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 Newborn Photographer

I very much remember speaking with this mommy years ago just after she had her very first baby girl. I think my schedule was full at the time, but somehow, I managed to squeeze her in and it has been my honor to work with them every year since! Three girls now! Wow! I love “knowing” the girls well enough and for long enough to be able to see similarities and differences in their baby features. While taking these newborn images, I would have flashbacks to the other two sessions…”Oh, in this pose she looks like L. But with this expression, that’s just like T.” Even cooler than that, is having watched each of the two older girls take on the role of big sister, one at a time. Mom and dad should be very, very proud of how well these two have done in their new jobs and how much they ADORE their little sister. It is so heartwarming! When going through their images today, I literally had tears in my eyes, sharing in the joy that is so obvious with these girls and among their parents. And perhaps I was also a little wistful realizing how much their family has grown and changed in just a few short years. The passage of time, as cliché as it sounds, is so very bittersweet.

So welcome to the world, little one! You are the perfect blessing to your happy family and a beautiful soul.

(Don’t miss this sweet interaction between youngest and middle HERE ;-).

THIS group…my oh my! I’m not sure I have ever laughed so much at a workshop. Some super witty ladies in this bunch and I’m quite impressed we still managed to accomplish all of our lifestyle workshop objectives in between our constant brainstorming and amusing conversations. I think that’s what so amazing about any workshop group, actually: when you get a group of women together with so much in common, there is a bond, no doubt, but we all understand we still have work to do and are incredibly eager to do it! Did you see I even earned my own Ryan Gosling “Hey Girl” meme? P.S. My underwater “assistant” would probably kill me for that last pic up there, but I couldn’t resist. I won’t out her here since you can’t tell who she is, but she knows. Oh…she knows.

Day one was spent talking all things related to the business of photography complete with headshots in the now infamous Wal-mart parking lot sunflower field:

The next day, we headed over to my sister’s house for our in-home newborn photo session demonstration. I was honestly a little afraid to use the twins as my subjects for this workshop because I knew it would be hard for me to keep my emotions in check. Sure enough, as with pretty much ANY photo session I do for my baby sis, I started out so choked up, I couldn’t speak, but we worked through it:
Aren’t my twin nieces  just so deliciously adorable? And have they not changed SOOOOO much??? Oh, and did you see they’re kinda locally famous now, lol?

That afternoon, we headed out to one of my favorite spots to cool down and photograph a dear friend of mine and her beautiful family in the creek:

And then we all got up before sunrise the next day to do a little practice maternity session at the greenhouse along with a bit of underwater photography:

It was a fabulous end to the summer Texas workshops! I haven’t looked at all of the posts yet, but I can’t wait to start going through the images in our blog circle from this group. Make sure you hop over and see Beth’s take on the Pinkle Toes Workshop:  The Queen B Photography – Houston Family Photographer!

It’s good to pass the time in the hospital right now with putting together blog posts featuring adorable little babies. Like this lil’ nugget for example. He was such an angel the whole session and I adored his great array of fun expressions. He might not be good at poker, but he could very well become an actor! Still lovin’ this one  of him and his mommy, too.

Note: If you haven’t been following, I am currently with family in Houston to help provide support to my sister and her babies. Please understand if I am not able to return e-mails or phone calls quickly. Right now, time is pretty limited and I squeeze in a few things here and there. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and very happy, happy thoughts. I think they must be doing something 🙂

I worked with her brother when he was just a wee babe 6 years ago and it was such a blessing to get to work with her now! Is there anything better than seeing the bond between a big bro and his baby sister? Reminded me so much of how my oldest was when his baby sister was born. Another fav of mom and daughter HERE.

In spite of what my daughter might have everyone at her preschool believing, it was NOT to photograph Michelle Obama ;-). But it was close ;-). A looooong time ago, I had a session scheduled here in TX for none other than Rachel Brenke–author and The Law Tog. Right before we were scheduled to do her session, she found out she was expecting, so we decided to wait a little bit and make it a maternity session. Fast forward a few months after that and it turns out, she had to move to NoVa! Amazingly, we were able to work it out so that I could come up there (during busy season, even) and I’m sooooooo glad we worked it out.

She coordinated her session so beautifully…not surprising since she’s a photographer. And I can’t even believe we were able to get all four of her children in the same frame! This precious baby boy is fitting in quite nicely with his family and he is obviously very loved. It was amazing how he was equally alert and sleepy. He made me look like I had planned it that way ;-).

Now, I hesitate to post the next series of images because Rachel *might* kill me, but I’m just gonna go with it. I present to you, the many faces of Rachel Brenke:

Hmmmmm. Even when she’s making a silly face, she’s still adorable. Now how does she manage that????

And on that note, I leave you all to have a Happy Happy Happy Thanksgiving! I’m not going to dwell on all of the things that have gone wrong this year and instead, I will be more thankful than I’ve ever been in my life for my family, my friends, my health and their health.

XOXO,
Michele

She now headlines my campaign for all newborn photo sessions to be with older newborns (4-12 weeks old). Seriously, I could not get over those beautiful, bright blue eyes and her peaceful nature. And we even got some fleeting smiles. Pretty amazing session. I loved it! My favorite family image is HERE. And another one from the tree is HERE.

A few weeks ago, I got to spend a beautiful morning with this little cutie pie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I LOVE working with newborns that are a little bit older than that golden “10 day rule.” Rules were made to be broken anyway and I quite enjoy the level of comfort, ease, and interaction you can get with a baby that’s just a little bit older and parents that are just a little bit wiser. For what it’s worth, I totally dug mom’s sense of style and I’m just going to have to have her decorate my whole house someday. See my favorite image BIGGER.

Whenever I do a newborn photo session, I always think back to the maternity pictures…especially for first-time parents. It’s fascinating watching a young couple become their roles and witnessing all of the excitement that comes before a baby arrives as well as the newly found love after baby is born:

Since I first met Bev three years ago (and under the most stressful of circumstances), her world has changed just a little bit…and I would say for the better. I am so very impressed with how she took charge of her birth experience with this little chunky monkey and fought for what she knew she could do and searched and searched to find a doctor who believed in her just as much as she believed in herself. I hope she will get around to sharing her story someday online because it is truly inspirational and I am just in awe of what she did. Even during baby E’s newborn session, she kept exclaiming, “I can’t believe this baby came out of me!!!” I agree. I can’t believe it either. She is soooooo petite and he is sooooo…well, er…well nourished. He has the best personality already and truly captivates everyone who dares to lock eyes with him.  It was something else to watch how his big brother took such care of him. (Speaking of big brother: wow, he’s changed a tad since I saw him last).  More favs I couldn’t fit in this post HERE, HERE, and HERE. 😉

P.S. I am choosing to blame my clients/friends for my serious Kendra Scott addiction. That’s what I tell my husband, anyway.

I’ve spent a lot of time with this family and I’ve LOVED every minute of it. Getting to meet their new baby girl was no exception. I was AMAZED by how much she looked like and yet didn’t look like her big sis as a newborn. And those lips! Those chubby cheeks! They don’t come any cuter than that, I tell ya.

I’m going to be heading out to the holiday mini sessions this weekend. I’m so excited to get into the holiday spirit visiting with each of my clients, old and new. I have a handful of openings left for next weekend (this one is full), so please let me know if you’d like more info to participate.