Downtown Wedding | Austin Wedding Photographer

Last month I shot Pam and Ankit's wedding with the fabulous Dave McLaughlin. I always have such a great time when I work with Dave. Be sure to check out his fabulous photos here.

Parenthood | Austin Family Photographer

Here are two shots from the Roselle's session that I had not posted yet and that I love. They are just so 'parenthood' to me. Its blessings and its frustrations in all their glory.

The Owens Family | Austin Family Photographer

Here are some more from this very fun session.

Henry Take Two | Austin Newborn Photographer

Finally here are the rest of the shots of baby Henry and his entourage, who are most likely overworked, underpaid and exhausted about now.

How I Went to a Truck Stop and Got Bit by a Donkey / aka FW8

It is hard to write about things that are meaningful to me. And the Foundation Workshop was very meaningful. It was hard and fun and exhausting and exhilarating. It changed the way I see and nothing is more valuable for my photography than that. I had an amazing team led by the extraordinary Amy Deputy, who not only does amazing work, but has a heart bigger than the state of Texas. Our mentors were: Huy Nguyen, Rachel LaCour Nieson and Jay Premack. One thing I loved about the team leaders was that they all had skills and personalities that complemented each other. But the most important gift to me was their total generosity with their time, their skills and their energy. We had the only all female team, which I thought was pretty cool. My amazing team members were: Britt Bailey, Gulnara Samoilova, Emmy Sherman, Tak Yi Young and Tina Wilson. We made such a great team--I love them all. And a shout out to Matt Mendelsohn, who is nothing short of splendid. He is not only a great photographer, but a darn good writer to boot.

We were each given an assignment to shoot. Mine was to photograph the opening of a new yoga studio called Get Yogafied and in particular the story of Shana, who is an attorney looking to change her life by helping to open a yoga studio. After reviewing my photos from the first day of shooting, the team leaders decided that that story was complete even without the lawyer angle and that I needed to find something that would challenge me a bit more. So Huy, in his infinite wisdom, thought I should just head up 75 north and find a truck stop to shoot at. So I did. I had never been to a truck stop before and I was pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone was. Only two people did not want me to take their photo. Mostly people just wanted me to listen to their story. Among the many people I met was JR, who works at the adjoining mini mart. He invited me to come to his 280 acre place where he has 40 DONKEYS. So of course I couldn't pass that one up. And Amy came along for the ride.

The final night everyone showed slides of their work and I WAS BLOWN AWAY! If you want to go to a workshop that doesn't talk about marketing, gear or posing, but gets to the heart of photography--the art of telling a story, then this is the one for you. The first day I got there and found out that many people had been before I was confused. I thought "why would you attend the same workshop more than once?" Now I am mentally saving my pennies to go back next year.

Below are three slideshows that show what I shot while I was there. You should definitely check out Anna Kuperberg's amazing photos of the week here and Vlad's fabulous video here.

Sneak Peek | Austin Family Photographer

I LOVED this family. Not only were they lovable, but they had chickens and a dog. What's not to love about chickens and dogs? More to come.

Susie and Sadie | Austin Family Photographer

I still have yet to finish proofing baby Henry's newborn shoot, but I thought I would share one I got back from the lab of Susie and Sadie.Our little family has been struck by sick kids and pink eye and sick mommy. It has been a whirlwind of disease and disruption of the routine around here. I suppose that is par for the course in February. And then to top it off some crazy guy rams his plane into an office building a half mile from here. Luckily no one was hurt. Normality, like Susie and Sadie snuggling in a chair, never looked so seductive.

Katherine | Austin Portrait Photographer

I went to my friend Katherine's the other day under the auspice of doing some quick head shots for her. What I really ended up doing was drinking coffee and taking up her morning with my chit chat and letting Ben mess up her house. We did them so quickly because it was freezing and we didn't want the kids to burn down the house while we were outside. I just had to post these two because they are my favorites--of course I love the soft ones.

Henry is in the House | Austin Newborn Photographer

One of my favorite Austin families just added on to their brood, so of course I went and photographed him. Susie is one of my clients that quickly morphed into a friend and I love her whole family. I photographed them for the first time a little over a year ago and now they are four. I couldn't be happier for them.This is just one shot that stood out when I was uploading the files. I just love the feel of it. I love that big sister Sadie is kissing him with such gusto and that Henry has this 'life on the outside sure is different than in the womb' look on his face. And I love how Steven looks a bit overwhelmed (actually, I think it is probably Sadie's elbow hitting his trachea) and Susie's face is full of love. Much more to come of little Henry.

The McCormicks | Austin Family Photographer

I had the honor of photographing the McCormick family again. We did a shoot last May at Mayfield. This time we opted for Laguna Gloria. The occasion this time was the imminent arrival of the newest member of the family. We thought he would come any day, but it was a full two weeks before little Devlin decided to come on out of the comfy spot he had inhabited over the last nine months. And he is a cutie. Can't wait to get my hands on him.

New Wedding Site | Austin Wedding Photographer

I updated my wedding site because the images on the previous one were just too small for my liking. Check it out here.

Katy and Daniel | Austin Engagement Photographer

Katy and Daniel didn't want to do the typical schmaltzy engagement session and I was curious to see what we would come up with. So we headed out on a Sunday morning armed with props and their two year old Basset Hound Obi. Those of you who know me know I am a sucker for short legged, long backed dogs and bassets are some of my favorites. Obi did not disappoint. We had a wonderful time and I had such a great time chatting with them that I had to remind myself to raise my camera every once in awhile. Since they asked me to shoot some film at their wedding in April I brought along my Hasselblad and had some fun shooting medium format again. I can't wait for their wedding, if for no other reason than to spend some more time with them.

Baby Jasper Part II | Austin Newborn Photographer

I was thrilled to do a newborn shoot with baby Jasper (and of course his big sister Lillia). He is so beautiful and was a wonderful model. I especially love the last shot because to me it illustrates the craziness of family life with dog(s) and babies and the chaos and adventure of it all.

Baby Makes Three | Austin Family Photographer

I had such a great time with this family. They are also recent Bay Area transplants so it was fun to talk about places we loved there and to share some good finds here. And Lauren has the BEST laugh. It is so infectious. I love the natural light portraits in the bedroom the best--I posted my favorite one yesterday. I love when baby plays with mom's pearls. It reminds me of the iconic image of Caroline Kennedy playing with her mom's. And darn aren't these beautiful people?

The Twins | Austin Children's Photographer

I had such a good time at this family photo shoot with these identical twin girls and their beautiful mother. Mom has her hands full and I really admire all she does for these two beautiful little ones. So much love.