Posts Tagged 'candid kids lifestyle photos'
Feb 22, 2012
From the minute I set foot in their home, I felt so grounded and peaceful. They have the most amazing house and garden and play areas set up for the kiddos…and they’re doing a very good job of keeping it earthy and organic. I quite enjoyed the afternoon there…especially the time spent watching the girls play–they were all so comfortable and relaxed and loving.
I’m sitting here listening to it POUR right now and it’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, Austin had emerged from this somewhat cold winter into full on springtime! We had the best time bathing in the sunshine and soaking in the mild, warm weather that evening. Love, love, loved the colors she chose for her family and how they totally fit in with the mood of the session and the city that evening. Now that I think about it, it’s also hard to believe that I first met them when mama was still pregnant with her baby girl–I tried to dig up all the old posts, but my brain just gave up ;-). And now to have documented the first few days and the first year of his life, too, truly means the world!
FYI – if you’ve been thinking about a session this year, a heads up on my calendar:
Feb – full
Mar – full
Apr – 4 openings
May – 1 opening
June – 2 openings
July – CLOSED
August – open –
Sep – filling up *very* quickly
Oct – filling up *very* quickly
Nov – too late for holiday sessions
Dec – too late for holiday sessions
Okay. Think I’ll turn off the computer and rest my eyes for a bit while snuggled up listening to the rain…
Feb 16, 2012
Feb 16, 2012
Stumbled across these images just now. I snapped them really quickly one morning when I was on my way out to a session. Oh, how badly I wanted to crawl in and snuggle up with each one of them! Feeling grateful that I risked waking them up and being late to take these pics.
I first spoke of my friend Michelle (my sister in Virgo-hood) several years ago on my blog. I have longed for the opportunity to do something for her and I was thrilled when I finally got the chance to photograph her stunning family. She and the rest of the Heartsong family have given me and my kiddos and many, many other families in the Austin area the precious gift of music…together (did you see her on the news???). It is a gift which has extended beyond the classroom at Heartsong for me and has even allowed my mother and I the opportunity to sing together in the Women of Heartsong Choir. I am eternally grateful for that.
Michelle was gifted with not only a beautiful voice and the talent to play the guitar (did you ever hear her song, “Welcome Baby” featured on this birth slideshow?), but she is magical when it comes to working with children…and their parents. Not surprisingly…she is also magical when it comes to her own family. It was a beautiful evening and I hope you love these images as much as I do, Michelle.
Feb 01, 2012
But of course, then look at his parents! We were delayed a bit for one reason after another, but we finally got to celebrate his one year birthday at tad late. We definitely did it in style:
I always get emotional at newborn sessions, but recently, I’ve started getting choked up at the 1 year sessions. I guess it’s just the shock of greeting a family and all of a sudden, their little baby is walking (or in his case, running) all around. He’s not a baby…he’s a toddler…and then next thing you know, he’s going to be a teenager. Okay…a big leap, I know, but it just seems so in-my-face lately how kids (read: my kids) are going to keep growing up and I’m kind of stuck in this time vacuum. Does that make any sense? Probably not. But it sure does fill me with a strange mix of joy and longing. I mean…I photographed that beautiful couple when they hadn’t yet become parents…and then I saw them again during one of the most joyful and yet vulnerable times of their lives as parents of a newborn. And now I see them again and how gracefully they’ve embraced parenthood and how this little guy is thriving and it just overwhelms me.
I’m a mess. I’m a big ol’ mess tonight. But that’s good. It means that I don’t take this responsibility lightly. I’m honored. Truly.
Feb 01, 2012
For everything. She is all that is joyful and exuberant and girly and bright. She is my sunshine and she never fails to wake us up every morning with her glowing personality. I find myself making goo goo eyes over her even during the simplest of tasks. I don’t know what we did to deserve her, but I’m forever grateful she chose our family.
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 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.]