I’ve known these girlies for a long time. Two families each with three daughters and I’ve been shooting them since 2009. Although a lot has changed (2 new additions), their absolute adorableness and spunky personality hasn’t. In fact, they are even more gorgeous than they were 5 years ago.
Voting is on for the South Florida Parenting Magazine “Kids Crown Awards”. Courtney Ortiz Photography is nominated for best photography in Broward County. Voting continues until May 15. To celebrate the nomination I am holding my own contest here in the studio during the length of the Kids Crown Awards. 1. Vote in the South Florida Parenting Magazine “Kids Crown Awards”. 2. Post the link to the contest on your facebook page and tag “I just voted for Courtney Ortiz Photogaphy”. One lucky winner of a downtown Hollywood session and a framed/signed 8×10 print will be announced each Monday during the contest. Monday, April 21’s winner is
Lindsey Anne
Look out in your inbox for more information. Keep voting and we all keep winning.
Jamie is passionate for ponies. They are in her blood. So of course, the barn where Jamie boards her two horses was the perfect location for her lifestyle session. I couldn’t have been luckier, everything about it was perfect; perfect subjects and location. Thank you to Sally from Smash Beauty Lounge for coming out early on Sunday for Jamie’s makeup.
The South Florida Parenting “Kids Crown Awards” is in full swing. Voting for your family favorites is open until May 15. Please share the love and vote for Courtney Ortiz Photography under “Broward: Photography”. To thank you for your time and support in the voting process I’m holding my own contest….”Vote, Share, and Win!”
2. Share the contest link on your facebook page and state “I just voted for Courtney Ortiz Photography.” Make sure you tag either me personally or my business in your post.
3. A winner will be announced each Monday during the length of the Kids Crown Awards, and receive a complimentary downtown Hollywood session and a framed/signed 8×10 print.
I’m honored to be nominated as a favorite Broward County Photographer in the South Florida Parenting Magazine’s “Kid’s Crown Awards”. The voting started on Tuesday and continues until the end of April. I’d really appreciate your support if you’d take a few minutes to vote. Click here to vote for all your family favorites in Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach County or scroll about halfway down to “Broward: Photographer” and place your vote. You can vote up to 50 times a day! Crazy right?!?
As a small token of my appreciation for your cooperation I’m holding a contest that will last until voting ends. A new winner will be announced each Monday. For details and prize information (and they’re good ones!) make sure you are signed up for the Courtney Ortiz Photography Newsletter (to the left of your screen) and keep an eye on your inbox. It’s because of your support over the last 6 and a half years that has enabled my business to grow and reach the level of success that it has. I’m forever grateful and humble.
“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself.” -Jim Morrison
This especially rings true when you’ve been friends since birth. Which is the case for these colorful adorable young ladies. Their mamas are besties and that relationship has grown and blossomed in their own daughters. I love watching my own kids build relationships with my closest friends’ kiddos. These friendships can lead all the way to adulthood and be just as meaningful as siblings.
For a limited time, we’re offering BFF sessions. Get some of your best friends together, up to six kids, and share a 60 minute custom portrait session at the Downtown Hollywood studio, $250. All studio products are available a la carte. Please call the studio 954-558-6893 or shoot us an email courtney@courtneyortiz.com for more information.
Happy Spring. I’m back in the studio after a week at home with my family for spring break. Definite perks to owning my own business.
We are still waiting on final dates from the builder as to when the new studio will be completed. So in the meantime, I met with interior designer, Leslie Mueller to begin the studio design process. These were my requests…
1. work station
2. shooting space
3. client meeting area
Three distinct but very important aspects to my business that need to be consolidated in 300ish sq ft of space, in a design that is modern, clean, and can showcase the COP brand.
She submitted three different design options. I copied and pasted the descriptions directly from her proposals.
Design Option 1:
Focal wall features logo and sample photography. This plan is more spacious in the client meeting area and the set up of the picture rail and storage cabinet will function well for client consultation. The sofa can be used by family members not in the shoot but then can be easily pulled in as a prop. We will have to double check the final width of the room once the walls are up to make sure there is enough room for everything shown in shoot area- in plan now it is tight! The floor lamp is the tripod style. Are there antique photography lights? If so, maybe we could use one of those as a lamp???
Design Option 2:
The focal wall features your photography!!! Your logo still appears on the focal wall but is set a bit higher on the wall. For fun ( and function) a series of pendants hang from the ceiling in the far corner. The packaging workstation is on the focal wall but the media cabinet is located close so all materials can be stored neatly when clients are expected in the studio. I found a couple counter height tables that have storage built into them, which might be a good option. In this plan, I made the shoot area more spacious by putting the sofa next to the door. I used a smaller meeting table to give some space back.
Design Option 3:
In this design, I pictured a typical office set up, where when a client enters the studio, they are greeted by your smiling face, working on whatever, and behind you is the logo, & a big beautiful photograph! The typical office layout functions well bc everything you need is within reach, whether your packaging, editing, or meeting with clients. To keep it from having the stuffy office feel, we would use a fun table and your mix of fun chairs! This plan is probably the most spacious bc the packaging and client meeting are done in one place, eliminating one piece of furniture. There’s also a lot of open floor space in the shoot are for extra props, chairs, etc. (shoot props are shown in plan as the ‘pouf’ – haha!) Not sure how many props you have??
I definitely have my favorite. Please share in the comments what you are drawn to. I’d love to hear what you think the pros and cons are of each design option. I’ll be making my final decision by the end of the week so we can start to work on the details. I’m really excited to see all of this come to fruition as Courtney Ortiz Photography moves to our new home soon.
As much as my motto in the studio is “the bigger the better” when it comes to displaying your portrait art, you don’t always have to take up a lot of space to make an amazing impact. Hence, I’m really excited to share what I designed for this amazing family. (Their session highlights can be seen here). As I said in their blog feature, they were together from all over the country. It was the main goal of the lifestyle session to create images that showcased their love for each other, but it was also of the utmost importance for the whole experience to be stress free for everyone. No pressure. A truly “come as you are” portrait experience. I came and just hung out for a few hours. I really got to know everyone and felt at the end that I was an unofficial family member. The result is a final gallery that contains more images than what I normally present to clients. I knew that every detail of this family’s time together was precious and they wanted to remember everything and also to enjoy everything in the end.
The 12×12 custom coffee table book is a 60 page custom designed album that contains ALL your session images. The Mohawk fine paper is gorgeous to the touch.
The family also wanted to have something to display on the walls, but being that they have 5 adult children, 3 grandchildren, and are avid art collectors, it left little space to do something on a large scale. In fact, I only had 14×14 inches of wall space to work with. I designed this gallery wrap canvas collage with 20-something of their absolute favorite images from their session. I used an amazing and very versatile collage template from Design Aglow. Every collage that I design in this style is 100% completely unique to each client. It truly is one of my favorite studio products. It allows for big impact with little space.
We’re still waiting on a final date for the new studio to be ready to move in. We’ll have amazing samples on display and lots of inspiration for you to take back with you to your own home. Sign up for the newsletter and like us on facebook to stay up to date.
This family session actually started a year ago. It was purchased as a gift for mom from her amazing husband last spring. It was definitely worth the wait. I had such a great time shooting on Hollywood Beach which continues to be one of my favorite locations. The kids were fun and adorable and mom did a fabulous job at coordinating the wardrobe. The clothing even coordinated with some of the locations as a total coincidence.
It’s the perfect time of the year to get outside and commission family portraits on Hollywood Beach.
When it comes to storytelling, there’s nothing I love more than being able to spend a couple of hours with a family in a very relaxed and casual environment. I can really capture true emotions and relationships in a candid and organic way. This family of 5 grown adult kids, their spouses, kids, and parents were together from all over the country for a short visit. From San Francisco to New York City to Boca Raton to get everyone under one roof is no small feat. This clan knew it was important to immortalize this event with photography. And that’s what I did. It’s so fulfilling to create portraits that truly mirror every bit of emotion that I felt that day. Can you feel the love?
Wait till you see what we designed with their portraits!! You’ll be blown away!
Commission a photographer for your next family vacation/reunion.
At this exact moment two of my favorite things are:
#1. Working outside. The weather in South Florida is amazing this time of year. We have a mid-century mosaic table by the pool which is perfect for morning coffee and preparing for my day with my
The crew from Design Aglow has done it again with what is truly the most powerful and comprehensive document for my photography business. It’s PERFECTION. The Big Picture Planner is a download from the Design Aglow shop and 100% completely “plug and play.” I followed all the recommended directions for use and printed it exactly as is with no customizations because I didn’t have to. I was too eager to dig in and really put it to use from the moment that I downloaded it the first week of January. Regardless of whether it’s January or June, The Big Picture Planner can be started and used as soon as you’re ready to tighten the reins of your photography business. From keeping track of daily tasks, weekly goals, marketing projects, finances, client workflow The Big Picture is all inclusive. 2014 is my year! It can be yours too!
Anna, is having her bat mitzvah at the end of the month. Her Bat Mitzvah is the last of the events scheduled for Courtney Ortiz Photography, as we are now solely focusing on custom portrait art with the opening of the new studio this spring. Anna and I had such fun during our Lifestyle Session in downtown Hollywood. Anna’s session started with professional makeup application by Sally at Smash Beauty Lounge and ended at one of my favorite spots, the top floor of our parking garage. Gorgeous subject+gorgeous afternoon light = perfection
Although we are no longer offering Mitzvah photography coverage, we can work together to create a custom portrait session prior to the event that will make you the envy of all your friends and family. Contact the studio for more information.
The studio newsletter was published on Friday. You can read it by clicking here. Make sure you don’t miss out on next month’s by signing up on the left.
How adorable are these three sisters!!?? We spent an hour together exploring the downtown Hollywood area for their lifestyle session.
Big sister Ellie is celebrating her bat mitzvah this weekend. Mazel tov!
“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 -
I definitely have my favorite. Please share in the comments what you are drawn to. I’d love to hear what you think the pros and cons are of each design option. I’ll be making my final decision by the end of the week so we can start to work on the details. I’m really excited to see all of this come to fruition as Courtney Ortiz Photography moves to our new home soon.
