There is so much joy to be had when taking littles to a new place and letting them explore and experience new things. It’s one of those things I never really thought about before I became a parent and now I totally know what it means to see the world “through your children’s eyes.” I am so glad this family was willing to drive out here so early in the morning to do this and to bathe in the light of a stunning sunrise! [Don’t miss these two ADORABLE sibs HERE – one of the most attentive and loving big bros EVER!]

As one of the winners of the 2012 Pinkle’s Pic of the Year, they got to have a photo session in downtown Austin. Who doesn’t love SOCO and all of it’s bright, funky, fun and colorful spots? It was so much fun to hang out and catch up with these guys and I’m anxiously awaiting my turn to get my hands on that little baby cooking up there 😉 Congrats again, my friend!!! [One more don’t-miss-favity-fav shown HERE]

Twice…TWICE we are all geared up to head into downtown Austin for their photo session and we got rained out :-(. But finally, a week later, the clouds parted and we were able to make it happen. I did find it a little bit humorous, though, that we avoided the rain just so we could get soaking wet at the end of the session! But I guess it’s nice to have a little bit of control over the water levels all while letting the kids have the time of their lives!

Their timing couldn’t have been more perfect because we literally had just finished with the greenhouse construction (in preparation for the .emme. boudoir mini sessions coming up in September!) as they were pulling into my studio drive! We had a beautiful, golden sun setting behind us, and there was not a cloud in the sky. Great for pretty sunflare lighting, not-so-great for a greenhouse, we learned. While we didn’t get to spend quite as much time in the greenhouse as we had hoped, we did have plenty of opportunities to explore and bathe in this beautiful sunshine! Thank you Lauren for making the drive to Austin with your family to do your annual photo session and I hope you enjoy your pretty pictures of your pretty family!

Other favs can be seen HERE and HERE!

My boys used to go to preschool with these girls, so yes, we’ve known these guys for quite some while. After preschool ended, it became more and more difficult for us to get everyone together…sad how life and different schools and activities can pull you away from people you enjoy being around. None-the-less, we were able to get it together in downtown Austin for this very urban family photo session held in a building their daddy actually helped design and build. He’s pretty much an Austin architectural icon at this point ;-). And these girls have such PERSONALITY! What a blast we had that morning! (Loved this one of mom and dad alone for a couple of seconds, LOL).

I cannot even begin to express how thrilled I was doing this photo session. Even though she is the daughter of a photog, she did not display any signs of PCS (Photographer Child Syndrome) and that blows me away! She and her mommy are pure sunshine and watching the two of them together or even just watching the way mommy adores and appreciates her baby girl, well, it’s quite a treat. And also lovin’ that happy mistake of the blurred umbrella image above. Glad I did not delete. Looks Monet-ish. You can see an un-blurry version of that image HERE.

It’s funny to me how when I phase into a new color obsession, my work starts to reflect that without me even realizing it. Lately, inspired by peacocks (?), I notice that I’m drawn to blues and greens and upon reviewing these proofs when they were finished, it hit me…blue and green. This family was so beautiful and connected and we had a really lovely time exploring a different (to me) part of Austin.

We had the most GLORIOUS sunrise session in downtown! I’m telling you, in the summer months, you just cannot beat beating the sunrise in Austin, Texas and I always encourage my clients to choose to brave getting up early, early, EARLY in the morning instead of waiting until the hottest part of the day (the evening) for an outdoor photo shoot. These little girlie Q’s were so much fun and I’m so glad we waited just a little bit longer for the fountains to start running so we could cool off properly when we were done. [And oh yes…still my fav from the session].

I’m sure you noticed the beautiful yoga form mommy + daughter struck up there. Lindsey is the owner of Yogapeutics and let me tell you, I was in for quite the treat when I visited her at her studio a few weeks ago…

Amazing, isn’t she???? And then there’s this one, too. Yes…I think I need to sign up for her class. Wow!

I think everyone should remember Aqua Girl, but if not, you should meet her. I have been chomping at the bit to finally sit down and go through these images. While I’ve played around with underwater photography here and there, this was the first time that a majority of the session was focused on it and we LOVED every second of it. This girl has SUCH personality…I was telling her mom that some kids just have “it” and she definitely has “it.” I wish I had taken a video of her rendition of CeeLo’s “Forget You.” She had hand motions and perfect expressions…I was in fits of giggles watching her. But you know what? She can actually sing very well, too. I’m telling you, she’s got “it.”

Anyway, I’m very thankful to this family for letting me play with a somewhat new medium for me. I’m glad they risked it for the chance of some rather unique family portraits. That last image is definitely my personal fav, but I’m SO torn. Color or Black and White?

With a family filled with such personality, there are SO many options, so, we just did them all, LOL. Gang, we tried so hard to get a shot of everyone blowing a giant bubble, but I think we had the wrong kind of bubble gum and it just wasn’t happening. I was cracking up watching everyone try desperately to chew the gum and make a bubble. We’d get one, then two, then three, and by the time we’d get four, the first ones would start popping. I can’t even tell you how many shots we took, but finally, we happily opted for a composite…I think everyone’s jaws were getting sore…both from chewing and from laughing so hard! [Be sure to see another one of my fav’s not shown HERE.]