North Louisiana Lifestyle Family and Newborn Photographer

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Michelle and Mark | South Arkansas Maternity Photographer

Michelle and Mark are some of my good friends. Mark and I grew up going to church together in North Louisiana. We were in Sunday school and youth group together. Basically we have known each other our whole lives.

I met Michelle either at a youth camp our church puts together or on a family vacation to Florida where she lived. Michelle, you’ll have to remind me which it was. I feel like it was youth camp. I can’t believe I can’t remember!! Either way, we met as teens and stayed friends. We would see each other either at youth camp each year and then if we got lucky we would see each other again in the Summer while on our family vacation.

Michelle was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I photographed her wedding. That was a fun trip.

I still vivdly remember the day I got a call from Michelle asking me about Mark. She knew that we went to the same church so she wanted all the details. We chatted for a while and the next thing we knew she was visiting us in Louisiana and then he was visiting her in Florida. Yep, it was a done deal.

Now they are soon to welcome their sweet baby boy into the world and I can’t wait to see them as parents. There is nothing lilke it in the world! I know you two wil be the best of parents.

We had their session in Magnolia Arkansas where they live. We grabbed lunch together after church and then went on to SAU- the college in Magnolia where Mark actually went. It’s a lovely college campus with so much character. It was easy to find great spots here and I am sure it won’t be my last time to visit.

It was such a perfect day for a maternity session, too! Warm sunshine graced us with it’s presence. This was such a happy welcome with all the cold we have had.

I can’t wait for you to see these images!! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

So fun

Trying something new with double exposure here

Love love love this one

Having too much fun with double exposure, ha!!

This is a favorite too

Thank you so much for being here! If you enjoy this please leave some love

xoxo,
Courtney

February 1, 2022
Michelle’s Baby Shower | North Louisiana Photographer

My dear friend Michelle is having her first baby in just a few weeks. This past Saturday we had a baby shower for her at our church in Minden Louisiana. It was such a joy to celebrate this new little life that is soon to come. We are all anxiously awaiting his arrival.

If you know my family, you know we have all girls. My mom had four kids, three girls and a boy. My sister has three girls. I have two girls, my brother has one girl. The numbers in our church aren’t much better. So many baby girls have been born latley with a few boys. So to have a friend having a little boy is so fun! It’s nice to change the vibe and see decorations and outfits for a boy.

Fun little backstory, Michelle and I have been friends since we were both teenagers. I photographed their wedding and now seeing her go through pregnancy and soon to be motherhood is such a joy. I know she will be a wonderful mother to this sweet baby boy.

Everyone put so much effort into making this shower so lovely and each one that came to support made it so special. I am so thankul to be able to capture this for them! Having this look back on over the years will be so fun!

I hope you enjoy this little peek into Michelle’s baby shower!

Thank you so much for being here! If you enjoyed this please leave some love.
xoxo,
Courtney

January 25, 2022
Justin and Lilian | Louisiana Anniversary Portrait Photographer

It is soon to be Justin and Lillian’s second wedding anniversary. I photographed their anniversary portraits for their first anniversary and I loved those images! Here we are on the second anniversary and I love these even more! Both sets of images were taken in downtown Minden Louisiana, yet they look so different! I love the variety they got.

Downtown Minden is one of those locations you can shoot in over and over and not feel like you are just shooting the same thing. For this session we decided to start at the Minden Louisiana library. If you have come through Minden then you know how amazing the library is! I do not know the history of it, I’m sure it is a good story.. but I do know that it is an amazinbg building that I have been eyeing for months now. I knew it would photograph incredibly well, i just needed the perfect couple for it. Cue Justin and Lillian.

When we first planned our session together, we were going to go into Bossier City, Louisiana. When rain was forecasted we decided to reschedule. Being unsure of dates we could make it work, we decieded to stick closer to home. They live in Minden and we are only about 20 mintues from Minden.

Once again, our date was rained out so we had to reschedule. But this time we decided to move it up one day. So instead of Saturday we chose Friday. The sun was shining beautifully, even though it was quite chilly. It was a wonderful day over all.

It seemed like all of Minden decided to come out the same evening we were doing photos. It got a little interesting ( comical ) as I was trying to yell over the loud vehicles driving by. But it made for some good laughs. We had the best time together! Justin is such a hoot! You can’t be around him long without hurting from the laughter.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to work with you two again! Happy two years!! Have a good trip in San Antonio, you two!!

So cute

Love, love, love

Isn’t this place stunning?!

Lillian, you’re so beautiful

Some of my faves

I’ve been imagining this shot in my head for a while now!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this please leave some love.

XOXO,
Courtney

January 11, 2022
Favorite locations of 2021 | North Louisiana Photographer

As I have already said before, 2021 was full of beautiful sessions that I just adored! And I know I have already showed those to you. However!! 2021 was also full of some great locations around North Louisiana.

As a photographer in North Louisiana, it can be tricky to find great spots because North Louisiana is really not that glamorous. Like at all. In fact, it is frustrating how non-glamorous North Louisiana is. There are no mountains, no epic gardens, no super awesome historic locations. We do have historic locations, but not a ton.

However, there are a few great spots that I have found in 2021 and I’m hopeful to find even better ones in 2022!

Here are my top favs

The peach orchard in Shreveport

Lake Claiborne

My parents land in Shongaloo

Our land in Homer

Lake Bistineau in Doyline

The Square in Homer

LA TECH campus

Caney Lake in Minden

These are just a few great spots in case you need ideas for your next session.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Please leave some love.

Xoxo,

Courtney

January 3, 2022
Best of 2021 | North Louisiana Family and Newborn Photographer

Welcome to the best of 2021 blog post!! These are all the best from sessions we had as a north Louisiana family and newborn photographer in 2021. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, 2021 was our best year yet!

I am so very thankful for each one that entrusted us with the task of documenting their family in the here and now. We treasure images taken of our family and I know each one of you do too.

The season that you are currently in may be tough and leaving you feeling overwhelmed, but just now it’s only a season. Before you know it this season will be gone and you’ll be longing for it again.

In 2022, let’s pledge to cherish where we are at now and look forward to what’s to come. Let’s be more present with you families and friends. Let’s live our very best lives and not worry about what so and so is doing.

I’m so thankful and honored to have been able to photograph and meet such special people this year and I look forward to all that God has in store for this little business endeavor in the coming year.

2021 was a year of growth for me. I invested back into my business through education and truly learned so much! From the ins and outs of lighting, composition and posing, to client interaction and making them feel comfortable in front of the camera. I don’t regret a single investment I made. And it’s because of each of you that I was able to do this.

I trust each of you had a Merry Christmas and that your new year is blessed and full of all God’s many blessings.

Now, let’s look back on 2021!!

A true highlight of my year- love this sweet family!

This session was so fun!!

Still a favorite

Show stopper

This one is so dreamy

Thank you so so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this please leave some love.

Xoxo,

Courtney

December 27, 2021
Haven and John Paul | A North Louisiana Christmas Session

Christmas in North Louisiana is always unpredictable as far as the weather goes. And that is exactly how this day was. There are was a big storm approaching that night so the wind was howling! I had the bright idea of bringing our tree outside to use as a prop.. it was real genius with howling wind. It fell over once and continues to threaten more falls. I decided to grab a few 15 pound weights to hold it down. HA!

If that wasn’t enough, the sun was coming in and out behind very dark clouds. I had to move the tree 3 times. Do things get better? Not yet.

Minutes before they arrived it started sprinkling even though the radar showed no rain. Nothing. I was not ok at this point.

But, alas, things did get better!! Once they arrived the sun peeked out of the clouds just long enough for us to get some pretty light in our images and then it went back behind the clouds for us to use the little Christmas set up I spent all that time on.

After our session was finished, John Paul and Haven got to meet our puppy Duke and they loved playing with him.

I would say, overall, it turned out to be a great day! These images are so sweet and fun! Love these kids!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this please leave some love.

Xoxo,

Courtney

December 20, 2021
Jeff and Esther | Lake Claiborne Louisiana Photographer

Jeff and Esther are such a sweet couple. I have known them most of my life and I have always looked up to them.

They have gone through a lot and I just had it on my heart to do something special for them. I reached out to Esther and offered them a session of just the two of them together.. A little moment in time where they could forget about everthing that is going on around them and just focus on them.

We decided to do their sesion out at the lake house their family owns on Lake Claiborne. This place holds alot of speical value to them and it’s just a place they can go and realx. Not to mention it is so beautiful!

We met on a windy, chilly day. It seems with sessions in December in North Louisiana you never know just what you will get. It could be nice and warm or it could be cold. The sun could shine or there could be threats of rain.

Thankfully the rain that was predicted held off and the sun was shinning! It was lovely weather even with the wind.

We had a wonderful time together and these images are some of my very favorite I have taken.

These are some very special people and I am so thankful I could do this for them.

Can you see why these are some of my very favorite?

Love this

Ah, soo stunning!

Thank you so much for being here! If you enjoyed this, please leave some love.

Xoxo,

Courtney

December 17, 2021
Mason Family | Homer Louisiana Family Photographer

The Mason family is such a sweet group of people. They reached out to me to do their session and we were able to squeeze it in just before Christmas.

We met on our land here outisde of Homer, Louisiana on a chilly December day. I have done their photos a number of times and each time I am thankful to be able to capture this time for them.

The Masons are another family I have known all of my life. I have many memories of going over to Jennifer’s family’s house for Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations as a kid. We always had so much fun! We have photos of crawfish boils when Esther was just a baby. So many memories!

Pictured in a few of these photos is the sweet boy that Esther has baby sat since he was a newborn. He is like a member of the family to them so it was only fitting to let him in a few images. I’m so excited to share these with you and I hope you enjoy them!!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this post! If so, please leave some love.

XOXO,
Courtney

December 17, 2021
Emma and Andrew | Caney Lakes Miden Louisiana Photographer

I had such a wonderful time with Emma and Andrew and their mom Laura during this session! It was so good to meet them and they were awesome in front of the camera!

The joys of meeting so many new faces this year has been such a wonderful blessing! I look forward to what the coming year holds!

We met for this sesion at Caney Lakes state park in Minden Louisiana. I do not shoot here often, but each time I do I am reminded of how beautiful it is! We do have to go on a little hike around the lake, but nothing too crazy.

I love how you can just walk a short distance and get such a hiuge variety in locations, light, and image results. This creates so much varitey within the final gallery. Everyone loves that!

I hope you can tell by these images just how sweet and respectful Emma and Andrew are. We got to chat about where they go to school, their church camp where Andrew won the most Christ-like award, and so much more! It was such an honor and priviledge to just learn about them. It is so wonderful to meet such awesome people!

Thank you again, Laura, for trusting me with such a task of documenting your family’s memories. I loved every second of our time together!!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this post please leave some love.

Xoxo,

Courtney

December 13, 2021
Stephenson Family | North Louisiana Family Photographer

Oh the Stephenson family!

How I loved meeting them!! We met for their sesion out on their land in North Louisiana.

After getting a tad lost and having to call them for help, we arrvied and got to meet and greet. I introduced myself to their sweet kiddos and we chatted a little about the land, where we should shoot, and all that fun stuff! It had just rained the day before so we were a little worried about it being muddy, but everything was perfect. The land was beautiful and so was the light! And that family? Oh they were fantastic!! I have never worked with kids who knew how to work that camera. hah!! They seriously all made my job SOOO EASY!!

After arriving on the land we came to find out that this was actaully where John grew up! How awesome is that?! I’m all about session locations having sentimental value- and this one did!!! It just makes the images that much more special.

We got started wtih everyone smiling and looking at the camera. I always call these the boring shots. HA! We get thes out of the way fast while we have everyone’s attention and then we get to the fun stuff!! I’m a firm believer that in order to make your sessions not feel like they are dragging by and like pulling teeth you HAVE TO MAKE IT FUN! We play games, have tickle fights, and just be plain goofy!! You may wonder how on earth we get good shots this way. Just trust me, you do!! The candid feel is how you capture their real personalities and get the little ones to trust you that it will be fun.

After gettng home and uploading these images I felt the joy and emotion all over again. There is nothing like getting home and getting to re-live a wonderful time all over again. I know I say this all the time, and it sounds cliche, but i just love that I get to do this as my job! It’s the most rewarding and incredible job ever. I’m so humbled and thankful, honored and grateful that people like the Stephensons entrust me with such a role in preserving their family memories. It’s something I do not take lightly.

I love this so much!

The sweetest kids

We recreated an engagement photo the took 12 years ago!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this please leave some love!
xoxo,
Courtney

December 8, 2021