North Louisiana Lifestyle Family and Newborn Photographer

Tag: louisiana family photographer

Brooke | 18 Month Milestone Session | Minden Louisiana Photographer

Oh Brooke. The sweetest little thing I ever did see. It seems like not too long ago I was photographing her as a 5 pound newborn and now she’s 18 months! Where does time go!?!

Brooke is my little niece. Her and Emma love each other so much. They are the best of friends and boy do they cause trouble. HA! They are both so much alike it’s not even funny. But they sure are a cute cousin pair.

When our Wisteria was in bloom on our land just between Minden and Homer, LA we had watned to get some pictures of Brooke but things never aligned right and they faded out before we could get anything. Our wild roses on the land came in bloom this past week and so we decided to give those a try. I had never photographed this spot before because its always been overgrown. But, thankfully, Brooke’s daddy saved the day by cutting all the overgrowth around them out with his tractor! YAY!! We rushed down the field with only 10 minutes to shoot beofre a storm rolled in and we got it done!! As soon as we were done, in fact, it started to rain. HA! Good timing, right? I think so.

Now that I know what these roses look like in camera, I may have to get my girls down here too. I love the pops of pink!

Now to the reason you’re here in the first place- here’s sweet Brooke!!

Thank you so much for being here!! If you have enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below!

Here are some other posts you might enjoy:

Abigail and Kimberly- LA TECH GRADS

Anna Claire – Lifestyle Newborn

Chloe – Wisteria Portraits

Xoxo,

Courtney

May 19, 2021
Payton | Lake Bistineau Portraits

Sweet little Payton! She was so fun to photograph. Little ones can be a little tricky to photograph becuase they do not always want to cooperate. And I definitely understand their concern!! A big black box is all up in their face and someone they don’t know is behind it being weird. haha!! That’s sure to make anyone nervous. Payton was a champ though! With a little coaxing she warmed right up and we had a good time! She is just too cute and spunky! I loved her personality!
She trusted me pretty well until she stepped in mud by the water, then she felt I had betrayed her. haha!! Poor thing. Mud all over her shoes and pants. Do you blame her? Me either! But we got past that little issue and played a little tug of war. She loved that!!
I think being able to really get down on little one’s levels and just playing with them for a little bit rather than only sticking that camera in their face can make a world of difference! They learn they can trust you and that you are fun then you can really capture their true personality! It works almost every time!

Alriht.. enough of me chatting. Let’s get on with these fun Lake Bistineau portraits!!!

March 11, 2021
A Winter Family Session | Benton Louisiana Family Photographer

Portraits in the winter in Louisiana can be a little drab sometimes as we do not have much snow, we have no mountains, and a lot of trees with bare leaves. Thankfully, sometimes there is an excecption and the images look beautiful! These made the expection. We had a few trees that stil had a little amount of leaves on them and the sun shining through them made the difference!! Sometimes winter can be dark and gloomy, but other times the sun shines beautifully!!

I arrived at Melissa’s home about 15 minutes early to scout out the area and find the right spots we would need to be in. As were scouting around, we were stopped by a sweet old man wondering who in the world we were and what we were doing. HAHA!! He was nice, thankfully! We just explained the situation and he was totally ok with us snooping around. HA!

The session was off to great start and even the llittl pup, Maggie gave us some smiles! That’s a good sign, right?! I think so too! As the sun began to drop, so did the temp but everyone was a champ and you can’t even tell we were chilly! That’s always a plus. Also, for any of you from up north, don’t laugh at us for being chilly in 50 degree weather. I know that feels amazing to you! HAHA!

After using as much of their yard as I thought we could, we walked over to the boat dock and were able to get a few beautiful portraits of Melissa and Wesley there. The light was little tricky but I think we made it work wonderfully!

Thank y’all so much for trusting me with your family portraits! Y’all did so good and made my job so easy!!

Thank you so much for viewing our blog!! If you enjoyed these please leave a comment below!

xoxo,

January 19, 2021
Why should you hire a pro for your portraits instead of using your iphone? | Minden Louisiana Photographer

In the day and age that we live in, great photos can be taken with ease and the access to a camera has definitely increased. With iphones having portrait mode and being able to get lightroom on your phone, why not just do your own portraits yourself?! I have some good answers for you!

Light and Backgrounds

First I will say that when your hire a professional, you have someone who knows what to look for when it comes to light and backgrounds. It is not just a free for all when it comes to backdrops for your portraits. You totally have to know what you are looking for! There are so many things to think about and to the untrained eye, it can be really confusing.

Posing

When thinking about hiring a pro for your images or doing them yourself, take into account that a pro has had a tons of practice with posing!! When you do images on your own, you can miss out on so much possibility and variation in your images simply because of posing. Posing can really change every aspect of you image!!

Getting everyone to look at the camera

I don’t know about y’all, but I have two small kids. Getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time is HARD!! Having someone who has tips and tricks up their sleeve to get little one’s attention can be a huge game changer!

Expert editing

Hiring a pro also means that you have someone who knows their exact shooting and editing style. Your images will all look very consistent and pair very nicely together when the edits and the shooting styles are consistent. Taking the portraits yourself can cause your images to look inconsistent due to being unaware of shooting and editing techniques.

Flattering angles

Last but not least, hiring a pro can mean that you get the best, most flatting angle of your images. Someone who is practiced and experienced in shooting portraits is almost guaranteed that you’re going to get the most flattering angles.

Thank you so much for reading our blog!! If you enjoyed this or found it helpful, please leave a comment below!!!

xoxo,

January 18, 2021
Drew’s Milestone Session | Benton Louisiana Portrait Photographer

Sweet little Drew had his sitter milestone session. He wasn’y quiiiiite sitting just yet, but he did good for a few seconds. He is so sweet and squishy and he loved his little bunny.
I photographed this little cutie’s newborn session so it was fun to see him again making his new milestones. It’s amazing how quickly these little ones grow! It never ceases to amaze me. This is one of the reasons why photographing this time is so special and important to me. This time goes by SO fast! Before you know it they walking, running, talking, potty trained, etc. It’s so fun to see them grow, but it’s also sad! You wish they could stay little forever.
While they may not stay little forever, this time right now can be preserved forever. That’s something worth investing in!

Thank you so much for viewing our blog! If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below.

xoxo,

December 28, 2020
Christmas at Simply Southern Cottage | Minden Louisiana Family Photographer

It was cold, raining and SO dark! I thought of trying for anther day but everything lined up so perfectly that I did not want to risk the chance of having to find another location. We had originally planned these sessions at a farm in Minden, but due to forecast of rain and the lack of cover, I decided to change locations last minute. I knew if we could be under a covering of some sort that we could still get these images done, even in the rain.

I reached out to Sara from Simply Southern Cottage and she gave us the ok to use her home! OMG!! She has been featured in several magazines so getting to use her home us definitely a privilege.

We hurried through each of the sessions due to the fact that is was SO cold!! Anyone from up north would laugh in our faces at us freezing to death in 40 degree weather.. but we ARE NOT accustomed to the cold. HA!

Thank you to each of these families that showed your support and came out in the freezing rain. Your pictures will be uploaded VERY soon!

Christy and Jayce

The Winters Family

The Adams Family

December 16, 2020
Our Family Portraits | Haughton Louisiana Family Photographer

A few days ago I grabbed my camera, a table, and my little family and we ventured out into our field to take our family portraits. Even though North Louisiana is not the most beautiful place on Earth, the peice of land we live on does make for a nice backdrop. Not only that, since it is our land, the images are even more sentimental. I’m a strong believer in family sessions being done at a place you and your family enjoy being together. It makes it so much more special knowing you have created amazing memories there.

We didn’t have alot of time for these and my tripod attachment is currently missing, so a table was our tripod and the timer on my camera is what allowed me to even be in the frame. It was a sight no doubt. At least is did get my kids to smile…well, one of them. The other wouldn’t look at the camera. HA!! But hey, we got something that turned out fine. 😉

If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below. Thank you for viewing our blog!!!

xoxo,

Courtney

December 14, 2020
Amy and Sebastiaan Maternity Portraits | Minden Louisiana Photographer

Amy and Sebastiaan came all the way from Europe for these pictures. Ok, fine, that’s not true. They did come from all the way from Europe, but the photos in Louisiana were not orginally part of the plan. You see, Amy is my husband’s sister. Her and Sebastiaan came down for Thanksgiving and while they were here we grabbed some pictures.

They are having their first baby in Feburary and we all can’t wait to see how beautiful she is going to be. And I know they will be amazing parents. Our girls love them both so much. They are moving on in their travels in the US today so of course I’m posting this because we already miss them and they just left. Boo for long distances.

We planned to get these pictures done in the evening but after realizing it was going to rain from noon until…. well, all night, we realized we had to make do with the morning cloudy skies. Within minutes of us starting, the rain came. Thankfully, it was only a drizzle. But it did not help with the chilly temps. We sped through the photos so as to not freeze from being wet and cold.

But in the end, these pictures turned out so well. Thanks for trusting me to capture this sweet time for y’all. We love y’all so much!

Thank you so much for viewing our blog. We hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment below and reach out to use for any questions you may have.

xoxo,

December 3, 2020
Miles Family | Benton Louisiana Family Photographer

There’s nothing like family pictures at a Christmas Tree Farm. And there’s no better farm that Hughes Christmas Tree Farm in Benton, Louisiana. I come here almost every year and it never gets old. So many trees and such good light. I love it!

I have photographed the Miles family for several years now and each time just gets better. This year they have sweet little Chloe added to their bunch. She’s the star of the show and you know she loves it.

It took her a little bit to warm up to me and my camera but she did great and even gave me a few sweet smiles.

The older girls loved the trees and Erin Alice decided that they all needed a hug. ha!

We had a blast together. Thanks for trusting me another year!

Thank you so much for viewing our blog. We hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment below and reach out to use for any questions you may have.

xoxo,

November 16, 2020