Nothing prepares you for a hysterical screaming call from you son. NOTHING. It was the most terrifying two seconds of my life. When I realized the screams were a result of finding an iguana in the toilet, I couldn’t stop laughing.
So here’s my PSA. If you live in a house you MUST install metal screen caps over your bathroom exhaust pipes, which can be found on your roof. Iguanas love to sun themselves on the ridge of my roof and I guess it was only a matter of time till it’s curiosity got the better of one. I’ve often seen them crawl up and down inside my gutter to reach the roof. However, the exhaust pipe doesn’t land them softly on the grass below, but instead in the bowl of a toilet scaring the shit out of my son.
A Huge THANKS to Iguana Lifestyles. Howard, was a professional and easily removed our visitor. He also installed the metal screens over our two bathroom exhaust pipes.
BTW, the big green iguana pictured below is NOT the iguana in my toilet. That guy is smaller and can be seen below in the little cage, but equally terrifying in a toilet bowl.
INSTALL THESE OVER YOUR BATHROOM EXHAUST PIPES NOW!!! Call Harold, from Iguana Lifestyles, he will do it for you.
I’m really humbled by your participation in this Creativity Project. Thank YOU! I’m inspired by you. Maybe the lesson this first week is it’s important to stay outside the “LINES” every so often. This week’s challenge/project is all about COLOR! Watch this week’s video for all the deets. I’m sharing a few of my favorite LINE images from the week. You can catch the first challenge on Youtube or IGTV.
It feels good to flex that photography muscle outside of my “specialty”; kids, families, faces… and find inspiration in my own backyard.
I’m currently booking custom family portrait sessions both in the studio and on location. Let’s chat about it.
I have a lot of time on my hands. Time that I would be spending creating portraits for parents and campers at Camp Starlight or creating portraits for clients. I’ve realized that I can’t stop creating just because the traditional clients are fewer during this crazy time. There’s a new client now. ME! I am choosing myself as my next client. The toughest of all my clients. Never satisfied. It’s never good enough.
But I’m doing it. I’m facing my fiercest critic and creating photographs for myself, and you know what I’m finding? My passion. That spark that’s hiding under years of running a business. Years of creating for others. The feeling is warm and familiar and it really wants to come out and play. The passion I discovered almost 14 years ago, photographing my Owen for the first time. I was home and a first time mom. And now I’m home again, three kids, and I’m discovering a new beauty in my kids as I start creating for the most important client of them all. It’s sparking joy and I’m all here for it.
Let’s all give ourselves permission to be creative. Creative moments are as important to our health as diet and exercise. So here it is. A simple creative photography challenge. Use your phone. Keep it simple. Let’s hold each other accountable and spark some creativity.
ps- A huge shout out to Claudia, an amazing teenager and the brains behind Splattering Smiles. All money raised from her sale of these amazing custom painted T shirts goes to Whole Family Mental Healthcare; supporting mental health needs during Covid-19 and beyond.
Owen spent the first two weeks of quarantine in an arm cast due to a skateboarding accident and somewhere in between now and then Charlotte broke her ankle and wore a hot pink cast for two weeks. Cast is already off. Way too much time spent in doctor’s offices during this pandemic, grateful none of it Covid related. Fingers crossed the next time I walk into the pediatrician’s office is to pick up our health forms on the way up to Camp Starlight. Sleepaway camp or bust!!
I took these portraits of Charlotte right after her cast was put on, while it was still clean. I only had to bribe her with a seven dollar Disney Doorables toy from Amazon. Truth be told I would’ve paid more. And of course, any excuse to show off my quarantine DIY project:hand stenciled carport/patio. Stencil by Royal Design Stencils.
I’m two days late with my official Star Wars “May the Fourth be with you” post. The studio website is just recovering from it’s own bout of “coronavirus” – Malware! The Courtney Studios website was infected with malware and after a week of back and forths between Bluehost (my hosting company) and SiteLock (my new security company) we are back in business. I did send out a Studio Newsletter last week, you can read that here.
We are in week WHATEVER of quarantine, and I’m trying to take the time to create and be creative on the daily. Some days are easier than others, and some days it doesn’t happen at all. Let’s face it, my kids aren’t as cute and cooperative as they were when they were toddlers. The days of cute candid images of my kids playing are OVER. Sometimes is takes serious bribery, and I’m not ashamed to pay their price.
However, on May the Fourth (be with you) Charlotte, 8, was a willing participant and gave me a few minutes to photograph her in this custom Princess Leia inspired costume. She wore it proudly ALL DAY .
To see more of my personal antics at home, I’d love it if you took a minute to follow me personally on instagram @courtneyortiz and while you’re at it, make sure you’re staying current with studio @courtneystudios.
As soon as non-essential business is given the green light to open, I will create art with you again.
Owen let me know that he needed an updated headshot for his YouTube Channel. (Show him some love!) Of course I was more than happy to oblige. My camera and creative muscle have been collecting dust since quarantine.
Give me all the sunset photoshoots. We spent 5 minutes outside. It was perfect. Grateful for these moments and grateful that he still trusts me to take his picture.
I look forward to stunning sunset family portrait sessions in the near future.
So how’s it been going over there? Things have been going surprisingly well here in the Ortiz household. The kids have complained very little about being home, and everyone’s still alive after two days of virtual school FTW!!! We’re all healthy, weather’s been beautiful, we’re stocked on the TP…I’m lucky. And grateful.
Finding the gratitude and stillness through all of this.
I made a long “to do/project” list that I’m slowly chipping away at. I have tons of beautiful client portrait sessions from this fall that I’m eager to share on the blog.
And most important I’m going to focus on photographing my kids. Working on photographing for me. I’m on a hunt for the spark that photography lit in my heart 13 years ago.
So here’s a little glimpse into what’s been going on in my family room…LEGO MADNESS. Charlotte is a builder/creator and has been working on this for three weeks (started before the quarantine). Grateful for an activity that keeps her busy for hours, in an area that can’t be seen when you walk in the front door. My glass is always half full.
Sharing just a few pictures I took of Charlotte’s build, if you’d like to see more you can view those on facebook.
Thank you for coming on this journey with me. You’ll be seeing more personal posts on the blog so keep stopping by.
As the excitement builds for our upcoming trek to Camp Starlight, here it is…a kind of BEST OF SUMMER 2018. I ain’t gonna lie, I could look at camp pictures all day. So this was a fun project to work on throughout the past 10 months. And honestly, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of images that take my breath away. But this tells the story, and hopefully stokes the excitement in you for the summer ahead.
In less than a month, I’ll be back to do it again. This time some of those smiling faces that come bouncing off the bus on arrival day, may actually be that excited to see “me”. And that makes me feel pretty special. Something really incredible happens during those 7 weeks. My experience was unique in that I got to experience ALL of camp. Not just isolated with one age group, gender, or activity. I was with every age group, every gender, every sport, every activity…EVERY DAY. I saw it all. Incredible and exhausting all at the same time.
What a day! First Day of School and an amazing solar eclipse. Obligatory “First Day of School” portraits can be seen on my facebook page. If we’re not personal friends, let’s be friends and you can check out my not so cooperative kids here!
The Eclipse was the perfect transition into school. Picked the kids up early and headed to my parents’ house to swim in the pool and share our one pair of eclipse glasses. It was pretty darn perfect.
I don’t share as many pictures of my kiddos on the Courtney Studios blog as I once did, probably because I don’t take as many pictures of my kids as they’ve gotten older. When I take my camera out they usually tend to run in the opposite direction. As you notice, all the photos below, my kids are wearing the eclipse glasses, which means they couldn’t see me. Therefore, I was able to get some great candid shots.
Custom portrait sessions, in time for the holidays, are now available by appointment.
The 3rd Annual “i EXTRA Love You” portrait event took place on Saturday, February 11. “i EXTRA Love You” is a portrait exhibit that celebrates all that is EXTRA special about individuals with Down Syndrome. 55 amazing people came through the studio doors on Saturday to sit for their portrait. A huge increase from the 25 people that participated 2 years ago in our first event back in 2015.
“i EXTRA Love You” is truly a passion project shared with my good friend Daniela Roeder. Daniela’s brother, Alex has Down Syndrome and she’s been an advocate and voice for the community since the day he was born. Daniela came to me with an “idea” for a portrait project, and I was immediately on board and look forward to what’s to come.
The portraits will be on display during the Downtown Hollywood’s Art Walk on Saturday, March 18 to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day at Gallery 2014. I hope to see you all there.
Please excuse these behind the scenes images taken with an iPhone.
“Her work is distinct and holds a special place in our home.”- Marcy Hirsch -
“Courtney's photographs had a huge impact on NCLR and helped us raise over $1 million in December 2014. Her work is beautiful and engaging and shows the central goal of the fight for marriage equality -love."”- Ace Portis, Major Gifts Officer, NCLR -
“Courtney truly captured the uniqueness of our family and created beautiful, original works of art that we will treasure always.”- Darlene Giol -
