courtney jade’s blog

I know it’s been quite a while since I have posted, I hope you can forgive me! I’ve been shooting non-stop since August, and it’s been near impossible to even think about blogging.
Anyways, I thought it would be fun to show you a little of what I’ve been up to!

Here are some adorable photos of Luketan + Matt!
They were recently engaged, and wanted some photos to remember the moment!
They are such a sweet couple, and I had a blast at our session. I can tell that they are a perfect match!

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!!!

Newborn sessions have a special little place in my heart. If you know me, then you know that I was born a mother, and for as long as I’ve lived I’ve looked forward to being a mother. (In fact, when I was 5 I remember telling my mom that I wanted 100 babies when I grew up. I imagined having them in a hospital-nursery-like setting. Of course, that was before I knew how babies came into the world…)

A lot of the photographers who inspire me the most are newborn photographers. So to say the least, they are always some of my favorite sessions!
This little bundle of love was 7 days old on the day we had his session. I couldn’t believe all of the hair he had! Such a darling little baby boy. His name is Evan Grey, and I could just eat him up! Congratulations Rachelle and Brenden, your little baby boy is perfect

And my personal favorite from the session… it was a tough call, and the monkey pic is another fave… but this one makes my heart melt…

meet the lovely Juliann, and her man, Adam.

We had the pleasure of shooting on one of the most beautiful autumn days this year. We went up to Bridal Veil, which is along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The leaves on the trees were absolutely stunning, the sun broke through just a little bit, and it was chilly, but gorgeous.

Adam really knows how to make a photo shoot fun! It seems like more often than not, the guys are not so into the photo thing, and the girls are more than into it. Adam, however, was just having fun and being himself, it was refreshing I love when people can just let loose and be themselves. I’ve been lucky with that this year I think, my clients just keep getting better and better!

Without further a due (sp?), here is the beautiful couple!

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

Sneaky peekie!!!

Beautiful couple, beautiful location, beautiful day = beautiful photos

more to come soon… and also be on the lookout for the engagement shoot i teased earlier…

As many of you who follow my blog know, I have a very good friend– Tonja, who owns her own boutique lingerie line- Knickers Lingerie.
And if you know that, you probably also know that she has a very beautiful daughter– Madi.
And you probably know all of that because you are my most faithful and loyal followers, and have been following my stream for quite some time

But for those of you who didn’t know, let me introduce you to two of the lovliest ladies who always leave me smiling- Tonja & Madi.

Tonja is a fashionista, seeker of beauty, and an extremely talented apparel designer. While she has recently launched her extremely gorgeous lingerie line, Knickers, she also gets to use her talents at her day job! During the 9-5 (and sometimes after-hours), Tonja is an Assistant Designer for Nike’s swimwear line.

Her daughter Madi, short for Madeline, is a beautiful, curious, intelligent and fun-loving five year old. She just started kindergarten this year, and while I’ve only known her a bit less than two years, it’s simply crazy to see how fast she grows! She loves animals, faeries, playing solitaire, and her favorite princess (also her most recent Halloween costume– which Tonja made from scratch btw) is Aurora from Sleeping Beauty.

Now that you know them a wee bit better, onto the photos! Oh yea, we met at Starbucks, LOVE those pumpkin spice lattes! lol

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!!!

i drove down to Corvallis, OR today to shoot with this beautiful couple. I am so excited about their photos, I just had to post one!

Many more to come soon… along with other shoots i’ve done lately

I thought it might be fun to post about my past weekend!
I took a bunch of photos on my iPhone to document, since I have yet to replace my point-and-shoot from a year ago when it broke, and lugging my pro cam around just isn’t very ideal.

But first! How weird, that today at lunch, I got this fortune

because just yesterday i was reading this great article about how to price your photography! Random, right?! Well anyways, I thought it was weird.

Ok, onto the weekend!

Friday night started off with a bang! Our President at work took our whole team out for bowling, pizza, and drinks So we only had to work a half day, and got an early start to the weekend! Man, I love my day job sometimes! There’s nothing like getting off a little early after a crazy busy and productive week, sure makes you feel good!

Before our photo shoot on Saturday morning, we stopped for some pumpkin spice lattes! (all of these photos were taken by my friend Tonja’s daughter, Madi- photos to come soon!)

Another fun thing we did this weekend was go to this AMAZING restaurant- Por Que No?
I can’t believe I’d never been there! The food was absolutely amazing, and I fell in love before I even ordered! The entire restaurant is colorful, vibrant, and full of life! I couldn’t help but snap away with my little phone! They even had delicious fresh juices– mark and i had guava coconut! YUMMY!

SO yummy! It’s definitely on our faves list now! Mark had been talking about the place for a while, and he ended up going with our friends Chauncey and Jonelle a few nights prior- it’s one of their favorite spots as well, so they were excited to show Mark the ways of the place

Mark and I also got our photos back that we had done from Kevin Russ, THEY ARE AMAZING!!!!
I am so in love with them, I almost cried when I saw them… he is the BEST! I’ll do a post about them soon so you can all see

And of course, a trip to Trader Joe’s! I love love love that store! Not only do they carry delicious foods for super low prices, their packaging is ADORABLE! I literally buy things from there just because I like the box! Maybe it’s the graphic designer in me, but they get me every time!!! Prime example:

Also- the Steelcut Oatmeal (get it in the frozen section!) is my new fave breakfast!!! Why doesn’t all oatmeal taste this good?!!? SO delicious!

and one of my baby, just because he’s too cute for his own good!

2 blogposts in 2 days, man i’m on a roll!

<3