to the majestic skyline, to the beautiful trees that line the shore, we made full use of all little vignettes and lovely light to create a diverse set of images to cherish.

One of the things I love most about working with families year after year like this is that I start to feel like part of the family…like an aunt with a fancy camera. The boys are super comfortable around me now and they have no problem being themselves. They don’t require many prompts at all and are thrilled to create their own unique poses and shot ideas. In fact, their candid shots are some of my favorite images from the session, as they capture their true personalities and emotions. In fact, we have our next session coming up very soon and I can’t wait to see what they create this time!

This family is certainly no stranger to the Pinkle Toes blog and when mom first contacted me about their upcoming session, she mentioned that they wanted to do something different and fun. Over the years, they have set the bar pretty high (exhibit A), so I was a little nervous that we would be to do yet another session that would highlight this dynamic crew properly. But when mom brought up the idea of using color powder, I knew it would be a huge hit with the kids and make for incredibly bold, colorful, and creative family photos for them.

On the evening of our session, before breaking out the color powder, we started with some traditional family portraits:

And then we had a costume change to serve as a blank canvas for the colorful splash we were about to make! We picked a place where the sun would shine through the trees and allow the vibrant colors to contrast beautifully against the natural Texas landscape. Mom had a great idea to put the powder into squeeze bottles and on the count of three, everyone squeezed their bottles into the air creating a burst of colors that looked simply magical. Kids and grown ups alike were screeching and giggling and having an amazing time, and I could tell that this was going to be an awesome session.

One of the things I loved most about this shoot was how unpredictable it was. You never knew exactly how the colors were going to mix, and every photo turned out differently. It was a welcome challenge as a photographer to capture these ever-changing and fleeting moments.

Even their wonderful nanny jumped into the action!

The leaf-blower was the icing on the cake for me :-).

It’s safe to say that their color powder family photo session was a huge success, even if it took quite a while to clean the powder out of our hair and teeth. We were all thrilled with the photos, but I think the memories created will have an even deeper impact. I can’t help but to imagine these kiddos all grown up, flipping through an album of these images and talking to their own children about this awesome day where their parents willingly let them make a gigantic mess! I can’t wait to see what other creative ideas my clients will come up with for their own family photos.

P.S. As promised, a behind-the-scenes look of the aftermath:

I am quite possibly in denial that Senior Portrait Season is in full swing here…probably because I have a senior myself this year. But I am LOVING meeting and working with all of these amazing young people who have more confidence and talent than I ever had at their age! I still have some openings left for March or April if you’re graduating this spring (Class of 2022) from a school in Austin, Pflugerville, Round Rock, Georgetown, Westlake, Lake Travis or anywhere in the surrounding areas. I am fully booked up for May, though, so don’t wait! Or, if you are in the Class of 2023, reach out and we can talk about having your senior photo session during some down time this summer. My contact form isn’t working right now, so just send an email to info@pinkletoes.com.

After a magical and hectic busy season, we are taking some time for much-needed rest and time with family. I will respond to emails and calls when we get back to the real world starting January 5th. Happiest of Holidays to you all and see you next year! (Don’t worry…if you a session scheduled with me during this time, we’re still on!)

On Friday morning, our sweet little pup Penny was horrifically attacked by another animal. She is fighting for her life right now. You can read more and perhaps consider helping in any way possible HERE.

Much love and please pray,

~Michele

Things I fondly recall about this family photo session on a gorgeous Austin day: 1. I was struck by their beauty…all of them. 2. The smiles and giggles were 100% authentic. 3. Little man had us running all around after him, but he was so joyful, we gladly participated. 4. There is a LOT of love among the siblings. 5. I wish I could photograph in this kind of weather and light every single day.

This is your (my) little reminder that there are *still* wonderful things happening in the world. I cannot wait to meet this little miracle very soon!!!

It hurts a little to go back and look at the sessions held before March of 2020. At the same time, it’s a great reminder that what was important “back then” is just as important, if not more important, now. If I have learned anything this year, it’s that nothing, and I mean nothing, is more valuable than family. And, like basically all of my clients, I love this family as if they were my own family. When I see their kiddos, I think of one of my fav shots taken from above (the wagon). I think of what The Broken Spoke used to look like (I *still* have that garland I use from time to time). I think of them singing this song during this maternity session (and honestly, I *always* think of them whenever I hear it to this day). And then, of course there’s this one’s Birth Day (scroll down). And now I’m realizing I never blogged their family session from 2017!!! I think I’m going to have to do a follow up for that one :-).

The point of this is that I hope you all realize that your family feels like *my* family. I am so grateful to get to experience the wonderful and momentous and even the simplest moments in life with you. I also feel your pain and your lows. I see your children growing up at warp speed and it is a feeling of pride and nostalgic ache that I wasn’t quite prepared for emotionally.

On April 22, 2020, we were fortunate enough to celebrate TWENTY years of marriage! I had been planning our 20 year anniversary celebration for a long time with lots of events and sweet surprises. But of course, like pretty much everyone on the planet right now, life shut down all of those plans with one swift blow. I knew I was going to have to let go of everything I had originally had in mind and figured we’d just pick up some take out and maybe a bottle of champagne.

Yay.

I was admittedly disappointed, but I think we’ve all gotten used to that over the last few months. And truly, I am still grateful for the health and well-being of my family and I do not take our marriage for granted. A  romantic vacation or a big bash isn’t required to appreciate our relationship or the family we’ve created together.

But then, about 7 days out from our anniversary, I had the idea to move forward with a different, more intimate, and ultimately more meaningful ceremony in our own house…just the five of us (well, seven, including the dog and the cat). With just a week of planning and creating, I think we managed to pull off quite a magical little DIY 20 year celebration and it turned out to be *just* as special to me and all of us as our initial wedding day!

We had pretty much everything needed for a 20 year wedding celebration/vow renewal, including a happy couple, twinkling lights, rose petals from the yard, and even “professional” photography!

My bouquet, courtesy of Whole Foods.

Baby girl did my makeup 🙂

I had originally thought I would wear my wedding dress, but the Quarantine 15 (or more) had other ideas (ooof). Snagged this gorgeous number on sale from Joyfolie instead. It. Has. Pockets.

The morning of the “party,” I got up extra early to transform our dining room into a reception hall:

We may or may not have spray painted some plasticware to look extra fancy. Also, check out the hand- monogramed “fine linens” by my daughter!

A word on our dining room window: this was left from a project by my nieces a while back. We loved it so much, we decided to keep it up.  Honestly, I may never wash it off! (Check out how it looks at night outside at the bottom of this post).

The train from my original wedding dress was used as a table cloth.

The day before the celebration, the five of us made our own miniature wedding cakes. That was quite the task, let me tell you, as we let everyone decide on their own flavors and decorations for each individual cake. It will be a long time before I bake another cake again, but this was one of my most favorite parts of the whole event…I LOVE how they all turned out! After dinner that night, we each got to have a tiny taste of every little cake :-).

Since I never had professional pics from my own wedding, I thought I’d squeeze in a ring shot. Oh, and check out our super handsome ring bearer:

The kids each played integral roles in the ceremony. Our daughter was my Maid of Honor…

The eldest was our “Officiant.” He did a fantastic job! I dug up the original copy of our wedding vows and he read part of that for us at the ceremony.  Then Virgil and I wrote new vows to one another.

Our middle son was the Best Man AND videographer at the same time. His Best Man toast made me giggle and cry. Sigh…my handsome boys…

Oh yes! During quarantine, our daughter decided to learn how to play piano. She worked SO hard to learn the Wedding March and she absolutely nailed it as I walked down the aisle!

My hubby was in charge of “catering” and he did not disappoint. The take out from Gusto Italian Kitchen was absolutely incredible and we are very much looking forward to going back to dine in there very soon!

A little behind-the-scenes from cake making the night before.

That night, we showed the kids our wedding slideshow…on a VCR! The kids had never seen it before and the most common comments were, “You guys look like babies!” and “I can’t believe how much life you lived together before us!” The kids also made up their own version of The Newlywed Game and we laughed until we cried while playing.

I honestly could not stop smiling the whole evening, I swear you could probably see little hearts beaming out of my eyes. I told my husband in our vows that I am not only in love with him, but I am in love with our family. Quarantine has been trying for sure, but also a precious bonus gift of time together under one roof.  It made me appreciate not only the fact that we were even able to have a wedding all those years ago, but that we *still* have each other. We aren’t perfect people and we don’t have the perfect life or the perfect marriage, but we do have and we do love and we do keep choosing to move forward together and we will keep moving forward together as long as the universe allows.