courtney jade’s blog

brian (awesome) + lea (beautiful) = beautifully awesome couple.

Over a year ago the beautiful Lea asked me to be a part of her and Brian’s most special day- in Costa Rica. This was my first destination wedding ever, and I am so glad that I was able to have such a wonderful bride and groom (and their friends) to experience it with!

Brian and Lea make such a beautiful couple, but they are also genuinely wonderful people. It’s not every day that you feel like your clients are friends that you’ve known forever, yet this is how they made me feel. Thank you to both of you for making me feel like such a part of your group, not just on your wedding day, but my entire stay in Costa Rica. Brian and Lea were married at the beautiful Tamarindo Diria Hotel in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

You are both lovely, I hope your photos will forever be a reminder of how extremely beautiful your day was.

view your slideshow here

the beginning.

<3

she’s even more beautiful on the inside.

this is jaimee.
jaimee works for Toni & Guy.
she is my hair stylist.
she’s been doing my hair for almost 6 years now.
the first time she did my hair was right before i flew out to meet mark for the first time.
she is beautiful.
she has one of the kindest hearts of anyone i know.
her laugh is even pretty, and infectious.
my dog de-flowered her dog (hehe!)
she has a great sense of humor.
she is creative, and full of fun ideas.
we shot this photo at our condo in Costa Rica last week during a mini-photo shoot.
i heart her <3

more to come soon…

Can I just start off by saying that I am so in love with this entire session! The colors, the lighting, the subjects, everything just lined up perfectly, and I couldn’t be happier with the photos. This is the first professional portrait session I did with my new camera, and I don’t know about you, but I can tell a HUGE difference!

I met these two darling’s mother Jenn back when we were both working in cosmetics, and I was still in school for graphic design. She was just starting her very own business- a cute, funky-fresh retro themed line of baby apparel, bibs, burp & bum rags, and blankets: Pearly Grey. (Fun Fact Alert!: she was my first “client” for design! I created her logo, hehe) Check out her site and if you know anyone who’s expecting, she makes these awesome little Hospital Take-Out kits that are completely adorable (they even come in a Chinese-style take-out box!)!! I just gave one as a gift at a baby shower I attended, and you should have heard the “oohs” and “aaaahs” it got. Total win.

Jenn and her family are just beautiful. She is such a wonderful person, and her kids are to-die-for gorgeous!!! So of course, when she said she wanted to do newborn photos for her newest addition, little Liam, I was more than excited!!! It’s always fun to work with other artists, and Jen is just so laid back in general, I knew we would get some really great photos!

A lot of people ask me where I shoot, if I have a studio, bring props, etc. I am an on-location natural light photographer. That means that I show up with my camera, a few basic essentials, and my talents. One of the most important things to me is to capture people’s genuine self, which means capturing them in their own element, with things that are special or important to them. When I showed up to Jenn’s house, I was more than thrilled to walk into her completely adorable kitchen!!! These photos were shot in her kitchen right next to a sliding glass door. All natural light. Of course, she has a completely adorable kitchen, I mean, look at the wall color!!! And not to mention the black and white tile floor… my mind is spinning with all of the possibilities that I didn’t take advantage of… well, we’ll just have to do another shoot This woman has got style!!

Now, onto the photos! Welcome to the world little Liam Vincent You are perfect in every sense of the word.

Liam’s older sister Jane Pearl was such a perfect little model for me too! She wanted so badly to be a part of the whole shoot, and I couldn’t have asked for a more cooperative little model. Isn’t she completely gorgeous!? I can hardly believe she’s just 5 years old…

And she just loves being a big sister You can tell she takes so much pride in it. Little Liam, you are in good hands!

These next shots are probably my favorites from the entire shoot. Completely beautiful <3 There were too many good ones. Just look at how peaceful little Liam looks in her arms

Another cute shot of Jane I can’t help it, if only all 5 year olds were this excited to have their photo taken! haha.

Check out those little lips

A few of my faves with mommy, of course!!

I just love his expression in this one, it’s like he’s saying “awww come on mom! geez…” haha, I just had to post it!

And we just had to get a couple of product shots in there for Jenn to use to promote her business!

And of course, the adorable chair shot! (I know, I posted it in the sneak peek, but I just can’t help but post it again I love it so much!)

Thank you Jenn, for being so great, and for choosing me to take Liam’s first photos I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

<3

Have you ever read the book “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman? Well, if you haven’t you should, it’s a very interesting book!

“Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive—everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch.”

At the end there is a quiz that you take to determine which of your love languages are the strongest. My top results were “Receiving Gifts” and a tie between “Words of Affirmation” and “Quality Time”. Everyone speaks all 5 languages to some degree, but it’s natural for most people to have a dominant one or two.

This was no surprise to me by any means. I value gifts, little and big, immensely. Whether it’s a quote written down on a napkin, or a beautiful sparkly something, it has the power to take my breath away. I also love giving gifts! I feel like it’s a great way to show that I’ve been thinking of someone, and I always put great time and effort into selecting and preparing special presents for people.

I believe that this is why I love photography so much. When you take someone’s photo, and then give it to them, it’s a very special gift. No one can ever relive the moments that have passed, and memories fade with time, but a photograph lasts forever. Those little moments frozen in time to remember and hold on to forever. There’s just something so special about that.

So it was to my complete surprise when I opened my mailbox this evening and there was a “You Have a Package in the Manager’s Office” slip sitting atop my mail! I racked my brain trying to think of what it could possibly be… did I order something? Did Mark order something? A print order? A large envelope from the insurance company (you know, one of those horribly ridiculous packs of paper that they are required by law to send out once a year or something.. waste of trees!) None of those. I raced up to the office since it was about to close, and eagerly handed her my slip.

“Ah!” she said as she turned around and picked up a medium sized brown box.

She handed me the box, and it was sealed with SAINT CUPCAKE PACKING TAPE!!!! Saint Cupcake?? But, who? How? Why??? What was in there?! My mind went racing, thinking who would be so nice as to send me something so amazinly sweet and awesome… and what was in it?! I thanked the manager and raced back to my apartment. Once I got in the door, I cut the tape and opened the package.

The glory of it all. I LOVE this place. It is the first cupcakerie I ever stepped into years ago, and I’ve been in love ever since. My good friend is friends with the owners of the place (one who is a graphic designer superstar– in case you couldn’t tell..) How gorgeous is this presentation!?! I flipped the card over…

Of course!!! My lovely bride (and friend of MANY years) Jesse from last Saturday’s wedding! She had asked me for my address and I thought nothing of it. WHAT. A. DOLL!!! At this point I have serious little pink hearts floating all around me, I’m so happy. Pink + cupcakes + amazingly gorgeous packaging/design= DROOL!

I realize that it’s not just cupcakes, but an entire “Saint Cupcake cupcake kit”!!! What the heck!? Completely amazing.

Six un-frosted cakes, 6 containers of different flavored frostings, six spreading sticks, and six little baggies of sprinkles! No sparing on the presentation, this is completely adorable and to die for! Not to mention tasty!1

Naturally, I had to take some fun photos of my kit before indulging

Hot fudge!? That’s my fave!!!!

pink, pink, and more pink!!!

a pile of frosting cups!

Thank you SO much Mr. & Mrs. Thiel & the Davis’s!!! You totally made my day SO much sweeter (literally & figuratively!) You rock, and I was honored to be a part of your special day!!!

Now, something sweet for you… a sneak peek pic from your wedding day!!! Enjoy!

Now if you’ll excuse me, IT’S CUPCAKE TIME!!!!

<3 <3 <3

Just a few shots from the sessions this weekend, I’m in love with both!!!

Be on the lookout for more from these sessions very soon!

<3

Meet Jenn + CT!

Jenn + CT (Chris) are friends of mine from Michigan. This is their second autumn/winter in Portland, and they wanted some “Portland-y” photos, so we decided to shoot along the Portland waterfront. Shooting outside in Portland is always an iffy thing, however the weather held out for us, and we pulled off some great photos!

I am out of words tonight, so I’ll let their photos speak for themselves

To a beautiful couple, Jenn and CT, enjoy!!

This next photo was all CT’s idea! I absolutely adore it, and I love when clients come up with fun poses!!!

Meet MaryAnne and Karl.
If Karl were a pancake, MaryAnne would be the syrup. They are both so sweet, and a perfect match!

MaryAnne and Karl met while attending college at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. They are two of the sweetest people I have met! I am so thrilled to be a part of their special day next year!

Due to horrible weather, we had to reschedule their engagement shoot, however it worked out for the best. The rain held out for us, and the trees and leaves were picture perfect. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions! What a more fitting place to shoot them, than the OSU campus!? There were so many amazingly beautiful spots to shoot, it was almost unbearable. If it were closer, I’d definitely shoot there a lot more often!

When Karl proposed to MaryAnne, he took her to Avery Park, just off campus. We hopped over there to get a few shots as well. I don’t know if any of you are Twilight fans out there, but the area we shot in is exactly what I imagined the “meadow” to be like. Insanely beautiful, and perfect in every way.

This has got to be in the top 5 of my all time favorite shoots.
The photos just turned out SO beautiful! Their session looks like a fairytale to me

Congratulations MaryAnne + Karl! Enjoy your photos

Every year my sisters and I get our photos done about this time of the year to give out to our family for Christmas. (I wouldn’t say anything, but it’s been about 5 years since we started this tradition, so honestly, I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone who may be reading this ) So when the beautiful Holli asked me to do photos of her and her sister for their family, I was quite excited! I do a lot of couple shoots and group family groups, but not so many “sister shoots”.

We decided to shoot at Laurelhurst Park, since it’s one of the most beautiful locations in the Portland area during this time of year. The trees, leaves, and entire setting is just picture perfect! Plus, while Holli and her family have lived here in Portland for a few years now, they are originally from New Orleans– so I thought it would be the perfect landscape to capture some memories!

Holli and her sister Lindsey are so gorgeous, they made my job really easy!! I’m really happy with their photos

(random side note- I got my passport this weekend!!!! AHHH!!! I’m so excited!)

Ok, now onto the photos!!!