courtney jade’s blog

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!

This family has been with me from the start. She was one of my very first brides, first boudoir session, and one of my favorite families to photograph each year. It’s so fun seeing a family grow over time, and be there to capture the little in-between moments.

Shauna is a dear friend of mine, and one of the most supportive. She truly loves photographs. She gets it. And she’s always thinking of fun ideas to incorporate. I love going over to their home and seeing all of the photos I have taken over the years, literally everywhere! It’s one of the most rewarding feelings as a photographer. THAT is what I aspire to give all of my clients- photographs that they cherish so much, they hang them all over the place, and keep coming back for more!!!

I love you guys, and I’m so happy that you keep coming back <3 I hope you enjoy your photos, and here’s to many more in the future! (Corey, you’re a trooper )

I knew I would adore Kimberly and Kevin when they chose Monticello’s as their meeting place to talk over the details of their special day.

The two met at school, and through Kevin’s persistence, they ended up going on a date. She thought it went terrible, and he thought it went great… but in the end, regardless of how that first date went, Kimberly was won over by Kevin’s charm.

She smiles with her eyes when you mention him, and the entire morning, before she had seen her handsome groom, she was brimming with excitement. She was the perfect bride. Beaming with beauty, grace, and anticipation, you can see how in love she is with him. She is relaxed, but excited, a perfect mix for the perfect day.

He is proud. You can tell that he is full of joy, and he has been anticipating this very day for quite some time. He is confident in his decision to marry this beautiful girl, and ready to start the next chapter of their lives together. He too, is calm, but excited. He can’t help but smile anytime he hears her name, and he is anxiosuly awaiting the moment he first sees her walking down that isle, straight to him.

Kimberly + Kevin, thank you so much for choosing me to document your most special day. I hope that these photos serve as memories for years and years to come, I feel blessed to have been there for you both. Enjoy.

I feel so lucky to have such amazing clients turn into friends. Emerson’s parents are just that, and I am SO happy that we have gotten to know each other over the past year! It seems like just yesterday I was shooting Lexie’s maternity photos, and now Emerson is already so grown up!

When they decided to do my “Baby’s First Year” plan, I was ecstatic because that meant that we would be able to build and grow our friendship even more! Lexie has the BEST ideas!! She went all out for Emerson’s 6 month session and got some super adorable outfits. It totally paid off, as you can see!

I, personally, am a huge fan of that adorable red swimsuit and matching cap by Janie + Jack, and the adorable flower headband by the very lovely Sew Whimsey!

I cannot wait for one year cake smashing fun with you guys!!! <3 Thank you for being so so wonderful!

I feel like I just got home from summer camp. I can almost smell the campfire on my clothes. It’s that feeling when you just get home from an awesome experience, fresh and ready to take on the world. I feel refueled, mentally at least, and I’m still riding that “high” of inspiration, motivation, and the passion to focus, and to change.

Let’s get real for a minute. Or a weekend, rather.

This past weekend, I was invited to be a part of something truly amazing. Life-changing amazing. That might sound like a big deal… well IT IS! I was lucky enough to be selected to attend a live workshop with Tamara Lackey as my instructor at the creativeLIVE studios in Seattle, WA. The two-day workshop was focused on “Taking Care of Business”, which for me relates to my photo business. This workshop marks a very pivotal point in my path as a professional photographer and business owner.

Brace yourself for one long, reflective, blog-post about my experiences, and my thoughts. You might want to single-task for this

As the owner of a photography business, I am expected to be everything. Or at least have it all covered. Aside from being a good photographer, I am expected to know how to be a good business manager, a good accountant, a good sales person, a good marketer, a good designer, a good… well you get the point. For the past as-long-as-I-can-remember-since-I-started-this-whole-business, I have tried to be ALL of that. And over and over and over, I have failed, miserably. Hopefully from an outside perspective this isn’t SO apparent, and I have a feeling that it isn’t since people continually ask me “how do you do it ALL!?”. The answer: I don’t think I do!!!

But guess what? Failure is a key piece of the puzzle of success. And I’m ok with that. For every 10 times I fall flat on my face, I move forward. I know this. I have known this. For some reason, I just didn’t know that it applied to me, until this past weekend.

There is something so incredibly profound about someone speaking to your heart. It’s like all of a sudden, you can feel this rush of warmth fill in spaces in your heart that you didn’t know were missing. And at the same time, your brain gets all tingly, and a lightbulb goes off, and the clouds open up. All at once. That’s the best I can describe it, clarity.

I arrived late Thursday evening, checked into my room, and went down to the hotel restaurant to meet up with my new friends and colleagues- the other chosen ones. I was so excited to meet them all in person, especially after doing a little online stalking, and emailing. You could tell that everyone was anxious, excited, and a little nervous for the entire experience. But at least we were all in the same boat.

I could hardly sleep that night. I don’t know if it was excitement, or just that normally I’d be up working/editing away anyways. Needless to say, getting up at 6am was NOT easy, lol. But one thought about being LIVE on camera for 8 hours to literally thousands of viewers got me in that shower and getting ready FAST. I met up with a couple of the other students, Jesse and Donovan and we all walked across the street to the creativeLIVE studios together.
From the moment we walked in, you could feel the energy of the atmosphere. Positive. For some reason, I wasn’t nervous to be on camera. Thinking about how thousands of people were watching live just didn’t seem to phase me. Maybe it was that everyone else was so nervous they just sucked the energy for that right out of me… Whatever it was, I am incredibly thankful. The set was gorgeous. Modern, sleek, and fun looking, complete with pretty green apples! Everyone on the set was incredibly kind and welcoming. I felt like we were all long-lost friends! The rest of the students and Tamara arrived, and soon enough Celeste was counting down until we went live.

While re-capping every little detail might be interesting to some, I’d rather reflect on the experience, and what I have learned from it. Since I love lists, here you go:

Things I have learned, and will be implementing into my business, and life.
•  I can’t do it ALL. Nor should I attempt to. What I can do, is figure out my strengths, my passions, and delegate the rest.
• Emotional and physical rest are a VITAL part to being successful. Work in 90 minute intervals, and single-task to get more done.
• I need to be affectionate towards the business side of my business. Dreading it will get me nowhere, and when you break it down, it’s really not all that scary anyways.
• My brand needs to be a reflection of ME. Anyone can buy equiptment, learn PS, etc., but what will set me apart is branding myself in a way that reflects who I am and what I believe.
• Branding and marketing are two separate things. Recognize that. Divide and conquer.
• Realize what makes me dead inside. Stop doing those things, and find a way to take care of them in a different way.
• Know my role. I am an artist, not so much a visionary or manager. Knowing this will help me figure out what I should be tackling myself, and what I should leave up to others.
• There are other ways to get work done than hiring a full time person. Interns, part timers, and commission-based helpers are all options.
• It NEEDS to be EASY to do business with me. I need better marketing materials, and a better mindset.
• You can change your mindset, if you can accept the idea, be ok with the idea, and own the idea. I am working on this, specifically when it comes to helping clients choose the best prints/albums/wall portraits/etc. for their homes. Realizing that they are coming to me because I am the expert, and they want my advice. By changing this mindset, I can change the experience, and therefore change my outcome.
• Money. It’s not the root of all evil, but blind worship of it is. I need to get a better handle on all things financial within my business, and personal life. This will help me achieve my goals much faster.
• The more money you spend, the less you have. The less money you spend, the more you have. Sounds so simple, but definitely spoke to me.
• Fear is a normal thing, and even a good thing. Fear is inevitable, and a part of the process. If you’re scared, you’re probably doing something right.
• Stop telling yourself things that you wouldn’t openly tell someone you love. Get rid of the negative thoughts.

Things I am going to change
• Better up-front communication with clients about their experience. I will help to plan the shoot better, get to know my clients better before the session, and help them through the end of the process by finding out their intention for the shoot, what they’d like to get out of it, and what they’d like to take home from it.
• Acquire my own “team”  to delegate the things I don’t want to do out, so that I can focus on what I do want to do.
• Re-assess and re-brand my business, with an emphasis on who I am, and what my vision is for my clients/work.
• GET IT TOGETHER!!! The business side must be in a good place for me to be successful. I will be better at managing my finances, invoicing, contracts, and clients so that I can stay on top and be a profitable business.
• Simplify the experience. It needs to be easy for clients to work with me, and I need to make it that way.
• SERVICE my clients. I will gain a new perspective, and each time I consider communication with a client, I will first think of how I can better service them. What can I do for them, so that we maintain a relationship that involves the least amount of work on their end, and the most amount of enjoyment.
• I will change my mindset about sales. People are obviously hiring me for a reason, and I need to be better at finding out what that reason is at the beginning of the transaction, and work towards it the entire time.

Whew! I obviously have a LOT to improve, and organize, but thanks to this amazing experience, I now have a starting point, and a very specific direction. This will be a new start to a better experience for my clients, and for myself. In the end, I just want us both to win, and I feel like by moving forward and embracing these new ideas and disciplines, I can accomplish that.

I cannot even tell you how close I have become to the entire group of people who were on this crazy ride with me, but here is a start: (totally stealing your individual-comment-idea Donovan!)

Tamara- WOW. Thank you, for everything. Your honesty, your directness, your challenges, and for sharing your wisdom. I truly feel like you genuinely care about me, and the success of my business, and that is enough to make my eyes well up with tears. There is something so intense about someone who believes in you, and who shows you that. Thank you for sharing that with me, and with all of us. I appreciate your candid nature, and your genuine demeanor. The wealth of knowledge you have shared with me over this past weekend is exactly what I needed, and hoped to gain from this experience. I don’t think I could ever say enough “thank you”s, so I work hard  to instill the knowledge into myself and into my business, since actions speak the loudest. I am so happy that you now know about me , and I sincerely hope that we are able to stay in touch. You are such an inspiration, and I appreciate you. Plus you have some awesome T-rex dance moves.

Erika- You. Are. Amazing. We clicked from the moment I met you, and there is something so genuine and positive about you. You are warm and friendly, and I can tell that you are so dedicated. I know that you will learn to disassociate yourself from the negative, and focus on the positive, only furthering you in many ways. I am happy to know that I have a lifelong friend in you, and I look forward to watching you succeed. Don’t doubt yourself, you’ve got this girl, just freakin’ get started!

Kelli- Girrrrrrrrrl! I can honestly not wait to hang out with you again! I am so happy that I busted down your wall soon enough to get to know you so well in just two days. You are an incredible person, and you are strong. I hope that you embrace yourself more, and infuse that into your business, because you will be unstoppable. Thank you for the laughs, the real convos, and for opening up with me. I am so happy that we are friends, and I know that we will be for a lifetime. WPPI will be here sooner than we know, and I can’t wait to share that experience with you and hopefully our other fellow classmates! Until then, I cast “REVELIO!” on you and your personality, because you have so much to offer to so many. And, my daddy taught me good.

Donovan- Dang boy! You can drop it like it’s hot!! I didn’t expect those dance moves from you, but I should have. You have such a unique talent that I know you will take off and be uber successful with! I am so happy that you have found reason and confidence to take your business to the next level, and to start getting legit. You are worth it, you deserve it, and I hope you won’t sell yourself short anymore. I am so glad that you made it all the way from New Orleans to hang out with us and inspire us all. I love your witty sarcasm, and how you are so meme savvy You have such a warm and friendly demeanor, and I am sure that will only further you in your endeavors. And yes, we will be meeting up again!! Let’s make it happen!

Carolyn- You are wonderful. Your genuine nature and willingness to share your experiences and knowledge is unusual in this industry, and I really appreciated it. You get it. I am so happy that you are booked for a very successful fall season, and I have no doubts that you will continue to succeed with your business. Thank you for sharing stories about your kids, and your experiences, and for sharing your tears. That takes guts. Lots of them. But it’s beautiful to see someone so shamelessly emotional about what is important to them. You inspired me, and I can’t wait until we get to hang again Along with the workshop, one of the most valuable things I learned this weekend was about the golden circle, so thank you for that as well. Cheers to Mountain Dew!

Jesse- I didn’t get to chat with you as much as I would have liked, until the hour before I literally left town. I am so glad I stuck around for that, because you are inspiring. Thank you for your honesty and feedback, I value that so much. You are so careful it seems, with everything. I can tell how much you care about your business, and I know that you will succeed. You have real, raw talent, there’s no denying that. I can’t wait to see what you do with your brand, and how you decide to market YOU. I hope that we get another chance to hang out (WPPI maybe?!!) so that I can see a little bit more of the REAL Jesse Clements

Kenna & Susan- you two are an inspiration. Both of you are so warm, sincere, and welcoming. Thank you so much for the honesty and encouragement. You are a vital part of the CL operation, and it is great to meet you in person after watching you for so long on CL I can’t wait to come back again, and I’m working towards that one-year promise full-force

Celeste- You are a ROCKSTAR. You are incredible at your job, and I can tell how much you really enjoy it. Thank you for being so friendly and engaging, and such a pleasure to work with. I loved hearing about behind the scenes, and watching you in action! Your hard work pays off, and you deserve it. Send me a link to your etsy and post some cute hair fluffs!

Craig- Thank you. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU for doing what you do, and building such an amazing platform to do it. I believe in creativeLIVE 100%, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. What you do is inspiring, and innovative. All of the people you touch is insane. Thank you for everything. I had such an amazing experience, and I am already ready to come back. You’ve built a fabulous team of people who genuinely care and believe in the same things, and it shows. I am proud to be able to say that I was a tiny piece of the big CL puzzle, and hopefully in the future, I will be able to be a part again. Thank you for welcoming me into your CL family, I am so happy to be a part.

Crew- You are all inspiring. The work you do is incredible, and I am astounded at the level of professionalism and the dedication you have towards the show. I didn’t get to know many of you super well, but your love for your work is evident, and inspiring. Thank you for everything. I couldn’t have had this experience if it weren’t for each and every one of you, and for that, I am so so grateful.

Here are some of my favorites I snapped

He’s a graphic designer from Portland. She is a fashionista from Michigan. They have a little pup named Max who is as cute as can be, and can seriously rock a bow-tie!
Jake + Kelsea are one hip couple. They just go together, like an ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day. He is warm, thoughtful, an artist. She is bubbly, sweet, and fun-loving. They bring out the best in each other.

They met in Portland through mutual friends, and eventually fell head-over-really-cute-heels for one another.

I was really excited when they told me that they wanted me to take their engagement photos for them, and shoot their wedding (oh, just you WAIT!). If this is anything like a sample to the main course, rest assured that I am in for one heck of a beautiful event to capture!!! We messaged back and forth about location ideas, and fun props to incorporate. Ultimately they decided on downtown Portland, in the Pearl District. Kelsea, a fashion major, did not disappoint with their wardrobe! Complete with hand-sewn bow ties (for Jake, and Max!), suspenders, amazing heels, bright colors, and even some mustache accessories, this was one of the most fun shoots I have ever done!

Thank you Jake and Kelsea for making my job effortless, fun, and allowing me all of the creative freedom imaginable! It’s people like you who inspire me to keep doing what I do. I cannot wait for your wedding next year!!

I just adore the paper signs that Jake designed for them! How sweet!! And how cute is Max in his red bandana!?

I adore working with children. They are by far my favorite subjects, from the tiny newborns to the goofy kids, they all steal my heart. I feel so lucky that I am able to do what I do, and freeze these little moments in time for them and their families to keep always.

I thought it might be fun to share a behind the scenes shot of a recent shoot I did.
This is one of my favorite boys EVER, and I know, he is adorable. He calls me “sugar lips” and wants to marry me. I adore him.
You may remember him from the Rockstar Session we did last year for his birthday party… or his little brother’s 1 year cake smash session was quite adorable as well.

But boys will be boys, and sometimes to get to a photo like this….

you have to first get through the ones like this….

oh boys, you just have to love them!!!