Posts Tagged 'austin senior pictures'
Mar 14, 2012
This is a long one. Grab a cup of coffee. Okay.
About 15 years ago, I was a young, naive college kid and had just landed a job at the Office of Student Activities at my university in Corpus Christi. It was there I met Tracey (gosh…did I really meet Tracey 15 years ago?). She was married, had a young daughter, and was kind of like my older, wiser big sister. I’m not sure Tracey will ever know what she did to guide me and show me the ropes as I was becoming a young adult. She listened, she led by example, taught me a great work ethic, gave great advice, reminded me to stay focused, and helped me through my boy troubles (I later married that boy ;-). A couple of times, she would bring in bags full of her old clothes for me. Tracey was (still is) so stylish and those bags of clothes were like treasure chests to me. I was going to college full time, almost 1,500 miles from the place I called home and I didn’t have family close by. I was working and on student loans just to pay tuition, rent, and to make ends meet. Those clothes meant the world to me. I’m getting choked up just remembering.
Tracey also gave me extra jobs here and there to help me get by. One that stands out the most to me was when I watched her then 5-year-old daughter and her new baby brother for a weekend. Well, I tried to make it through the weekend. I ended up getting really, really sick and at about 5 a.m. the first night/morning, I was curled up in their downstairs bathroom, my head in a toilet, trying desperately to keep the room from spinning and to figure out how in the world I was going to survive two more days of this AND care for two young children. And it was there Darrow found me. She was still in her nightgown, she had lovely blonde hair that framed two of the biggest blue eyes I had ever seen. She was (still is) so angelic. Darrow looked at me and then at the toilet and then she said, “Here. Take this,” handing me a trash can. “Mommy says when I get sick, I need to use this.” I still giggle thinking of how “helpful” she was to me that awful morning.
And then, fast forward a few more years (actually, almost 12 years ago to the day) when I moved to Austin and sweet Darrow was my flower girl when I married my college sweetheart from Corpus Christi…
[forgive the poor scan quality]
And then fast forward a few more years…like to 2011…and imagine how my heart soared and perhaps broke a little bit when Tracey told me Darrow was graduating high school and wondered if I could take her senior portraits. What an honor!! But what disbelief! I could not even believe this little girl was going to graduate high school. I could not believe her baby brother was a teenager. I could not believe that Tracey went on to have two more children…TWINS, in fact. I could not believe on how much life I had missed out on and was ashamed I had not done more to stay in touch.
Well, we had our session just a few weeks ago. It was positively magical and surreal all at the same time. It was a strange time warp for me…Tracey hadn’t changed a bit over the last decade+, but Darrow, Darrow was a young woman. Darrow…was me…my age when I started college and first met her mother. Un.Real.
Tracey and I could barely stop crying when we saw each other. I’m sure it had to have been strange for Darrow, LOL. But I can only hope that when Darrow decides where she’s going to college–and especially if she travels far away like I did–that she finds someone who can be a pseudo-mom to her, just like Tracey was for me.
Feb 24, 2012
I *knew* we were perfectly matched the second I read over her Client Form. She had a unique and specific vision for her senior pictures and it was as if she could read my mind. I’ve been dying to do something like this for such a long time so you’ll have to indulge me while I share nearly every image from her session. I am proud of this one for sure and she should be, too. She carried it off perfectly!
[Most images shot at the wonderful, mysterious, beautiful amazing Eponymous Garden house. I am forever grateful to Debora and Lorne there who have been so gracious and accommodating to me and my crazy session ideas.]
Attention Class of 2012: I can squeeze in two more senior sessions in April if you want to have your images back in time for graduation announcements, etc. Contact me ASAP to get the session information!
Class of 2013? It’s definitely not too early to start thinking about and to schedule your own senior portraits. Take a look through my gallery and if you think we’re a good match, let’s talk!
Feb 10, 2012
Things you should know about their photo session:
– It was cold. Really cold. They were brave. Especially their mama in that cute little dress.
– Her boys are used to being in front of the camera (mom’s a photog) and they made it much too easy for me.
– Her and her boys are beautiful beyond words.
Feb 01, 2012
Congrats to this cutie pie and her family for a long and well-fought contest and let’s be in touch to schedule your winning session!
And we have two runners up, who will be receiving an additional $100 session credit:
and
Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote (there were more than 2,300 votes in the final round) and congrats one more time to the 12 finalists and the winners. It just gets better and better every year!!!!
Jan 23, 2012
See them all large HERE. In no particular order. Vote below (if poll is not showing properly, you can vote HERE):
Narrowed down from 40 entries, the finalists were selected as follows:
– The top 4 from last week’s poll.
– 4 more chosen by a panel of professional photographers (who, by the way, said they had a *very* hard time making this decision)
– And 4 selected by me (some new favs added in!)
You have until midnight central on Tuesday, January 31st to make your final choice and on Feb 1st, we’ll announce the winner on here! Again, you’ll be able to choose more than one favorite, but you can only vote one time. If you want to “campaign” for your favorite image on Facebook, I’ve created several “buttons” to use as your profile and/or timeline pic to show your support for friends/family in the running.
Thanks again to everyone who helped choose the finalists and congratulations to EVERYONE on a very tough race!
[While “likes” and positive comments on Facebook are welcome, they will not count toward the final vote. ONLY votes on this poll will count. Pinkle Toes Photography reserves the right to modify contest or prizes as necessary. Anyone tampering with the contest or results will be immediately disqualified. No purchase necessary to win.View past winners HERE.]
Jan 09, 2012
Even before I met her, I could tell on paper that her senior portrait session was going to be vibrant, bright, and full of energy–just like her! She knows exactly who she is and makes no apologies for it. What a rare and invaluable thing to have as a high school senior. We had a blast!
[Attention graduating seniors in the Austin area: NOW is the time to book your senior portraits…do not wait until April or May…those spots fill up *very* quickly and I wouldn’t want you to miss out.]
Jan 01, 2012
I sat down to post the annual Year in Review slideshow, but instead, I’m finding my mind is still swirling from what happened yesterday. I need to explain to you just how grateful my heart is on this first day of 2012. As some of you may have seen on my Facebook page, I spent the very last day of 2011 worried sick over my baby sister in the hospital. She had been complaining of a pain in her leg since her trip to New York earlier in Dec. and she called me early yesterday morning saying she had just blacked out in her hallway. My first thought was a blood clot…and then immediately, the fear of a pulmonary embolism. [I want to pause right here and thank someone very special–she will know who she is–for unknowingly giving me a key bit of knowledge about this very dangerous condition and possibly helping to save my sister’s life. Thank you and my heart was very much with you during this holiday season.]
My first words were, “We’re going to the hospital..NOW!”
As she was going through the barrage of tests with so many unanswered questions and the very real fear that my sister could die, all I could think was how desperately I wanted the gift of another year with my sister. Just the day before, she and I watched this and marveled over his courage and peaceful outlook on life and death. While we were waiting in the hospital, we read this and this, pleased with how many of those we had done and vowing to check off the rest this year.
Turns out, she did indeed have a blood clot in her leg, but thank goodness her lungs were clear!!! She has started treatment, but now we have to figure out why the clot formed so we can keep it from happening again. She is so young and a very healthy, non-smoking young woman…this kind of thing just doesn’t make sense for her. As I’m writing this, I am actually glad to share this story with you in the hopes that should you or someone you know experience symptoms of DVT or a pulmonary embolism, you’ll know to get immediate medical attention.
2011 was one of the busiest years I can recall in a long time and I know that busy=blessed. I had the privilege of meeting and/or working with hundreds families and photographers from all over the world. (It’s funny how small my world has become thanks to Facebook ;-). However, to be honest right now, when I think back over the year as a whole, it’s pretty much a blur to me–the only thing I can really remember is yesterday.
But I feel it’s important to always acknowledge and thank the people who allow me into their lives and trust me photograph their most important family moments. I want to remind them how beautiful they are…how special their connections are…what a gift their families are. So, like I’ve done every year since 2007, I pulled just one image from each session to create the 2011 Year in Review…
(Google Reader users: you’ll need to click THIS LINK to see).
My sister, my mom, and I all had separate plans for New Year’s Eve yesterday, but all of our families ended up at my house last night. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful evening…cooking up an impromptu batch of homemade chili, all of us watching the 360º of fireworks in the horizon at midnight, listening to “Auld Lang Syne” on the iPod, toasting in paper cups, ringing in 2012 together. Grateful.
[p.s. Clients: I sent out the details on the 2011 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year contest to you all. If you had a session with me in 2011 of any kind and did not get this info, let me know ASAP so I can get you up to speed.]
Nov 17, 2011
Sigh. This seems like forever ago. In a way, it kinda was. It was the this summer before she began her senior year in high school. I remember it was sooooooo hot that day and we were so relieved to have the chance to get into the water at the end of the session. She laid down in that grass for me and I can tell you, it wasn’t comfortable in the slightest. She was a lovely girl and I feel so lucky to have gotten to capture this time for her.
Sep 27, 2011
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!]
Jun 28, 2011
For her senior portraits, she said she LOVED cityscapes and we were fortunate enough that evening to be blessed with the most wonderful sunset glow on the city of Austin. As far as I know, she’s heading up to New York City (a slightly bigger cityscape) to pursue a career in fashion. Very excited to see those dreams come true for her!