I have followed this sweetie pie’s journey from all the way back when she was still in her mommy’s tummy. And what a journey it has been:

1. Maternity photo session in downtown Austin

2. Newborn pictures at home

3. Five months old during a VERY cold morning out at my studio/property:

4. Seven months old (and celebrating our Nation’s Birthday 😉

5. 9 month old baby pictures at the Pinkle Toes Studio

6. And now, she’s a YEAR old! A YEAR! Oh, this has to be the hardest part of my job. Not only do I have to watch my own kids grow up, but my client’s children at lightning speed:

I guess it would be strange to say I love these kids like I love my own, but yeah, I kinda do. Especially when I get to see them grow into their families like this. It’s an incredible honor. xoxo to you H. You know I adore you and your entire family!

Bless her heart, Lauren and her fam made the trip to Austin (and back, no less) from way down in South Texas in just one day. It’s funny because I was just talking to some photography friends (we are getting ready for our 4th–really FOURTH?–Annual Pinkle Toes Photography Workshop Reunion in Charleston, SC in May) about how you can drive and drive all day and never actually make it out of Texas. But Texans are used to those kinds of road trips I guess. Anyway, I was quite impressed that she AND her hubby AND BOTH kiddos were in such amazing moods even after all of that driving. Really, her daughter just marched right up to me when I first got there and chatted like we’ve known each other all our lives. And I could not get over baby boy’s infectious, whole-body grin! The four of them are so laid back and had absolutely no troubles settling into playing together while I happily photographed them. Hmmmm…and if I had to pick a favorite, I think it would be THIS one. But I don’t know. I could change my mind in the next five minutes. Again.

[Side note: pssst…hey…did you see my last post about Denver?]

I’ve had the joy of working with this family several times over the years and every session has been magical to me. Our evening at McKinney Falls in Austin was no exception. I’m embarrassed to admit that I hadn’t been there before, so it was amazing exploring a new place in Austin. So many different types of landscapes…walk a few feet in either direction and you could be standing at a creek, in the woods, atop a waterfall, or on a rocky limestone expanse with neato reflecting pools hidden here and there.

While location is certainly key to helping set the mood and provide a fun, engaging, beautiful backdrop for a family photo session, is is definitely the subjects that give it passion and energy. Watching these four interact they way they do–full of love and joy in life–is inspiring. That’s what makes pictures emotional and beautiful, so thank you guys, for letting me hang out with you once again. [Session FAVORITE!]

In case you missed the announcement, I will be in Denver, Colorado for a couple of days in March and am accepting a very limited number of family photo sessions. If you would like more information (dates, etc.), let me know as soon as possible!

The first year at our kids’ school, a friend told me that they go all out for Dia de los Muertos. Honestly, I didn’t even really know what it was, but sure enough, our school did go all out and I thought it was beautiful, even if it didn’t particularly mean much to me at the time.

By our second year at the school, however, we had lost 3 very close family members and suddenly, Dia de los Muertos became an event I had been both dreading and anxiously anticipating. We made it through the processional, but the emotions stirred during my 2nd time ever in that march were overpowering, but uplifting.

This year, we got the kiddos  up at 6 a.m. this morning to do their sugar skull makeup. My husband and I were working so hard, we may or may not have been a tad late to school today. But it was soooo worth it! The kids looked amazing and they were so proud of their makeup!

This year, our children each made very thoughtful and beautiful ofrendas to honor our lost loved ones: Grandma Rosie, Uncle Jim, Pop, and even our pups, Kona and Storm:

More images from the day:

But the real treat of the day came by the dance and musical performances of the students for the entire school. I posted some video clips on Instagram (one, two, three, and four), but those really don’t capture the incredible energy and vibe and sound and color and beauty of the celebration. The kids were SO into it! Such a treat to watch my own children get caught up in the magic, too. All of these students are quite lucky to have such talented and creative teachers, staff, and volunteers to pull something like this together in such a short timeframe. Wow!

austin urban family photo session

I mean really…how could you not look up there and smile at all of that wonderful, loving energy up there?! These three kiddos truly brought their A game to their family photo session in downtown Austin that night. They were up for *anything* I asked of them, including laying down in the grass that may or may not have had a couple of bugs hopping around. And fortuitously, we even happened upon a toad (NOT a frog, right T?) which happened to be one of his most favorite animals! Little Miss Sassafras definitely stole my heart sporting those fashionable boots and big bro was absolutely amazing at leading his younger siblings and getting everyone to cooperate happily. Yup, rockin’ session all around!

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!

Austin lifestyle family photos

These littles have practically grown up on the Pinkle Toes blog and that makes my heart leap. Each year, we’ve done something a little different from the last (of course, the best was when I got to be there for baby #3’s grand entrance…barely) and this year was no exception. It was great weather to go exploring around this amazing little creek and of course, the kids’ favorite part was getting to splash me! Rumor has it that someone pictured here celebrated a birthday today (September is a great month in which to be born. I should know. So should the little guy 😉 so I hope she enjoys her little birthday surprise! One of my favorite images from this family session can be found HERE.

The second Pinkle Toes Photography workshop this summer had me back at my home in Austin, Texas in early July. We spent three days learning how to connect with our clients on a deeper level to create more successful and meaningful photo sessions, finding the light in client homes, working in challenging situations (ie. HEAT!!!), and taking headshots in a Wal-mart parking lot ;-). Seriously. We ventured into the greatest little sunflower field and if you couldn’t see it in that picture up above, you would never know where we were, lol. Here are some of my shots from the in-home newborn session demonstration: And then our family demonstration later that day in beautiful downtown Austin, which happened to be with a past workshop attendee/wonderful photographer/good friend Chantal with Whimsy and Style Photography : And finally, we were up BRIGHT AND EARLY the next morning for a sunrise maternity photo session at the greenhouse at my studio/property. We even did a little bit of underwater work: Another fav from the maternity session can be found HERE!   And some of the sunny faces from Pinkle Toes Austin Workshop 1: And THIS ONE by Jessica with Periwinkle Photography just makes me giggle.

Tomorrow, I’ll be posting about the 2nd Austin workshop this summer. But until then, be sure to hop over to my DEAR friend Minnette’s page to see her take on the Austin workshop: Minnette Demafiles Photography – Houston Lifestyle Photographer

I’m back to work here in Austin right now, but I am already making plans to head overseas to Australia for workshops next fall! Lots of details to work out, but we are very excited to head over there. I’ve never been before and it will likely be the only trip I make out that way. If you’d like to get information on the Australia photography workshops (dates, pricing, locations, etc.) when they are ready, please drop a line.

Earlier this month, I had the extreme pleasure of spending 4 days in the great city of New York with 17 other photographer friends – the 2nd official Pinkle Toes Photography workshop reunion! It. Was. Amazing. I can honestly say we finished that city, packing in everything we could possibly do in just those few days…so much so, that I needed about a week to recover.

We did it all!

Our first evening together was spent laughing until our faces hurt playing “Heads Up” in our amazing apartment we all rented out in the heart of the financial district. By the way, I want to send a huge thank you to Nicole for getting our housing arrangements all sorted out for us for the weekend, by the way. It was really hard to believe that most of the girls were meeting for the first time that night and it did not take long for old friendships to be rekindled and new friendships to form. And we had some delicious New York pizza delivered to us to much on that night…the look on the delivery guy’s face when he walked into an apartment full of women was priceless!

The next morning, we headed out to visit the beautiful fountains of the 9/11 Memorial . It was a humbling experience for sure…not a dry eye around as we each tried to comprehend the level of devastation and the majestic monuments that have been constructed. It was a difficult experience, actually…conflicted between the pain of the emotions tied to that horrible day and the beauty of what they have been able to create from that destruction.

Eventually, we left the memorial and started a LONG walk toward The High Line. It was long in distance, sure, but it was compounded exponentially by the fact that we were a group of PHOTOGRAPHERS who are compelled by their very nature to stop and take pictures of everything– especially each other taking pictures of each other (I am allowed to say that because I am probably the #1 offender ;-). But it’s okay. We understand this need. We forgive each other for it. Thank goodness we had our magnificent and capable “tour guide” Lena to expertly lead the way and patiently keep us on track.

The High Line was so much fun! Not only was the weather so kind to us that day, but I could not get over all of the beautiful tulips in bloom (we don’t really have much of that going on here in Texas) and I loved the whole idea behind the High Line (read about it if you don’t know what it is). Super cool place and we had a great time!

Dinner that evening was at The Park in Chelsea. Um. Wow. Now that was some delicious food and thank you so much to Kami for selecting this beautiful spot and coordinating our big group meals during the reunion!!!

After dinner, we hoofed it over to 30 Rock where our whole group got to go straight to the front of the line (GO ONLINE RESERVATIONS!!!) to make our way to the Top of the Rock. I think that may have been most everyone’s favorite part of the trip. We managed to get there at dusk so that we could see the entire city from up above during daylight and then we stayed until after a beautiful sunset to see the city come alive with lights. I don’t know if I’ve ever taken so many pictures of one thing in my life!!! It. Was. Magnificent!

Okay…now that was just the first day so here’s where things start to get fuzzy. I *think* we went to Times Square that night, but maybe it was the next day. I truly cannot remember which night that was, lol! Yes…it was that night because we didn’t stay very long at all…we were completely exhausted, lol!

Early the next morning, I went to do some location scouting for an upcoming session at the Brooklyn Bridge and I gotta tell ya, I was quite taken with the bridge. First of all, I couldn’t quite comprehend that we were actually able to walk to the bridge from our apartment and secondly, wow…it is spectacular at sunrise! The views are just so amazing and I feel so fortunate that we got to see it all lit up later that night on our cruise.

And then came the FOOD TOUR in Chelsea! This little tradition started back at the Chicago Pinkle Toes reunion a few years ago. It was the highlight of our trip back then and it was easily the highlight of this one!  Our tour guide, Cindy, was super and we had so many yummy, yummy treats and learned so much about Chelsea. I think I spent all of my allotted spending money at O&Co (the basil olive oil is just beyond all words). Again, thanks to Kami for putting this together for us…and also for sharing my LOVE of FDNY 😉 (We were pretty lucky to get a little surprise visit in the meat shop of all places ;-).

Okay, what next? Oh yes, The Harbor Lights Cruise by Circle Line. We were treated such a beautiful sunset just as we passed by the Statue of Liberty. Could not have been more perfect timing if we tried. But my favorite was the views of the bridges lit up at night.

Sadly, the next morning, it was time for people to say goodbye. I think we were all excited to get home and see our families (and rest our poor, tired bodies), but it was tough to see this trip come to an end. Some of us managed one last hurrah in Central Park and I’m so glad we made the trek. I honestly could have stayed in Central Park for hours and hours and hours…I just never realized how big it was and how much there was to see. The cherry blossoms were breathtaking and I couldn’t get over the juxtaposition of the beautiful gardens and the buildings jutting out like promontories.

And then it was all over. We all went back home via planes, trains, and automobiles (okay, I will admit I did get an extra bonus that night of that super fun photo session with Lena followed by a very tasty meal at Acqua with her family and Minnette and Chantal). I should also note that while we were still all trying to recover mentally and physically from that whirlwind trip, it was Kelly (who was instrumental in planning the activities for us on the trip) who was already asking about when we were doing the next one. She is hard core, people, lol!

All in all, this reunion far exceeded my expectations and I was completely blown away by the fact that #1 we all managed to survive it 😉 #2 no one got lost #3 the people of the city (minus a couple of cab drivers and a security guard who didn’t quite understand electricity) were SO INCREDIBLY KIND! Really, this experience in New York City was much more delightful than my first trip there years and years ago.

And I think I owe that to the group of ladies that were there with me. It’s pretty refreshing to be around so much talent and people who share the same interests and passions as you do. People who don’t find it odd that you drop to the ground to take a picture of a puddle. People who appreciate both the “touristy” things and the adventures that you find off the beaten path. People who love good food and are willing to try new things (even if that means paying to be yelled at in a restaurant, right gals?).  I was only able to post a few of the bazillion pictures that I took on this trip (be sure to search #pinkletoesnyc on Instagram for a bazillion other fun snaps) and I cannot WAIT to see what everyone else got. Absolutely fantastic time, ladies! Thank you, thank you, a million thank you’s! Can’t wait to see where we end up next!

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Make certain you check out my friend Kerri Davis with Images By Kerri to get her take on the trip and to see more pics: Durham Region Family Photographer. She’s got another link to another attendee’s pics on her post and so on. I am incredibly excited to get all the different perspectives from the trip!