North Louisiana Lifestyle Family and Newborn Photographer

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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
Dexter Family | Homer Louisiana Family Photographer

The Dexters- some of my favorite people. They are full of joy and laughter and are so caring. It’s an honor to know them and to call them my family.

Bethany and I grew up in the same church- her dad being the pastor. We have photos of her carrying me around. Haha!! Never did we imagine we would be sisters one day. I’m so thankful for the friendship that we have.

I did their family pictures a few years ago before sweet Brooke was in the picture. I still love those images today! After Brooke was born I did her newborn photos and her 18 month pictures. And now here are their family photos with sweet Brookie.

Brooke and Emma are a little over a year apart and they are best buds. Brooke gets so excited when she sees her! It’s the cutest thing. We love having so many cousins so close in age to our girls. They have best friends on both sides of the family!

We did their session out on our land in North Louisiana. They actually just live right up the hill from us. So that’s really fun!!

I had been eyeing this spot in our woods beside our pond for a few weeks and I knew I had to at least try for some images there. David has been doing some thinning of our woods and the way it looked with some fallen trees here and there just felt like it was right out of the mountains. I wasn’t sure if what I had in my mind would turn out, but let me say- it did!!

Their entire session is full of some of my very favorite images. I may have chose a few too many for this blog post but when they are this good you can’t help it!!

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Oh Brookie

This cracks me up!!

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

Xoxo,

Courtney

December 6, 2021
Castor High School Senior Christian Conly | Lake Bistineau State Park Photographer

Everyone, meet Christian. He is a high school senior at Castor high in North Louisiana.

During our pre-sesion conversations, I was told that he was a country boy and that they lived close to Lake Bistineau. I knew right then that Lake Bistineau was the place we needed to do his sesoin. There is so much variety you can get from there and it is definitely the country feel. I have loved every session I have ever done out there and this was not an exception.

When we arrvied we said our hellos, I met his mom, and we got started with our session. It was the perfect time of year to go out there because the entrance has beautiful trees that were dropping their orange and yellow leaves everywhere. You could hardly see the road! This is the first time I have seen it like this. It was stunning!!

We grabbed several shots there and then moved along the park. Oddly enough, we had the park ALL TO OURSELVES! This has never happened! I was in shock and also wondering if there was something I didn’t know. haha!!

A spot I have been eyeing each time I come out was this huge fallen pine tree. It was HUGE! And I knew I wanted to take Christian over to it. When the light was just right we went over there and it was GOOD!!! The light filtering through the tree looked amazing!!

You’ll have to see for yourself, but man! We got so much variety for his gallery! He did great and we al had a good time! It was so good to meet them and capture this special time in his life!

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

Xoxo,

Courtney

November 30, 2021
Conroy Girls | North Louisiana Photographer

Meet the Conroy girls..

These girls have my heart. They are the cutest and sweetest, and even sassiest, things you’ll ever meet. They love my girls with all their hearts and it’s always the best day ever when we get together.

I can’t believe how quickly they have grown!! Elaine and Moriah are only 9 month apart and Addie and Emma are only 6 months apart. This makes it so much fun!! They are cousins and I’m so glad they have little buddies so close in age.

These girls aren’t camera shy in the least!! Sarah Kate, for sure, LOVES the spotlight. She was full of poses. It was so fun!!

Moriah is a little more on the shy side, but she knew how to work that camera. She’s too cute!! And such a sweetheart.

Addie is full of personality and she will let you know when you’re doing somethgin she doesn’t like. She’s as sassy as they come but she can be so sweet too. Her and Emma fight like no one’s business but they still love each other.

I’m so glad we were able to get a few portraits of each of them and also highlight sweet Moriah for her birthday. She will be S E V E N in Decmber!!! Who allowed that to be???

We love these girls so much!!

November 22, 2021
Allison’s 12th Birthday Portraits | Shongalo0 Louisiana Photographer

Meet my little sister Allison.

Someone please explain how the little bitty girl i learned how to use a camera on is now T W E L V E years old!!!! Time please slow down a little.

Allison loves animals and always has. Even as a little toddler she would prefer the animal toys over baby dolls. When she would get a new America Girl doll she would play with the animals it came with more than the doll. As she has gotten older this hasn’t really changed.

She has always said she wanted to be a farmer when she grew up. Now that she’s old enough to take care of some animals on her own, or mostly anyeays, she’s got a few. Horses, chickens, dogs, cats, rabbits, a turkey.. She’s making out to be a great farmer. haha!!

When my mom asked me to take Allison’s portraits I knew they needed to be at thier home, with her animals. I’m so gald we chose this too because she was so much more natural with the animals than just by herslf. There were no forced smiles, they were all real.

Her horse that we used in these portraits is named Sunny. She is such a sweet horse and is Allison’s favorite. She’s a beautiful Palomino- Allison’s favorite breed. It’s been so fun going over and watching them care for them. In fact, it is Emma’s favorite past time. She LOVES horses too!

I hope you enjoy these portraits as much as I enjoyed taking them!!

So pretty!!

This girl loves her horses

Love this

Thanks so much for being here!! If you enjoyed this post, leave some love!

Xoxo,

Courtney

November 18, 2021
Sweet Sully Is ONE | Homer Louisiana Photographer

Sweet Sully is ONE!!!

I photographed this family back in July and just LOVED them sooo much! When Micah asked me to photopgraph Sully’s first birthday party I said “ABSOLUTELY!!!” They are the sweetest people you will ever meet with the cutest little boys. They have been a dream to work with!

I arrived early to their home in North Louisiana to begin photographing the detials of the party before the guests arrived. After the details were photographed I grabbed Sully for a few portraits of just him and then some with his sweet Mama.

Once the party started it was nonstop fun! Friends and family gathered around to celebrate this percious baby boy and to just be together. Kids played and had a blast, adults chatted about football, parenthood, and much more. It’s so good to see people together, connecting with one another in an age where social media is so overwhelming. To still see peopele interacting IN PERSON makes everything feel right in the world, even for just a few hours.

As Sully began opening his gifts, all the kids surrouned him to watch what he’d open next! SInce we’ve been watching the Toy Story movies with my girls lately, it made me think of Andy gettting his new toys for his birthday and the other toys waiting in anticipation to see what he would get next. HA!!

We had the best time together and I can’t wait for the next time I get to work with this wonderful family!!

His mama MADE this cake!!

I just adore this one

Sweet babies

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

Xoxo,

Courtney

November 15, 2021
Our Family Portraits | Louisiana Family Photographer

Meet us- The Dexters!

As a family photographer in the Minden Louisiana area, I have learned that it is actaully very easy to be the shoe peddler that has no shoes. Meaning, I take portraits of others but have none of my family. This is NOT what I want to happen. I want to be able to have gorgeous portraits of my family just as much as I want this for my clients.

The past few years I have made sure I get us all dressed up and we go out in our field for OUR family portraits. It’s really a sight to behold, I’m quite sure. I typically have my camera set up on a table or our car. I set it on a timer and then set my family up. I start the timer and RUN into the picture. Sometimes it works, sometimes I get great BTS photos. HAHA!! Usually it works.

This year was, by far, the easiest with my kids. Last year, Emma wouldn’t look at the camera for nothing! Although I do not blame her- there was no one to look at, just a random camera. But this time she did so good!! I was proud!!

I had two sets of outfits picked out but I wasn’t sure which to use. I loved them both. I’m a big believer in coordinating with the decor in your home and usually going more neutral. But there was a blod patterned dress of Elaine’s that I just loved!! Then there were neutrals that I realy loved too.

One Sunday I decided to have us all wear the neutral outfits to church to see how I liked it. I ended up having a really good hari day that day and really liked the outfits on us so we decided to just get our pictures done that day! HA I’m always doing this LAST MINUTE.

We had just enough sunlight to make these images BEAUTIFUL!! And I love them SOOOOO mcuh!! Enjoy!!

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

xoxo,

Courtney

November 12, 2021
Adrianna and Ben | A gorgeous church wedding | Minden Louisiana Photographer

Adrianna and Ben. The dream team. They are so fun to be around! You can’t help but have a good time.

This wedding day in Minden, Louisiana was such a special one. If you follow my work, you know I don’t really do weddings often. It’s not my specialty but for my close friends and family, I make exceptions. I have known Adrianna since we were little. We have photos of us going on vacationt together when she was, I think 2. Can’t remember exactly. But we were little! We were getting burried in the sand on the beaches in Florida. Then we took a trip to Tennessee when we were a little older and you’ll never guess who was part of that vacation- Ben and his family! Back then we never would have dreamed we’d be here today celebrating their wedding- but here we are! It’s crazy how life does that to us, isn’t it? We took several other vacations to FLorida together growing and made so many memories. Now Adrianna is moving off to Florida, so there’s a new excuse to go visit!

We started this day bright and early. It was a gorgeous day too! The sun was shinning and the temperature was just right. We woudln’t have asked for better weather! I know it made Adrainna’s day to have such a perfect day on HER perfect day.

We got started with the detail shots while the bridesmaids were getting ready. These details were just so lovely! And her ring! It’s so unique and stunning. I just loved it! Detail shots are something that’s really fun for me and I’ve learned so much from other amazingly talented photographers in this industry. One in particular being Katelyn James. If are a photographer, go check her out! She’s an incredible photographer and instructor!

Ok, back to Adrianna and Ben..

The wedding took place at her Grandfather’s (Papa, as she calls him) church in Minden Louisiana. I know this was so special for him. His first grandbaby getting married in his church. We know his wife, our dear Sister Karen, was looking down smiling on this special day. You’ll see in the detail shots how Adrianna honored her grandparents that have gone on before. It was so so special!

I could talk for ever about this wedding, but you know as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So let’s get to the pictures!!

Congrats you two!!!

November 9, 2021