courtney jade’s blog

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

The sun twinkled through the oak trees, warm and bright. Happy. Every now and again a slight breeze would send a few crisp leaves floating down towards the ground – dancing their way through the air, as if it attune to a melody. The trees reached to the sky for forever, and only the closest of family and friends gathered in a small clearing beneath them.

  It’s as if the flowers opened up, and the birds chirped in time, and the whole forest was at ease that day.

Happy.

Danny and Maliea stood amongst their loved ones and vowed to love eachother until the end of their time. It was honestly one of the most beautiful ceremonies I have ever been to.

Two Real people. With Real feelings. Looking forward into their very Real future.

Together.

Congratulations you two. I know you will live a long and very happy life together!

“Once you are Real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”
― E.E. Cummings

There’s something to be said about taking risks and following your heart, especially when it comes to your passions. I feel so lucky that I have such beautiful and creative friends to inspire, motivate, and encourage me with my art. Mary is one of those friends, and she is wonderful.

I never thought that I’d meet someone who was more in love with autumn than I was.
And then I met Mary.
And then she chose me to be her wedding photographer.
And her wedding date was October 2nd – in the prime of autumn. It was beautiful, and could have been in a Martha Stewart autumn special. It was magical.
(You can see some of the engagement photos I shot for Mary and Karl three years ago here.)

Mary creates beautiful mixed media art, and I highly suggest that you go check out her work on her website, blog, or facebook page. I was recently lucky enough to have a piece of her artwork commissioned with one of my all-time favorite quotes by Audrey Hepburn. (see the first image, and try not to be too jealous!)  I have a very special place saved in my newly re-designed office, and I cannot wait to share images with you once it’s all complete!

From start to finish we maybe spent 10 minutes together in a gorgeous apple orchard. Mary & Karl, here are your images, I hope you like them. <3

Lisa and I met over moisturizers and mascaras years ago when we both worked as make-up artists in cosmetic-land at Macy’s. She worked for Lancome, and I just across the isle at Benefit. Since then, a lot has happened, and I’m so happy to be able to still call her my friend to this day.

I’ve been fortunate enough to take photos for Lisa and her little family a few times now, and this past weekend we met up again to capture some more moments. Gavyn just turned two, and the weather was perfect for us!

Lisa, thank you so much for choosing me, over and over, to capture these memories for you and your family. It means the world to me to have friends like you who trust in me to create these keepsakes for you. I hope you enjoy these images!!

When I first began my journey as a photographer, I never intended to “own my own business”, or be a “professional photographer”. Photography was simply something I loved, something that has always interested me, and has always been a part of my life.

My idea of a “professional photographer” was a snobby better-than-thou guy toting around cases of expensive camera equiptment. Tri-pods, lights, light stands, clickers, whistles, and who knows what else. Yuck. No thank you, not for me.

And then, something happened. I found Drew B. Photography‘s blog, and I was hooked. A mom, very cool individual, and a “professional photographer”. WHAT?! I found myself checking her blog every day, constantly amazed at the beautiful images she captured. This started a whole revelation in my mind.

Then, I found more of the same/similar stlye photographers on Flickr who’s photos I drooled over.

It hit me. I don’t have to be that “image” I saw in my head. These ladies are doing it, and they are inspiring!! I want to be like THEM. Some of my inspiration in the beginning include- Jessica Claire, Leah of LilyBlue Photography, Robyn of Buttons & Bows Photography, Poppy Smiles,   Rachel Devine (Sesame Ellis), Michele of Pinkle Toes,  Elsie Cake, and Leigh Taylor to name a few.

What connected me most with this ladies was their photography of babies, children and families.  It was beautiful. Photo-journalistic. Capturing moments, not forced smiles. THOSE were the kinds of moments I wanted to capture.

And then, I discovered Kelley Ryden and Tracey Raver, and soon after, Carrie Sandoval. OH. MY. GOODNESS.

Back then, newborn photography wasn’t as widely done, at least not to their caliber. These ladies were paving a way (in my mind) to the possible. Of course, I truly believe that Anne Geddes is the true pioneer of this art, but these ladies had skills and talents that I could grasp. Anne Geddes seemed too out of reach for me at the time.

Kelley, Tracey and Carrie were… inspiring! Of course, still completely out of my league of skills at the time, but still, they shot digital like me. And they held workshops, so other people MUST be able to learn this too!

I realized then, that maybe this was something I could aspire to, and actually thrive off of.
In the meanwhile, my work was piling up. Working a full-time job is time consuming enough, but to have people asking me to do photos for them on top of it kept me extra busy. I found myself sitting at the computers editing photos into the wee hours of the mornings when I’d much rather be sleeping, just to get people to stop nagging me about when their photos would be ready…. so I decided I needed to start charging. It was the only way I wouldn’t resent doing this.

I built a website and price list, and sent everyone there, since I had a really hard time accepting that I was charging people. It’s always been a little uncomfortable for me to quote my pricing to others… even though I know it’s totally justified in my mind.

That’s how it started.

My entire point of this entry was to explain why I shoot with natural light, and not a bunch of strobes… but it turned into something a little different, so that will have to wait until the next time.

For now, here’s a couple of images from one of my very early shoots. When I charged $50 for the session and CD. Ouch. I had a lot to learn

John Mayer says it best…

“Life is like a box of crayons. Most people are the 8-color boxes, but what you’re really looking for are the 64-color boxes with the sharpeners on the back. I fancy myself to be a 64-color box, though I’ve got a few missing. It’s ok though, because I’ve got some more vibrant colors like periwinkle at my disposal. I have a bit of a problem though in that I can only meet the 8-color boxes. Does anyone else have that problem? I mean there are so many different colors of life, of feeling, of articulation.. so when I meet someone who’s an 8-color type.. I’m like, “hey girl, magenta!” and she’s like, “oh, you mean purple!” and she goes off on her purple thing, and I’m like, “no – I want magenta!””

I consider myself extremely lucky to have two best friends whom I have known since grade school. People who I grew up with, got in trouble with, captured multiple memories with, and whom I love. They are practically my siblings, and they are definitely 64-color boxes. Each, of course, with a few missing colors

Ben is a firecracker. Loud, colorful, boisterous, creative, and passionate. He can befriend anyone. He makes me laugh every time I see him, and he is full of artistic talents. He is my brother from another mother, and we have been best friends for 17 years now. Wow.

Alyssa is also a firecracker. Creative, passionate, driven, eccentric, and honest. She is about as stubborn as I am, and we share the same sarcastic nature. So many memories together, and from such a young age. We’ve been friends for 17 years now as well. Holy smokes.

A couple of weekends ago,  Ben invited us over for a Sunday brunch in his FABULOUSLY decorated apartment. Ben has cooked MANY of brunches for us over the years, dating back to finals week in high school. He is modest, but boy does he make a mean whatever-he’s-making!!!

It’s been a long time since I’ve taken any photos for myself, out of personal interest. I find that between my full-time day job and keeping my business running on the side, there isn’t much down time for me… literally. So it’s not often I feel apt to bring my camera along to shoot for myself, but this day, for some reason, I did. I couldn’t have been happier when I walked into the room, because in true Ben fashion, he had gone all out, and made us the most beautiful spread!

Have a look at the photos, and try not to drool too much

This was by far the most decadent, lush, luxurious affair I have ever attended. As a photographer, it was a dream. Every beautiful detail displayed with elegance, nothing forgotten. The amount of thought, planning and effort put into this event was obvious and could not be ignored.

If you remember, I shot Laura’s Bridal Shower earlier last summer. She sure likes to set the bar high!

Laura and John chose the very beautiful DeArmond Garden Estate to have their most special day. The Estate is a one of a kind location, tucked away and gushing with vintage chic romance. It was the perfect setting for them.

My lovely friend, the ever-fabulous Jessica of Modern Moments Designs designed and created all of the invitations, programs, graphics, signage, and more. The event’s styling was absolutely stunning, between Modern Moments Designs work and the bride Laura and her twin sister’s styling company, Double Take Events, this was hands down the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen.

I did not photograph the actual wedding. I came out for the day to shoot all of the details- and there are a LOT of them! If this post isn’t long enough for you, just imagine twice more what you see here.

I am proud to say that this wedding, and my photos were featured earlier this week on Style Me Pretty! One of the most prestigious and most viewed wedding blogs out there. So humbled to know that others want to see and share my images.

Without further ado, please enjoy every pretty little detail from this wedding!

I was lucky enough to get to work with Bryan a year and a half ago, when he did portraits for Mark and I. He is one of the most talented photographers in the area, and most definitely one of my favorites! His wedding work is especially stunning, make sure you check him out for some killer eye candy

Bryan and Leah are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Their son, Wellington, is a complete doll. He’s just 18 months old and has such a curious nature. He’s very smart, and extremely sweet. Not to mention those big blue eyes and his dapper hat and jacket! (Welly’s parents have GREAT style!)
At the end of the session he said “bye bye Courtney” and my heart totally melted. Pure, lovable, little boy.

I found this old barn over the autumn and was saving it for something special. It’s out by my house, and since Bryan and Leah live super close I thought it’d be the perfect place for our session! We only shot for about 20 minutes, and it was freezing outside, but I’m super happy with how the images turned out.

Enjoy!

Hearts entwined
Twenty fingers, twenty toes,
two sweet babies with cheeks of rose.
Born on the same day, two gifts from above,
lives entwined, two babies to love.
~Unknown

I was lucky enough to work on this session with my friend, and extraordinary newborn photographer, Erin Tole. One newborn can be challenging, but two is often very challenging for just one person, so it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help- and I couldn’t think of anyone better to have by my side.

It was a dream session- literally! Brooklynn and Madelynn were the sleepiest baby models for us, and I’m so happy with how the images turned out!

I can hardly believe I haven’t blogged this ADORABLE session yet! Time just flies these days. I’m so excited to finally be able to share these with you- this session was so much fun, and I couldn’t be happier with how the images turned out!

I got together again with one of my bestest friends and partners in creative-crime, Jessica, and we shot her son Emerson for his 2nd Birthday!

His theme this year was “Carnival”, so we thought that Oaks Park would be the perfect location to get some fun, colorful photos to use for his invite and party products. We picked an evening in the late summer/early fall, and shot this entire session in about 45 minutes. Emerson has always been super easy to photograph, ever since the first time I shot him at his 1 year session – which we shot start-to-finish in under 30 minutes! We are kind of a dream team if I do say so myself! It also helps that he’s just sweet to the camera, and to me, the little flirt

Looking over these images makes me even more excited for the summer and sunshine! I love how the warm sun played into his images and add that extra “happy” to them.  How can you not want to just smooch him?!

I ended up shooting his AMAZING carnival Birthday Party, which I will blog about soon… but for now, here is a sneak peek!

I’m sad to say that very early this year, we lost my aunt to her battle with cancer. She was diagnosed last year about this time with multiple myeloma. I remember getting the call that she had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital while out of state, and feeling so helpless and sad for her and my family. She ended up having a large mass, which was pressing on her brain and induced the seizure. She ended up having to have emergency surgery, and was stuck in a neck brace and back brace for a good long time afterwards. Multiple myeloma is a very aggressive type of cancer, attacking everything all at once. They said it could have started just a couple months back and already progressed significantly.

It’s still strange to really think that she isn’t here with us anymore, that she won’t be at the next family gathering or holiday. My dad’s sister (one of two), and my mom’s-brother’s-wife, she was my “double aunt”. I remember spending lots of evenings over at their house as a kid,  playing in the back yard, the swimming pool, tinkering around on the piano, having dinner. I remember every time we asked her “what’s for dinner?”, she would always answer the same way- “food.”

One time my sisters and I were spending the night there (I think my parents were going out of town for some reason), and I was on medicine for strep throat. I begged my mom to get me the swallow-able pills, but she ended up getting me the liquid medicine instead. I don’t do liquid medicine, to this day (just ask mark!). But as a child, you have no choice, and you have to suffer (or gag/almost puke every time- in my case) through it.

She called me over to the table, and had the bottle of medicine sitting there… she then pulled out this HUGE wooden spoon and said something like “time to take your medicine!”. She had an interesting sense of humor  The medicine was supposed to taste like bananas or something (who’s idea is that!?!?) and I think we ended up trying to mix it into some applesauce to mask it… but I just ended up with a bowl full of nasty tasting applesauce that I had to then eat ALL of… bad idea.

I spent my first year of college at the University of Hawai’i, and as most college student know, opening your mailbox to find something in there is like finding gold! My aunt would write to me on a regular basis, and send me little gifts, stamps, etc. It was always nice to get a letter or a note from someone, and always fun to write back. I have no idea what we wrote about, it seems so long ago now. I should look to see if I still have any of those letters.

When she and my uncle were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, they came up with the idea of hosting a “show” of sorts. Each person in the family could choose an “act” to perform, and that would be the entertainment for the event. I was in the 5th grade, and completely in love with Winnie the Pooh… so I got my sister and a few of my cousins together, and we compiled about 5 songs to perform for our “act”. I remember rehearsing in my aunt and uncle’s living room for my aunt- she had pulled out the vacuum cleaner for us to use as a microphone to practice. I think I wanted to do something like 12 songs originally- over filling my plate (and probably everyone’s fill of winnie the pooh) like usual. She helped us narrow it down to just a few songs, and then we practiced our choreography. My cousin made us all costumes – they looked great!!! The show was a hit, and other performances (that I remember) included a piano solo, a choreographed girls dance group, oldies songs sung/choreographed by my mom and aunts, a HILARIOUS magic show, some song parodies, and probably more singing… what can I say, we have quite the talented family
It wasn’t until YEARS later that she told me that the show only went on because I was so excited about the whole thing, and no one wanted to let me down, so everyone got their act together. It’s true, I probably would have been crushed if I were told the show was cancelled. I guess that’s the power of love… and a lesson in thinking before you speak, or at least tell a child

There are many more memories I have with her that I will keep close to my heart. Most recently, I remember going to visit her at home after one of her treatments. She had lost all of her hair, and a considerable amount of weight, but she was working on regaining her strength. She had her walker out and showed off to my cousin and I how she could get up and walk around a bit. It was great to see her up and moving again! She had a very optimistic attitude, explaining that positive thoughts and energy were the best thing for her. To see someone go through what she went through, and prevail with optimism is inspiring to say the least.

She took off her head wrap and showed us her bald little head. I never thought that was something she would do, but she did. Sometimes people surprise you.

I am sad for my family and our loss.  I do find relief knowing she isn’t suffering any longer. She was always very supportive of me and my endeavors, and always made sure to tell me so.

She wrote this to me in an email in 2006, and it’s something I have always remembered. Boy, was she right.
“Whatever happens, not to sound to blunt, but life goes on. Sometimes change is good, sometime change is not good, but change is always hard.”

<3