North Louisiana Lifestyle Family and Newborn Photographer

Author: courtneydexterphoto

Shull Extended Family | North Louisiana Photographer

The cream of the crop, that’s who these people are. It’s hard to find a more genuine group than these.

When Jessica reached out to me to gift her mother with a family session for Christmas I was thrilled. First, what a Christmas gift. And second, yay! I get to document their family. This is something I adore. Not that you haven’t heard that before. I love preserving memories like these for a lifetime. Time truly slips through our hands and years go by in the amount of time that feels like mere days.

It’s not every day that the Shull families are all together. Anna and Craig live in Connecticut, which is quite a ways from us here in Louisiana. When we found out they were coming for a quick visit we knew we had to get these photos done then.

Thankfully, everything came together and we had a lovely day for photos. Not too hot, not raining. The location was stellar, if you ask me. Everything was just right.

We had so much fun together. Towards the end I let all the grandkids just have fun and be silly. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. Ha!!

Thank you so much Shull family for choosing me to document your family. I am forever grateful.

June 20, 2023
Baker | Shreveport Louisiana Newborn Session

Sweet little Baker. Oh how I adore photographing these precious new babies. This is definitely my most favorite thing to photograph. It’s such a special time. It goes so quickly and many times it can feel like a fog because it is not easy. But it is so beautiful. I have never come into the home of new parents and thought anything but “how beautiful.”

Meeting the Rentz family was the highlight of my day. They are some of the sweetest people that I have had the privilege of photographing. They were so welcoming and kind to me. So trusting as I worked to soothe and photograph their precious new boy.

Little Baker’s nursery was so cute with all the blue and white gingham. The puppy dogs were such a sweet touch, too! It is so to see the different ways that mamas find to decorate their nurseries. Every one so unique and so cute. I always make it a point to get images of it because it won’t be long until that room is changed into an older kid room. I want mamas to have photos to look back on to see how sweet the room was back then. Is that not just a sad thought?

I can never say it enough but the saying it so true. The days are long but the years are short. You don’t realize how short they are until you are several years removed from newborn-hood. Then you realize, time goes so very fast.

It is the highest honor that I can ever receive to have brand new parents welcome me into their home to document this incredible time in their lives.

June 13, 2023
Justin and Lillian | American Rose Garden Portrait Session | Shreveport Louisiana Photographer

Justin and Lillian

I have photographed these two for the last three years and I couldn’t be more happy about it. Each time they reach out to book, I get more excited. Each session we have together gets better and better. They are so easy to photograph!

This time we wanted a little change. We usually do their session in the Winter. This time we decided to do it in the Spring. Florals, bright green colors. What more could you ask for??

We both, at almost the same time, suggested the American Rose Garden in Shreveport Louisiana for the location. Fate? Destiny? Probably so.

The date of the session came and it was gloomy, raining, storming here and there, so incredibly humid. I ended up getting sick. Justin got called out to work. Ugh. Let’s just reschedule for next weekend.

As the next date approached it was showing rain again. NOOO!!!

Once the day arrived everything cleared up other than it was supposed to be cloudy. I was actually good with this because this location closes at 5 which makes it hard to shoot during golden hour when the sun sets at 7:40 right now. We decided to start at 3:30 and hope for clouds. Clouds were forecasted so I was feeling confident. In all reality, I do know how to shoot in harsh light. It is just usually not my favorite look.

When we arrived at the location, there was not a cloud in the sky. Not a one. AHHH!! It was HOT! It was crazy humid. Oh boy.

Once we started, some clouds started forming and it was constant in and out. Bright sun. Clouds. Harsh light. Soft light. If you are a photographer who shoots in manual mode then you know the difficulty that light like this brings. You are constantly changing your settings.

Thankfully with the Canon R6 I can see what the image will look like before I take it. SOOO nice!

Anyways, back to where we were…

I was nervous about the light. I was nervous about how much we were all sweating. It was a lot! But these are my absolute favorite images we have created together. You can’t even tell it was so hot. You can’t tell it was 5 hours before golden hour. I love these and that is all.

I hope you enjoy them!

June 6, 2023
Roncali Family | Ruston Louisina Photographer

The Roncali family

I have known them as long as I can remember. So many memories growing up with them. To be able to come back and document their family now is such a joy and an honor. This job never, ever gets old. It’s hard to even call it a job when it’s something that I enjoy so very much. Whether it’s new families that I have never met before, returning clients, or old friends I count it the highest honor to be the one documenting this special time. This is a time that, once gone, doesn’t come back. Yes, there are times it is chaotic, but it is so wonderful and so very beautiful.

Coordinating extended family sessions can be tough, especially when part of the family lives out of town. We have been talking about this session for two years now. Everything finally aligned and the most beautiful session was able to take place in their backyard. What a gorgeous backyard, right?! Oh, I love it!! I think a family session can be special anywhere, but when it takes place at a location to which you have raised your children, that makes it VERY special.

Thank you, Roncali family. This is a session I won’t soon forget.

May 30, 2023
Abigail’s First Birthday Party | North Louisiana Photographer

Sweet Little Abigail

I know y’all are used to seeing her on my blog by now. I love having her here. She’s so cute and sweet.

I don’t normally photograph birthday parties, but for faithful clients and friends I will do just about anything.

Little Abigail had the sweetest strawberry themed birthday party and I loved being there to document it for her family. I know how stressful it is to plan a party, host the party and try to take the pictures of it as well. Too much on a plate at one time. I loved that I could take this part off their plates and just let them enjoy their first birthday party with their baby girl. How precious is that?!

May 23, 2023
Lake Bistineau Senior Session | Lemuel Pruitt | Shreveport Louisiana Photographer

High School Grad, Lemuel Pruitt

Lemuel is big into fishing. We knew when we scheduled his session that we wanted to have his portraits somewhere to where we could incorporate his hobbies. That is something that I think is so important with seniors. Adding in elements of what they enjoy doing. Whether it be sports, fishing or hunting for the guys or cheer, photography, painting, flowers, etc for the girls. Adding in elements that are them make their portraits more personal. I’m all about that.

For this session we met at Lake Bistineau in Doyline Louisiana. Y’all know this by now that this is my favorite location for portraits. The park has such a Louisiana feel to it. I love the moss in the trees.

We knew we wanted to get out in the kayak for some of Lemuel’s portraits. After getting the more formal wear out of the way, he changed into his fishing clothed and we headed out for the water. It was so fun to just let him do his thing while I photographed him. It’s kind of hard to do much posing out in the water on a kayak after all. Haha!!

These images are so fun and so Lemuel. So glad we were able to capture him and some of the things he enjoys.

May 16, 2023
Greenhouse Portraits | Minden Louisiana Photographer

We went to a few different green houses in Minden Louisiana and of course I brought along my camera. Why not?! Everything is content. Haha!!

Actually, I really have always wanted to photograph inside a greenhouse. So this was the best time to take advantage of being there with my girls. They didn’t love me making them stop to take their pictures but it was worth it, at least to me.

We went to Culpepper’s nursery and Cone’s garden supply in Minden. Both had a beautiful assortment of plants. Cone’s had the best flowers while Culpepper had beautiful baskets arranged. Both were great!

May 9, 2023
Gender Reveal | North Louisiana Photographer

This is something fun I have never done before. A gender reveal session. What a fun way to announce the gender of your baby you are expecting.

This one was a special one. After three girls in a row, of course they were hoping for a boy. Low and behold it’s another girl. Hey, girls are so fun and loveable! We should know, all we have is girls in our family, aside from my one brother. The more the merrier is our motto I guess. Haha!!!

This was so fun to see everyone’s reaction and to celebrate with them. Congrats to the Conroy family!!!

May 2, 2023
The Priutt Family | Lake Claiborne Louisiana Photographer

This family holds such a special place in my heart. I have known them for my entire life. I grew up with their kids, spent the night at their house as a child. They are like family to me.

To be able to photograph them was such an honor. I love being able to document families, of all ages. You see a lot of my work with young families, and I absolutely adore working with the little ones. But families with older kids are just as important to document. There is nothing like family portraits to be able to hand down from generation to generation.

This location holds such a special place in this family’s heart. The lake is their getaway, their relaxation. To have their portraits done here was the perfect place.

April 25, 2023
Abigail is One | Ruston Louisiana Baby Photographer

This little cutie babe graduated her milestone sessions with CDP and it’s a happy/sad day. She’s a little miracle and it has been the greatest joy to document her life.
Abigail is the sweetest baby girl and lights up a room with her sweet, sweet smile. You can’t be around her without smiling with her.

We met at Louisiana Tech University because of their tulip garden. When we arrived the tulips were already gone. NOOO!! However, there were other flowers so we made it work. It was such a beautiful day with perfect weather. We couldn’t have asked for a better day.

I loved every second of this first birthday session and I can’t wait to continue to watch Little Abigail grow and blossom into whatever God has in store for her precious life.

April 18, 2023