From the moment we stepped onto the University of Texas campus to the time we closed their engagement photo session down, all eyes were on these two. And it’s not hard to see why! They are lovely and IN LOVE! I could have played all evening and we pretty much did. The sun finally had its way and we had to stop, but I was so thrilled to get to help them celebrate their engagement.

Oh, the light!

 Loved when she did this!

Yes, I like to use this courtyard a lot. Because it’s tucked away and GORGEOUS!

Yes. Seriously beautiful people!

This is how he proposed to her. And I thought it was AWESOME!

Her idea and a great one at that! HERE’s another take on it. Hook ’em!

Well,  I guess even the sun going down couldn’t stop us. It was just too perfect of an evening! Congrats to you both and thank you for letting me tag along and document your little world together. [As always, flawless hair and makeup by the wonderful, talented Katie of Modern Muse Beauty!]

It really wasn’t all that long ago when I had the opportunity to take senior portraits for his older sister.  And now we got to carry on that tradition to celebrate and commemorate his senior year in high school! When I first started going through the images, I just had to send his mama a note:

I just thought you should know that you are doing something right, my dear! Both of your children that I’ve met so far are lovely, confident, charming people. You give me hope for my own kiddos 😉

And I meant every word. There is no denying that her children are gorgeous, but when they can be funny and humble and gorgeous on the inside, that bodes so well for their futures as adults in this world!

I kept teasing him, convinced he was part of the Secret Service or something. Then we invoke a bit of “Men in Black” in this pic above.

 Random shot here, but I just loved how candid it was!

 Pretty incredible eyes, huh?

I really love that we got to work with one of most prized possessions…his car! There’s something about your first car that you never forget. It symbolizes freedom and growing up and adventure.

Also love that he refuses to remove the beach parking stickers leftover from all of their family vacations. Winner!

H – I really enjoyed getting to meet and work with you. I know your family is incredibly proud of you and your accomplishments. Enjoy every second of these last few days of high school life.

P.S. This might be an unusual choice, but THIS one might be my favorite from the entire session. AND, for a little behind-the-scenes look, check THIS out.

I honestly don’t remember quite how this crazy idea came up for me to visit Denver, CO, but I do know that two of the first people I talked to about it were these two. As with most of my clients, I first began working with them while their eldest daughter was just a baby bump. Honestly, we have had some of the most memorable and beautiful sessions together that when I learned they had pretty much moved to Denver from Austin full time (more on that in a sec), I was thrilled for them, but heartbroken because I feel like they are family. I was overjoyed to get to visit with them in Denver last week and to help document this new and exciting chapter in their lives as a family (again, more on that later).

Oh, how I adore this image!

TOO MUCH LOVE!!!

Z – you have impeccable fashion sense!

Sigh.

One of those families where you can just feel the love coming through in their images.

Maybe my most fav I’ve ever taken with you and A.J., M!

This made me giggle.

And goodness me, so did this one!!! So this is the new chapter in their lives: Fé Fit. I am so incredibly proud of them for following their hearts and pursing a dream of helping women (especially moms) to get healthy and achieve their fitness goals. I was especially inspired by the HUGE success of their pilot program to create fit communities by involving teachers, students, and their families in a bit of friendly competition. Be sure to become a fan on Facebook to keep up with their inspiring stories.

Before downtown at Union Station got too crowded, we drove out really quick to catch the sunset behind the Denver city skyline and of course, the Rocky Mountains:

Their faces were cracking me up!

Love!

Love!

Love!

Never will you meet a couple more in love than these two. They have an outstanding relationship and deep respect for each other. And as their family has grown, so has their love. And then my personal favorite from the session can be found HERE.

You gotta go with the flow. I LOVED mom’s idea to shoot at the newly revitalized Union Station in downtown Denver. Neither one of us made the connection that being the Saturday before St. Patrick’s day, downtown *might* be a bit crazy. Oh my word! The sea of green when I walked into the train station that afternoon was craziness. I almost texted her to tell her that the best way to spot me was to look for the only person in the station NOT wearing green, lol.

But in spite of the crowds, we were able to make it work just fine. These Austin transplants are doing so great in Colorado and it was nice to be able to capture them in their new town. Big sister and big brother were incredibly patient and so full of energy. Baby sister wasn’t quite sure what to make of me at first, but in the end, with the help of her older siblings, we were able to get a few giggles!

Such a sweet moment with his mama!

She was non-stop giggles!!!

Loved the little flower shop inside the train station!

Freckles sprinkled with perfection.

Hammy.

She’s not too sure about all this snuggling 😉

Flare! YES!

Sweeties.

He was being so adorably silly.

 They actually had me cracking up with them.

I guess this Pinkle Toes gal isn’t so bad after all 😉

I am so glad we stuck it out and made Union Station work for us. What a neat little place and what a beautiful family to play in it! (One more HERE).

Like, literally chillin’ – as in what is up with this Texas weather because it was reaaaaaally cold during our session. But that’s okay, the girls managed to have fun and let their true, energetic, sparkling personalities shine through the brisk wind that followed us up and down the streets of Georgetown.

I love this giggle shared above between Mama and baby girl, who, by the way, I guess isn’t a baby anymore because we were technically celebrating her ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY! My, my, my, how Baby Q has grown since her newborn photo session:

 This series above cracked me up. I told her mom there is no shortage of personality in any of these images!

 Cinderella kept losing her shoes 😉

Sometimes, I enlist the help of older siblings to get mom and dad to relax while I’m taking their photos. Usually it results in a photo bomb or two:

 Such a sweet moment!

And really, it’s a toss up between this one above (look at Q’s face…she is SO done with us) and THIS one as my fav family image from the shoot. Thank you again, guys, for having me document these days for you. Your family has grown into such a beautiful, fun little brood! [And once again, hair and makeup rocked by Katie with Modern Muse Beauty!]

I cannot even begin to imagine how I will be feeling when my oldest son is on the edge of high school graduation, so my heart is both elated and crushed for the parents of this brother and sister who are celebrating their senior year of high school. We somehow managed to pull this senior portrait photo shoot together in record time. Literally, I think we spoke on a Thursday and somehow the stars aligned with everyone’s schedules and held the session that Sunday. It was wonderful to photograph them separately, but my favorite moments were their candid interactions as brother and sister. I loved all of the splashes of color we were able to find in downtown Austin (sigh…this city never disappoints) and especially the convenience of the construction sign for the new South Congress Hotel. The beauty of a Sunday morning is that we pretty much had the city to ourselves which allowed lots of opportunities to (safely) play in the streets and get unique perspectives. I was very much honored to be given this opportunity to photograph this monumental time for their family and I so look forward to seeing what these two can do in this world!

When photographing little kids in downtown Austin, it’s usually a pretty good idea to have something to help keep them engaged and occupied and entertained and happy. When I met with their mama before the session, we came up with the great idea to give them bouquets of yellow flowers! And it DID work very well…the girls quite enjoyed them. Maybe a little too much as they were SO into the flowers (and leaving an adorable trail of petals all over the park), it was tough to tear them away (and also, we ended up with lots of yellow pollen on noses and chins, lol). But I LOVED how it added a touch of spring to an otherwise drab winter landscape this time of year and I’m glad that the girls had such a fun time with their little bouquets and sprinkling magic every where we went. Favorite image from the session? Right HERE and I knew the instant it happened it would be my favorite. And also, I loved the outtake at the end. Sometimes riding on dad’s shoulders doesn’t quite work out as planned 😉

Recently, you may have seen a few Pinkle Toes photographs featured in the Austin American Statesman in an article about taking Austin-centric family photos (one and two). In doing that interview, I got to take a few minutes to really consider what makes Austin such a unique backdrop for Pinkle Toes photo sessions and here’s what I came up with: Austin has its very own personality and when you photograph a family in Austin, the personality of the city magnifies that of the subjects.

And so it is with this family: when working with fun people in a fun place, you can help but to get fun imagery! It took baby girl a little bit to warm up to me, but once she did, I totally fed off the energy and love among everyone. It may have been one of the speediest family photo sessions, too, as we were pretty much nailing every single shot in the first one or two takes and that allowed us enough time to explore several different parts of the city. I think my favorite image came about when a passerby handed baby girl a pretty flower and she sat down and did THIS ;-). And another rockin’ photo bomb HERE.

Most of my days are spent photographing families in Austin, but every now and then, I get the chance to work someplace new. This time, it happened to work out that I would be in downtown Houston just in time for a photo session with these kids and their parents and it.was.awesome! After spending most of their days in suburbia, their family snagged an amazing condo overlooking downtown Houston, with an incredible park as their backyard. Well done! While I was a tad nervous navigating traffic to get there, it was such a privilege to get to follow them around while exploring downtown Houston and I’m so glad we decided to hold their family session there instead of trying to make Austin work.

And how about that view from the kids’ bedroom???? Yeah. When I first arrived I knew that I absolutely wanted to end our photo session there at sunset. Bingo! (Another fav from that last series HERE).

While I remember ALL of my photo sessions vividly, there are some shoots that I wouldn’t mind experiencing over and over again (like in Groundhog Day).  And this incredibly colorful sunrise maternity photo session for these longtime clients at the rowing docks in downtown Austin would definitely be one of them. How did we get so lucky to have this perfect combination of amazing light, vibrant colors, water like glass, and one happy, happy, happy big-brother-to-be? I don’t know, but I am grateful. Grateful to know this family, grateful to share in this celebration and anticipation of new life, and grateful for watching them grow into such a graceful, loving, and happy family.

And of course, of my favorite images…