I first met her several years ago when I photographed her and her family. She was still a little shy at that time, but even then, I just LOVED her look! So much so, that you may have seen her face all over Facebook as a model for a few of my photographer workshops. She'd probably kill me if I pulled one of those pics from that first session, so I used the above image I snagged at the workshop to show you why I literally GASPED out loud when she showed up for her senior portrait session this summer:

Her HAIR!!! All of that beautiful red hair...GONE!!! But you know what? I totally loved the cut and she really pulls this style off, doesn't she? The asymmetry is super cool and it makes her look oh-so-artsy.

We had an amazing time at her session expressing her creative side. My fav was the paint brush bouquet ;-). Or maybe it was the broken glass that kept catching my eye on the street. I finally had to find some way to photograph her with it...just pulled out my trusty dusty blanket and voila...broken glass bokeh (safely).  Here's another snap I took of the glass while she was getting ready:

I'm such a sucker for anything sparkly ;-)

It was a pleasure to get to work with her again and I very much look forward to seeing her show up in one of my Anthropologie catalogs someday! (If you think it, it will happen).

[Attention graduating seniors in Austin, Round Rock, Westlake, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Lake Travis and the surrounding areas: NOW is the time to book your senior portraits! Do NOT wait until the spring...those openings fill up very quickly. I'd love to talk to you more about your vision for your senior portraits. Feel free to drop a line!]

What they are giving their children is priceless: a home full of happiness and unwavering love.   It has been a tremendous privilege of mine to photograph their family connections since their daughter was just a baby in mama's tummy. (You may recognize them here).

Four years since I first met them, they now have three children, and Maria still mothers her family with pure love, grace, and beauty. She sets the mark for me as a mother myself. When we walked out to their garden that night, I didn't quite comprehend what I was about to witness until I saw the the pictures. Maria pulled out her face painting supplies (she mentioned that was one of the things they loved to do together) and set to work on creating artwork on each of her children. It was such a beautiful scene--and at the risk of sounding like an artsy goob, I teared up when I got a chance to flip through the images from that night. But really, I have to wonder if she has *any* idea the kind of memories she's creating for her children every time she does things like this for them. She exudes devotion as a mother and as a wife. She is my shining example of everything a mommy should be. I am honored to know her and proud to call her a friend.

Okay, well once I got over the fact that the little guy greeted me with, "Are you coming to clean the house today?" *then* I had fun. But my gosh, I don't think I've ever laughed and played so much in one session!!! Of course, part of the deal was that I had to let the kids snap a few pics:

Not bad work, huh?

See, I told you we had FUN!!!

As if it was the "yang" to this "yin," we celebrated his 1 year birthday by seeing just how much color we could find in downtown Austin. We truly did not have to go far--that's just one of the many, many things I love about this city...it is so rich with vibrant color and texture! He was so expressive and that boy TORE into his cupcake. Lucky for us, there was a hose nearby where we could clean up our mess. Probably one of my favorite parts of the session was watching mom and dad work together on that task as a team.

I may or may not of squealed in delight when his mama said she wanted his 1 year session to be Mad Men inspired (p.s. have you all seen the new Mad Men collection at Banana Republic? Brilliant marketing, there!) It was a dream, really, and we found the neatest little places around town in which to shoot...Bev gets major bonus points for having the courage to march right in and ask! Hard to believe it was more than a year ago when Miles got to go home for the first time...

Incredible kid and incredible family.