IT SNOWED IN AUSTIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just like that, after a shitty week of our nation's Capitol getting stormed the beautiful snow unexpectedly arrived in Austin, Texas and was a magical surprise that was SO needed. I was watching my Sunday morning church service on Facebook in the living room and there was an excitement in the air with hopes of the snow happening. I opened all the shades to the windows and watched like a little kid waiting and watching for Santa on Christmas Eve. As the rain turned to sleet, it eventually turned into the big, fat snow flakes and decorated Austin with a bright, white new coat of fresh snow. EVERYONE was so excited. We maybe get snow here every 8 years. In my 25 years in Austin though, this was by far the most snow that I've ever seen. I went for a woodsy walk with my neighbor Marion and then sledding with my friend Stacy!!!! I did a few back flips at the end of the hill. Thank you God for snow! :)

#snow #snowday #laugh #bff #sledding #fiftyandfabulous #livelifeincolor

Merry Belated Christmas from me & my Boy!

As I'm working on gathering information for my "Ultimate 5-Day Big Bend Itinerary" blog post, I scrolled through all my Christmas & New Year photos and decided I should do a post from that to document how the holidays were for us during our first ever pandemic. My family chose to stay seperated from each other and stay at our respective homes. With my mom being in her late 70's and my step dad turning 80 in 2020, we wanted to keep our distance from them. :( For the past 5 years though, it's only been Sloan (my son) and I for Christmas morning so that wasn't any different than usual. We usually then go over to my sister's house in the late afternoon and do Christmas dinner and gifts over there and make a party of it. Sloanie and I slept in until 9amish and did our gifts and big breakfast. He started getting into rockclimbing last year and it's been so good for him mentally and physically. Needless to say, he's a stylish rockclimber. He always does the research and finds the most unique and best quality items when he gets into something and rockclimbing is no different. His big item he requested was this Cotapaxi backpack to organize and carry all his gear. I LOVE this thing! I want one for myself but will have to save up for one. Until then, I'll continue to use my red Gap backpack from 1995...yeah, you heard that right. I think I could do a commercial for Gap and this OOOOOOOOOOOOOOLD backpack that I'm still using!

He got these awesome hot pink clips, too!

I can't wait to test out my new Macie Bean boots dancing! And, I love supporting my fellow Etsy artists and these cool earrings are from Boo + Boo Factory!

His cousins in Cali surprised him with these awesome rockclimbing shoes and he was completely SHOCKED! These cousins also got him the hot pink hair dye, too! LOL!

We ended up doing some serious electrician work when we decided to conquer putting up my light fixture in the kitchen. That turned into a WAY bigger project than we expected and were saved once again by my "gaybors" Paul & Ryan!!!

Aaaaaand, after we completed that project we had a leisurely afternoon relaxing, catching up with friends on the phone, watching some Hallmark Christmas movies and finally doing a Zoom call with our family. It's been a struggle but we have been teaching our mom all about her ipad and now she's learned Zoom! I'm so proud of her! Plus, we had to do our traditional crackers!

While it wasn't like our usual Christmas celebrations, we made the most out of our situation. I'm thankful for technology and that we were able to see each others faces, share some stories, show our gifts to each other, open our crackers together and have some laughs! Goodbye 2020.

Photo Lesson of the Day | What is Knolling?

I found this article to be very interesting. I didn't know this flat lay photography style had a name or history. Who doesn't love a good visual? Click here to learn about knolling.

New Desert Print Available Now | In My Etsy Shop | Pink Palm Designs Shop

I have officially wrapped up all my senior and family shoots through the end of the year so I've been taking a little time to update a few prints in my Etsy shop! Some of you may not know this but I sell some of my travel photos (mainly beach shots) in my #Etsy shop called Pink Palm Designs Shop. I take so many beautiful photos and hated that I wasn't able to share these fabulous photos with others. Then, one day I was like why can't I share these photos with others? I started doing some research and found out that I could with a little extra work! Now a year later, a 105 sales later and 101 photos in my shop and I AM doing it! I love, love, love to see where all the clients come from who purchase my photos. I've had people from England, Australia, the North eastern states and one gal who works on a yacht in the Bahamas and now my underwater Bahamas shot hangs on the yacht there! It has brought me great joy to be able to share my travel shots with others and know that my work is hanging in people's home around the globe. That just makes me warm and fuzzy all over! Right now, I offer the prints as a digital download and then you can order whatever product online that suits your fancy and have it shipped to your home and ready to hang! If you're wanting a printed version of one of my photos then I also sell printed products through my Fine Art America shop, too. Today, I've added a new desert print to my Etsy shop and wanted to share the love. I'm hoping with so many people staying home to work this next year that some new art work may be necessary to keep the office fresh. Check out this beauty!

#instahome #style #o #designer #kitchen #bhfyp #wallart #livingroomdecor #homeinterior #homeinspiration #smallbusiness #house #furnituredesign #interiordecorating #kitchendesign #bedroomdecor #homestyling #shoplocal #lifestyle #deco #giftideas #decora #photography #artist #flowers #hiasandinding #bedroom #wood #homemade #casa #brandinellisphotography #etsy #etsyshop #handmade #etsyseller #etsysellersofinstagram #smallbusiness #shopsmall #etsyfinds #art

ATX Lifestyle Family Photo Shoot | Circle C Ranch | The Devanys

Let's talk about the Devany's! This is my first time to work with them and my oh my are they a fun family! First off, I'd like to say that I was impressed when the youngest daughter, Ella (18 yro) reached out and inquired about this photo shoot for her mom's birthday gift and then was my point of contact through the entire process! Let me say that again...So, her mom did NOT have to do any work to put this photo shoot together other than her outfit and to show up for the photos. Now that's a great gift! Hint. Hint. To all the kids out there needing a great gift for your mom...here it is...a family photo shoot! I know a lot of times the mom's feel so much pressure trying to organize the date, time, schedules of the entire family, then the clothing, etc. What a beautiful gift from this family to take the weight off of mom and actually let her enjoy the process. Makes my heart warm and fuzzy when the kid's step up and do special things for their parents! We met at the park and they were ready to participate and have fun during the shoot, too! The cuteness is about to kill me. Grab your spiked hot cocoa and some bits of toffee and kick back, turn the music up and check out the Devany's video!

#familyphotography #family #familyphotographer #photography #love #newbornphotography #photographer #portraitphotography #familytime #familyphotoshoot #photooftheday #portrait #lifestylephotography #familyphotos #kids #photoshoot #kidsphotography #familyportraits #nikon #familygoals #lifestylephotographer #familyphoto #familyfirst #familysession #family #familyphotoshoot #siblings #atxfamilyphotographer #brandinellisphotography

ATX High School Senior Shoot | Bowie High School | Josh

We had to have a double shoot with Josh. He had so much fun the first time that he wanted to shoot again...juuuust kidding! It started raining on us day one so we had to do a reschedule which ended up being the most beautiful morning so it all worked out. He showed up with his game face on and ready for his senior shoot. I love when the guys wear their school jackets, too. I think they're so cool and such a neat tradition that represents your high school years so well. We shot at Seaholm in downtown Austin and as always we got some really cool shots. I loved all his bridge shots in the school jacket especially the over the shoulder one where he ended up turning back to look at me. Grab your peppermint mocha coffee and some wheat thins and kick back and enjoy Josh's video.

#senior #seniorpics #seniorphotography #seniors2021 #classof2021 #classof2021seniormodel #seniorportaits #classof21 #seniorphotos #senioryear #graduatingclass #college #portrait #grad #graduate #fashion #hair #style #seniormodel #seniormodel21 #seniorphotographer #seniorpictures #almostdone #senioryear #senior2k21 #2k21 #2021 #seniorpride #2021senior #senioritis #highschoolsenior #offtocollege #seniorrep #sosenior #seniorsallday #allgrownup #schoolpictures #lastschoolphotos #modelstatus #preview #sneakpeak #2021grad #seniorsunday #seniorsaturday #brandinellisphotography

ATX Lifestyle Family Photo Shoot | Their Backyard | The Dukes

This is my sister's beautiful family! They are always last on the list at Christmas time for their family shoot but somehow we always squeeze it in and pump out some seriously cute Christmas cards for them. This year we wanted to focus on my neice's fabulous reindeer jumper so the rest of the family decided to wear black so Atalie would stand out. We've all been socially distancing from each other (yes, even our family) so we kept it simple and did the shoot right in their back yard. I had the kids get on the swing for a few of their sibling shots but then decided to roll with it and pile the whole family on there and next thing you know everyone's laughing and having fun and we ended up getting some really animated shots of the family. Their dog, Ice Cream does NOT like the click of the camera but for some reason she was a trooper this year and stayed close to the family and smiled in several of the photos. She just kept creeping into the photos. There were some where I literally laughed out loud when editing them because of her smile, stance or appearance in the photos. There's a few where she is peeping around the back of Glenn's knees and I about lost it! It was like she was saying, "Peek a boo!" This year by farrrrrrrrr Ice Cream stole the show at their photo shoot! :)))) Grab your apple cider and some gingerbread cookies and kick back and enjoy the Duke's family Christmas video!

#familyphotography #family #familyphotographer #photography #newbornphotography #love #photographer #portraitphotography #photooftheday #familyphotoshoot #familytime #portrait #babyphotography #maternityphotography #lifestylephotography #newborn #kids #baby #photoshoot #familyphotos #kidsphotography #newbornphotographer #familyportraits #canon #familygoals #familyphoto #lifestylephotographer #familyfirst #brandinellisphotography