On Saturday, February 6 we held our second “I EXTRA Love you” portrait session. In collaboration with my good friend Daniela Roeder, over 50 amazing individuals with Down Syndrome came to the studio to be photographed. The portraits will be on display during downtown Hollywood’s ArtWalk on Saturday March 19, from 7-10pm at Gallery 2014 in celebration of World Down Syndrome Day. It’s a family friendly event. You can see highlights from last year’s “I EXTRA Love You” portrait exhibit here. Thank you Daniela for these amazing behind the scenes images.
Spring is almost here and it’s a great time to schedule your custom portrait session at the studio. We have lots of new backdrops and fun chairs.
This Monday, February 29 from 10-1, we’re hosting an open house at the studio and shopping event. Check out the spring release from Matilda Jane Clothing (one of my all time faves), Beautycounter (safe and clean cosmetics and skin care), and Do-Terra Essential Oils. For more information on Monday’s event please go to our event page on Facebook. If you’re in the neighborhood I’d love to see you.
It’s almost Friday and the start of a three day weekend. We survived the first weeks of school and Monday off is pretty awesome. Summer is officially over. EVERYONE is back to school the Tuesday after Labor Day right!? To commemorate the lazy days of summer I’m sharing anther “One Shoot a Week.” “One Shoot a Week” is a collaborative photography project with my good friend and amazing artist, Alissa Alfonso. It was a fun way to combine her artistic eye and love of everything vintage, with the love of our kids, and photography. This shoot took place at the beginning of the summer. It was a cover shoot for the Hollywood Gazette’s story on Food Trucks in Hollywood. A big thanks to Hippops for coming out and playing with us that morning.
I have been plugging along this summer with my personal project; One Shoot a Week. Artist and friend, Alissa Alfonso and I have collaborated on each shoot, at times being able to capture all 6 of our kids together. We’ll eventually get to share all of them. This particular shoot at Greynolds Park went something like this.
Me, “Hey Alissa, what are you up to today?” (I had two kids at home. She had all 3.)
Alissa, “Let’s get the kids out of the house and head to Greynolds Park.”
As a native Miami-an, I’m embarrassed to say I’d never been there. 15 minutes later I got to her house. She had tied Chinese fish lanterns to some sticks and we were off on another adventure.
Someone recently asked me what percentage of my time do I spend actually shooting versus working on the business end of the studio. It’s really an 80/20 split, with 20% being the time I spend behind the camera. Most of what I do in my business isn’t photography related at all, but marketing and accounting and networking….blah blah blah. So it feels good to actually get out and really flex that creative muscle. To shoot for the pure love of photography. To shoot for myself. My very good friend, artist Alissa Alfonso (follow her on instagram and twitter @a5stitch) and I are collaborating this summer on a series of shoots that reflect “summer”. We start with a very loose plan and then let the kids do their thing. For this shoot, the second we’ve collaborated on this summer, I wanted to use Alissa’s collection of vintage sheets. I’m thrilled with the outcome. Now to decide how to display them in Stella’s room.
Today, Owen joined the ranks of school children all over the United States. He started kindergarten. I’m really excited about this new adventure of his, and I think he truly is ready to be a “big boy”. Stella started school last week. She’ll be going three days a week, which means we’ll have two weekly “girls’ days”. I hope to make them very special.
“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 -
See you soon,
