It’s so true! Taking the plunge to attend a photography workshop can be a little bit intimidating, but it certainly helps to have a friend by your side. So, from now through April 31st, 2014, when you and a friend book together, you’ll both receive a $200 rebate after your workshop(s). *See below for rules and restrictions. To get the full details on the workshop (dates, locations, schedule, agenda, cost, etc.), please drop a line via the form on THIS page!

And now, I wanted to share a letter with you that I’ve actually been meaning to share for quite some time. This is from the lovely Courtney Bolle (who happens to be a very, very busy mommy right now) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

One year ago, nearly to the day, I can remember sitting in front of my computer, contemplating whether or not to sign up for a Pinkle Toes Workshop.  I had stumbled upon Michele’s blog about a year prior, when the thought of beginning a photography business was just a small spark in my mind.  I was instantly captivated by the way she brought out genuine beauty, emotion, and magic in all of her sessions.  I knew that if I were to ever turn my hobby into a business, those were the types of photos that I wanted to produce and she was the person that I dreamt of learning from.  So there I sat at my computer, worried that I was too new to the world of photography to attend such a workshop, but also not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to begin my business with such strength.  After weighing my options, I decided to sign up for one of the March 2012 workshops and am so grateful that I took that leap of faith which allowed me to gain an incredible wealth of knowledge and an invaluable experience from Michele.

One of things that impressed me the most about the Pinkle Toes Workshop was Michele’s organization and ability to stay on track in order to ensure that we made it through every activity and conversation that she had thoughtfully planned out.  We covered so many great topics, but by far my absolute favorite part of the workshop was being able to watch Michele in her element, photographing a family.  Michele is an extremely warm, talented, and caring person who has a gift of putting those around her at ease, so the opportunity to watch her capture a family so authentically was incredibly inspiring and beautiful.

Michele’s Pinkle Toes Workshop offers something for everyone.  Whether you are new to photography or have been in business for  years, as long as you are open to learning, you will surely walk away with new inspiration, techniques, and business tips.  And chances are, you’ll also probably learn from the other talented photographers attending the workshop while making a few new friends, too.  Michele was an open book, encouraging questions and feedback constantly.  I can confidently say that I left the workshop happy and fulfilled with the knowledge that I had hoped to gain.  Even now, months later, I still refer back to the notes that I took while there.  I have recently opened the doors to my photography business and am no longer nervous, but actually excited to watch it blossom.  I owe a large part of that to Michele and her amazing mentorship.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and heart with me, Michele!  I appreciate it more than you know!

Courtney…thank YOU from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to share your inspiring and heartfelt words. I am so happy to have met you and I’m sorry it took me so long to properly thank you for your note.

And now a few images of Courtney in action at the workshop:

Plus, I *think* I spy Casey in that adorable red and white striped shirt, who happens to be our awesome hostess for the Olympia, Washington workshop this summer! We still have a few openings left for Olympia, Cardiff (near San Diego, CA), Mendocino (near San Francisco, CA), and my home base, Austin, Texas.

———–

*April Special Offer: This offer cannot be combined with other discounts. To receive the rebate, BOTH parties must attend a Pinkle Toes U.S. Workshop in 2014, but it does not have to be the same workshop. Several friends may book together, but it’s a max $200 rebate per person. Offer good through April 30th, 2014. Sorry, no rainchecks for sold out workshops.

I’m a military wife (love that man of mine in uniform), teacher, and PNW girl at heart. As a military family we have lived in Germany, Texas, and of course my fabulous home state of Washington.I have two amazing kidsI’m entering into the world of parenting a teenager this year!! Say a prayer for me!!I love to go junking and antiquing!!I’m obsessed with collecting globes and maps (I blame my parents for having us live all over the world growing up)On paper I’m 4’9 but I like to say that I’m 5 foot because ya know that extra inch makes me feel soo much taller!The more I shoot, I have found that I like to shoot with more of a photojournalist approach, telling a story as it unfolds. Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours?Like Michele I’m a hugger (it’s in my nature to nurture :)I can’t wait to meet y’all!!

And a little hostess Q&A:

Congrats to each of these 12 finalists (up from 10; I couldn’t help it ;-)! They will receive a $100 gift card good toward a full Pinkle Toes session in 2014 or 2015 and have now moved on to ROUND TWO – now thru midnight central on March 2nd: 

There will be THREE winners:

I had a couple of clients who originally had sessions scheduled in Texas last year, both of them ended up in Virginia so I decided to make a trip back to my motherland to handle those sessions for them and of course, to show my kiddos where I grew up and visit with dear family.

I was a little worried when I saw my window of travel for this trip…it was late November and fall–my absolute FAVORITE season and one of the things I miss most about Virginia–would typically long be over by this time. Oh, no. What a fabulous surprise when we showed up to the most incredible weather and beautiful foliage my kids had ever seen. I think they could have played in the leaves for hours and hours. They absolutely LOVED it!!! And so did I. So much so, I can’t deny that we may have toyed around with the idea of moving to Virginia. Of course, with my little nieces on the way (both my sister and the girls are recovering well from the TTTS laser ablation, by the way!!!) we couldn’t *really* move away, but it was nice to fantasize.

Anyway, I realized that I haven’t blogged Karen’s session (who is a photographer in Maryland, herself!) and that’s sad because I REALLY LOVED it! Her family was a blast and those girls made the session so much fun. And Karen’s smile…is that not the most contagious smile you’ve ever seen? I felt very lucky to get to work in such amazing fall colors with perfect shooting weather on the grounds of the National Cathedral that day! It was actually our second visit to the landmark…we ended up going there are first day in D.C. not knowing that we would be shooting there later. I thought my kids would find it a little boring, but we were all quite surprised that everyone was excited to go back! Beautiful building, amazing gardens, and a perfect experience all around! Thank you so much, Karen, for trusting me with this job and I truly did have an incredible evening with you guys!

So, I had to drive out to Houston tonight to be with my baby sister. Looks like she (and the babies) will have to have the surgery tomorrow. The next several days (weeks) are going to be such a test of patience and will. I pray that these doctors will perform with exceptional skill and love tomorrow.

I have no idea when I will be back in town and I will do my best to get in touch with everyone I need to as soon as I can. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding and prayers.

From my sister’s page:

“Asking for prayers…today’s ultrasound showed the TTTS is progressing and the need for surgery is upon us. The babies and I will undergo a fetalscopic laser ablation procedure tomorrow morning. There is a lot of study supporting the success of this procedure, however there is a laundry list of complications and risks. I beg each of you from the bottom of my heart to please say a prayer for all of us. As the mom, I fear for my sweet babies’ lives but I have to stay positive and I know and trust in the goodness and mercy of our God. Thank you to everyone for your constant support and love. It has sure helped us to get through these last few weeks and get to a much more ideal position to undergo this procedure.”

At long last! I think I’m finally ready to put it out there and announce the planned workshop dates and locations for 2014!

• Ridgewood, NJ – June 11-13, 2014 (date changed)
• Austin, TX – July 7-9, 2014 
• Austin, TX – July 11-13, 2014
• Carlsbad, CA – July 25-27, 2014
• Mendocino, CA – August 1-3, 2014
• Olympia, WA – August 7-9, 2014 (date changed)
• Olympia, WA – August 11-13, 2014 (date changed)
• Newcastle, NSW, Australia – October 27-29, 2014 *dates are tentative for now
• Perth, WA, Australia – November 1-3, 2014 *dates are tentative for now

We had everything planned out and ready to go last fall, but then, I found out about the wonderful news about my baby sister…soooooo…it was back to the drawing board. But that’s okay. I’m cool with this plan. We don’t have ALL of the details finalized just yet, but you can read more HERE anyway and most importantly, fill out the contact form so that you can get the full details when registration opens.

Okay, okay, okay. So I know Breaking Bad probably isn’t the most appropriate topic to bring up when discussing a loving, colorful, bright, beautiful family photo session, BUT, as huge fans of the show, we were just a little excited to spot “him” while exploring downtown Austin:

You may already know Amanda with Pumpkin Pie Photography for her amazing newborn photography. I got to know Amanda a little bit better when I met her at my lifestyle photography workshop in Austin a YEAR ago (which, I am just now realizing, I don’t think I blogged that workshop yet. Sigh…). She. Cracks. Me. Up. Seriously. Best sense of humor in the world and let’s just say I got a wonderful You Tube comedic education from her one very late night.

I was totally honored she asked me to photograph her family and we had just the most incredible experience that morning. Her boys are sooooo charming and such a joy to work with. (Check out this love muffin.) Thanks so much, Amanda! I loved it, my friend!

[Did you see him? Okay, I’m going to let you in on a little secret, too, and please don’t judge: I *might* have a little crush on Bryan Cranston as Heisenberg. You’re judging me, aren’t you? Stop. Stop it!]

Pinkle Toes Photography will be closed Dec 20-Jan 12 so that I can step away and spend some long overdue time with the fam. I will not be checking/answering e-mails or phone calls or other messages during that time and I apologize for any inconvenience. But if I’ve learned anything during this tumultuous year, it’s that time with family and friends is fleeting and not guaranteed, so I’m going to make the most of it. On that note, I wanted to leave you all with a little treat to wrap up the year…a compilation of photos from ALL of the families and babies and children and seniors that I’ve had the extreme honor of working with this year.  Thank you all for being a hundred points of light during even the darkest of times for us. You have each touched my heart and I’m so lucky to know you.

XOXO and Happy Holidays,

Me

Seriously, one of the most beautiful families ever! Even as a baby, little man had the coolest eyes and hair ;-). I can’t even believe how much older and grown up the kiddos are now. Can’t even. Makes me all kinds of happy and sad at the same time. I guess that’s the good thing and bad thing about this job, huh?

In some ways, this seems like an eternity ago. In others, it was just a few days ago. My first ever visit to Canada (Toronto, to be exact) got off to a very rocky start. If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen my pics documenting the trial ;-). But as soon as I met the first group of girls (who welcomed me with open arms, in spite of the fact that I greeted them in clothes I had slept in and unbrushed teeth), all of my worries just melted away. We chit-chatted most of the evening getting to know one another. It was unseasonably cool for August, I believe, and while we enjoyed dining al fresco, it was a might bit chilly so we moved the party indoors. The next morning, we were up bright and early to do our in home newborn lifestyle photo session demonstration. I have to tell you, it is quite remarkable of these families to open their doors to all of these strangers and on top of all of that, have to “perform” in front of nearly a dozen cameras. But they did wonderfully!

That afternoon, we headed into downtown Toronto for our in home lifestyle family photo session demo with none other than Adriana of Ümla Photo. I first met Adriana a few months prior when she attended my North Carolina workshop and it was awesome to get to visit with her again AND to meet her family! And let me tell you, that little girl of her has got STAR power. Mark my words, you will see her on TV, movies, Broadway, on stage somehow, someday I assure you.

And that very, very, very busy day ended with a LOVELY maternity session demonstration in downtown Toronto where we experimented with different lenses, focal lengths, and varying perspectives:

Let me add that this beautiful mama attracted a LOT of attention…her stunning gown and a group of photographers following her around…we did overhear someone saying she must be a princess. Now how’s that for getting the royal treatment?

And finally, here we are in action (don’t miss the outtake of the group photo HERE):

A HUGE thank you to our hostess with the mostess for this workshop, Melissa with Simply Said Photography for a wonderful job of pulling things together for us.  And a HUGE thank you to our amazing attendees! You could not have made me feel more welcome and loved on my very first real time outside of the US:

• Images By Amanda – www.imagesbyamanda.ca – Edmonton, AB
• Elaine Janet Photography – www.elainejanet.com  – Westfield, NJ
• Nicole Miller Photography – www.nicolemillerphotography.ca – Ancaster, ON
• Jen Taylor Photography – http://www.jentaylorphotography.com/ – Minneapolis, MN
• Simply Said Photography-http://www.simplysaidphotography.com – Tillsonburg, ON
• Closely Knit Photography –http://www.closelyknitphotography.com – Ottawa, ON
• Kristin Peereboom Photography – http://kristinpeereboom.com/ – Alliston, ON
• Jennifer Bailey Photography & Design – http://www.jenniferbaileyphotography.com/ – Ottawa, ON
• Red Acorn Photography- www.redacornphotography.com – Elmira, ON

And, if you want to check out some of the attendee’s blog posts and images from the workshop, you can do so here:

• http://www.nicolemillerphotography.ca/blog/2013/9/thepinkletoesexperience
• http://closelyknitphotography.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/the-pinkle-toes-experience/
• http://kristinpeereboom.com/2013/10/04/pinkle-toes-workshop-reflections-alliston-newborn-family-maternity-photographer/

Side note: while I have not released the 2014 Pinkle Toes Workshop calendar yet, we have narrowed down our stops! Yay! And it involves more travel both in the U.S. and abroad…in fact, I have put in some pretty obvious clues into this post if anyone cares to try to figure it out. Stay tuned to the blog for the final announcements, but meanwhile, if you haven’t already, be sure to fill out the form on this page to be among the first to know of the dates and locations for 2014!