We held our last round of the Austin 2009 Xpressions Sessions today and all I can say is, "Wow!" I cannot even begin to tell you how beautiful all of these families were, how wonderfully charming the kiddos were, how kind and patient the parents were, and how absolutely outstanding my baby sis/assistant was. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who made these Xpressions sessions FANTASTIC!  As always, the images shown have only received basic edits to enhance contrast/color, but no full retouching.  I’ll show you an example of the difference at the end of the post.  Also, before I forget, if you’re pregnant in the Austin area and want maternity portraits and are due in February, March, or April of 2010, you can get a FREE mini maternity session (kind of like these Xpressions Sessions) in January. And, I *still* have a few spaces open for the Xpressions photo sessions in Washington, DC and Richmond, VA in December.  Meanwhile, to continue these awesome sneaks:

And to illustrate the difference between the digital negatives (the files that are sent on CD with the Xpressions sessions) vs. the files that are fully retouched (prints ordered through me or those that are available as part of a Premium Session):

Oh, I cannot wait to go through all of these images! Today was a great day all around. Thank you all again!  I’m so honored to get to do this for you.

All in all, I’d say the first-ever round of Pinkle Toes Xpressions sessions rocked my world. Such BEAUTIFUL families and such patience—you wouldn’t believe the kind of heat and Texas-sized mosquitoes we were dealing with here. So sorry we didn’t get to do the morning sessions this weekend (thanks to the threat of storms and a bad radar map), BUT that works in your favor because…

I’m adding a NEW Xpressions date! If you’d like me to notify you of the new date and times available, please fill out the form here.  Also, we’re going to make another exception this round…I will accept families up to 5 members (extra fee over 3 subjects), but babies still must be at least 3 months old.

To these beautiful families that had their Xpressions sessions this weekend…I’ve already got your disks burned (everyone ended up with around 70+ images!) and prints on order! It won’t be but a few more days and you’ll have everything in hand!  How about that??? And by the way, these previews have only received the basic edits for contrast/color…no additional retouching, etc., so this is exactly the kind of stuff you’ll see on your disk.

Limited engagements in Austin, TX, Washington D.C. and Richmond, VA. Learn more!

(Photogs…even if you’re not interested in a session, do check it out if you want to get together for a "meet & greet" lunch December 20th in Richmond).

If you are planning to have photos done in time for the holidays for cards, gifts, etc., the time to schedule your session is now. September is pretty much booked, October is on it’s way, and in November we reach our holiday card/product ordering deadlines. (Stay tuned to the Session Openings Calendar for updates).

I mentioned this before, but a reminder: as a special incentive, I am offering a set of 24-5×7 flat holiday cards with CD purchase to anyone who holds their holiday session in August (you can choose from a handful of designs).  This offer is good only while openings are available, so jump on it NOW! If you already have a session booked in August, you can receive these cards. If you’ve already booked your holiday session for Sept, Oct, or Nov, and move it to August, you can take advantage of this offer, too, but again, only until August books up.

Also in August, our Senior Xpressions for Austin area seniors graduating in 2010. Details.

(How do you like this moldy oldy? Our holiday card, circa 2007)

Brace yourself.  This post is chock full!!!  You will want to read through all of it to get through the hodge podge of information, including a special holiday offer! ;-)

First, some incredible news I got today!  See that adorable baby girl in the heart up there? Yeah.  Well she took home FIRST PLACE in the humorous category for the annual Miller’s Baby and Child Contest.  I’ve never submitted any image before, but this year, on a whim, I decided to give it a go.  I am so very happy for her and her family. Congrats to you all!!!  (Click HERE to see the rest of the winners!).  This would be the "over the moon" portion of my post.

Second, I got some incredible deliveries on my doorstep today (which would be the "out of this world" portion), starting with this STUNNING Platinum Album:

If you could see their house you would notice that it matches their decor PERFECTLY.  I’m thrilled that mom thought outside the box in the design of this album!

It’s been like Christmas around here, people.  Here’s another set of books I shipped off today…matching maternity and newborn.  These are SO adorable together:

And then, I got this gigantic canvas too:

Of course, we had the AWESOME mini maternity sessions at Baby Coco this weekend.  A quick sneaky peek here:

And here’s a pseudo sneak peek of the newborn session that has been postponed and rained out and postponed again (LOL, V, I promise we will get to his newborn session while he’s still a newborn):

(I promise to explain the boxes later.)

And finally, some pics of the biggest reason why I’m sooooo behind on blogging:

I’ve got the theme from Flash Dance running through my head.

Okay, there you have it. That pretty much sums up the past week or so.  What??? It’s only been a week?  Wow! July is almost GONE! 

Which reminds me, if you haven’t booked your family holiday photo session yet, the time is NOW! September is pretty much booked, October is on it’s way, and in November we reach our holiday card/product ordering deadlines. As a special incentive, I am offering a set of 24-5×7 flat holiday cards with CD purchase to anyone who holds their holiday session in August (you can choose from a handful of designs).  This offer is good only while openings are available, so jump on it NOW! (If you already have a session booked in August, you can receive these cards. If you’ve already booked your holiday session for Sept, Oct, or Nov, and move it to August, you can take advantage of this offer, too, but again, only until August books up.)

Thanks a bunch and stay tuned for LOTS of sneak peeks coming up over the next few weeks! 

Every time I get one of these books in from the printer, I hold my breath.  And every time I actually get to flip through it in person, it makes a session so much more real…more tangible.  And every time, I get a little sad because it marks the end of that session.  But, every time, I get hopeful that I’ll get the chance to do this again in the future. (Now, if I can just remember to take pictures of these books every time ;-)).

Speaking of the future, don’t forget, the Mini Maternity Sessions are coming up next Saturday, July 18th!  There are still some openings if you want to play. 

Also, still have some stuff available (I moved it to it’s own page).  If something’s out of your price point, please, please, please feel free to make an offer.

Contact me for full details or to sign up now!

AND, there’s still some stuff left for sale here (added some things, too).  If it’s more than you wanted to spend, please make an offer.  I really want to clean my house out ;-).

Contact me for full details or to sign up now!

I’ve been meaning to come back to these two for a while now.  Loved the outfits mom had picked out for them.  They reminded me of little vintage dolls.

(I don’t normally do pets, but I couldn’t resist her…she was so sweet.)

Their little giggly faces just make me smile every time!