Courtney Leigh Blog

August Update & Holiday Schedule

August 12, 2008 – 8:09 pm

Greeting all! I’ve been a bit out of pocket this month. Last minute travel, heinous stomach bugs, and getting ready for a certain 5 year old baby girl to start kindergarten have made this month a virtual blur for me. I know there are emails to return, orders to be placed, etc…please bear with me, we’ll get through this as smoothly as possible, I promise!

And, as shocking as this may sound, it’s time to start thinking about the holidays. (btw, Hobby Lobby is one step ahead of me…it looks like a winter wonderland in there.) I am tossing around the idea of doing a Saturday of mini sessions in Dallas that would go something like this…

Holiday Mini Sessions - $300

- 20 minute session

-up to 4 subjects ($25 per additional subject)

- 5- 10 online proofs

-50 press printed holiday cards (or 1 digital negative)

- 1 8×10 print

- collection pricing on additional prints

Like I said, I’m tossing the idea around. I would need at least 8 families to make it solid, so if you or any friends would be interested, email me and let me know. This would happen around the last weekend in October. Which leads us to our next topic….

The holiday schedule.

My last session of 2008 will be Nov. 1, 2008 (and it’s still available) My goal is to have all holiday orders mailed out the week before Thanksgiving. CLP will be closed (except for newborn sessions) from Thanksgiving until Jan 15, 2009.

That’s the scoop as I know it so far. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up and get a feel for who would be interested in a quick holiday card shoot verses the real deal session this year.

Oh, and, as it goes against my nature to post without a photo…here’s Eleanor and Jon David down in Brenham last week. It’s been a year and a half since the kids and I have left Dallas. It really felt good to be down south again. BB got them a Gator to play in which Jon David took to like a fish to water. He’s seriously ready for his first car date.

Oh, and please excuse their hair. Eleanor has been affected by what I call “Houston Hair”, which is essentially 110% humidity. But, Jon David takes the cake here. He decided to “do” his own hair. By “do” I mean squeezing an obscene amount of cookie dough hair gell onto the top of his hair and leaving it there to dry, thus, forming a sticky, gelly clumpy mess.

The last ones are Eleanor in the Hurricane Eduardo rain puddles. It’s seriously been months since we’ve seen rain here, so it was quite a celebration.

Thanks for hanging in here with me! Mwah!

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Livin’ the Life - 6 Month Lifestyle Session

July 31, 2008 – 7:45 pm

Today was Baby C’s 6 month photo session. I can’t believe how fast this little dude is growning! We decided with the oppressive heat and well, heat, that we would do a lifestyle session at his house. You know…eating, playing, bathing…all the fun stuff you do when you’re a 6 month old studd muffin!

These are absolutely my favorite kinds of sessions. As a mom of an almost-kindergartner and a 3 year old, I know that these simple, sweet days fade so fast. Yes, it’s on to bigger, exciting stuff, but these are the days you want to make sure you hang on to. They just go so darn fast. Sniff sniff…

Baby C was up from his nap and eating his lunch when I got there.

Then, we picked out our outfit for the day and played with our lovies.

Next a little snuggle time with mom and dad (who swung by from work just to be in the pics….isn’t that the sweetest?!)

Next was bath time….

Jammies….

And night night….

Thank you guys again! It was a great session and so good to see you all again! Enjoy your sneak peek! Mwah!

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Snips and Snails - A Portrait Session

July 23, 2008 – 8:35 pm

Today was all about BOYS.

These are two busy little dudes. They were in, around, on, and over everything they could find…it was like having 2 Jon Davids. Bless their momma’s heart! : ) Lucky for us, sitting still and posing really isn’t my style!

I haven’t seen these guys since last November. I was so excited to see them all again. The last time, it was so cold outside we had to move the session back to their house to keep warm. This time, keeping warm was definitely not a problem!

Here we have the fabulous and fun Mr. P and Mr. G. We started off trying to get some of the two of them in my favorite yellow chair.

Which quickly turned into wrestling in the dirt…

So, we gave up on the chair and moved over to a more urban feel.

And then we tried the chair…again…because I just can’t leave well enough alone! At this point, though, we knew it was time to call her done!

Thank you guys for a wonderfully fun session! I had a blast! I hope you enjoy your sneak peek! Mwaah!

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Dog Portraits

July 16, 2008 – 9:37 pm

I was very excited about this session. I have always loved animals, dogs in particular. I always try to incorporate the family pets into my kid’s portrait sessions as I think they really add to the lifestyle nature of my work. So when I got a call from these kid’s mom, I knew it was right up my alley. The only thing different was, for this session, the dogs WERE the kids! Introducing Barney and Andy…and the yellow chair.

We had high hopes of getting both of them in this chair, but they weren’t feeling our artistic vision. Humph. So, we settled for one at a time.

Here they are waiting patiently for their Scooby Snacks.

They decided to cool off with a dip in the lake, like you do. This one made me laugh. The sign says “No Unattended Children in this Area”. I guess Barney and Andy can’t read yet.

Thanks for hanging in with me this evening, guys! I really enjoyed meeting you and will get you on the calendar asap. MWAH!

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Baby E

July 14, 2008 – 4:14 pm

I met Miss E and her mom and dad back down at Lakeside Saturday morning. Yes, I know, two sessions bak-to-back there. But, I just love the light there and it’s a perfect spot for beautiful little girls and their families! They were troopers to put up with the heat and my incessant shutter clicking. I think it was worth it, though, don’t you?!

For these family mini sessions, I always like to start out with the family shot. It’s the “posey-posey”est I get, so it’s easiest for me to get out of the way first…then we can just let it roll! You think E’s mommy and daddy love her?

I think Dad is just a bit smitten…

LOTS of love here, guys!

This is kind of cute…this is Baby E’s first time to ever sit in a highchair. Ever. I think she likes it!

And I believe the Taylor Tot was a hit, as well. Babies LOVE this thing!

Thank you guys for a wonderful morning! I’ll call you about your ordering consultation soon. MWAH!

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A Fun Time in Dallas

July 12, 2008 – 8:52 pm

I had such a wonderful time with Baby E and her parents this morning. We met for a mini session to celebrate Miss E turning 6 months. She was such a beautiful little girl and I know exactly where she got her sweet go-with-the-flow disposition…her mommy and daddy!

I really enjoyed getting to know you guys…I’ll post a bigger sneak peek tomorrow, if you’re anything like me, I’d stay up all night waiting for my sneak peek, so here’s one so you can go to bed…he he!

And you were worried we didn’t get anything! : )

Thanks again, guys, MWAH!

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Proof of Staycation

July 4, 2008 – 9:16 am

As promised…some pics of staycation. These were after dinner at Mi Cocina last night. I don’t know how much longer they’re going to let me dress them in matching clothes for holidays, but I’m milking it while I can. How cute are these outfits from Janie and Jack? I adore that shop! Alright…the to do list today is, post blog, exercise, go to Mem and Papa D’s for July 4th Festivities. So, I’m off to exercise. Don’t I sound thrilled?

Have a wonderful Fourth of July!!!

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Staycation All I Ever Wanted…

July 2, 2008 – 8:04 am

So, we’re on day 3 of our “Staycation”. In case you don’t have your urban dictionary handy, a staycation is a vacation where you STAY at home and do fun things in your own town that you don’t normally get to do. So, basically we’re pretending like we’re tourists in D/FW. It’s awesome. And, the best part, is you get to go home and sleep in your own bed at the end of the day. We pretty much think we’re geniuses.

The only problem is that when you’re a professional photographer and you’re on staycation…you don’t take many pictures. Actually, none is more accurate. I haven’t touched my camera since last Thursday…SHOCKING, I know. It’s been nice to have the break, but I’m feeling rather guilty not documenting my families staycation. So, I’m vowing today to take a few for posterity and all the blogging world.

In the meantime, I’ll have to just tell you what we’ve been up to.

Monday, the first day of staycation, we taught the kids how to wash cars, the old fashioned way. With soapy sponges and swimsuits and water hoses. They had a great time and our cars kindof look better. After a dip in the pool, we got ready for an outing. The 4 o’clock showing of Kung Fu Panda made Miller Family history. Our very first movie in a theater. We were a bit nervous, but we fed them candy and they were great little movie-goers. Jon David actually stayed in one place for 2 whole hours…it was zen-like. We celebrated with Blue Goose and a margarita…or two.

Tuesday was ZOOday. Off to the Fort Worth Zoo we went. It was a beautiful day, but my guilt of not documenting our staycation with pictures came to a head because I was the ONLY mother there without a camera. Oh, the shame. We came home (the best part of staycation) and had long rests, bath and bed early enough that mommy and daddy got to hang out and have some grown-up time. Sweet.

Today we’re headed to the water park for water fun and a picnic. Then we’re coming back, taking a nap, and headed back to the movie theater to see Wall-e. If all goes well, we’ll finish it off with dinner at Peter Piper Pizza.

Thursday we’re going to play golf (yes, we’re insane) and go to Wazoos, a bounce house place that rocks.

Friday is the Fourth of July and we’ll be chilling at my in-laws pool and watching fire works. You can actually watch a fireworks display from their hot tub on the fourth of july. It’s the coolest.

Now that I’ve bored you with a dissertation of our staycation, I’m sure everyone is rooting for me to get my camera out, take one picture and stop typing…so that’s what I’ll do. I’ll post some pics later today.

And, just a couple words to my clients…if you were waiting for an order, they are all in the mail and should have arrived by yesterday. Let me know if you’re still waiting. If I owe you an email or call, I will get back to you on Monday, I promise! If you were a winner of the mini session contest, please shoot me an email and let’s get you on the calendar as summer is almost all filled up.

Have a great 4th, everyone!

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Mini Session Kick Off!

June 25, 2008 – 8:17 pm

I met this morning for the first of MANY mini sessions this next two months. This is Miss S and her beautiful Mommy and Daddy. They were so fun and easy to work with (read “photographer’s dream!” ) But, their Miss S stole the show. She is seriously a doll. She wasn’t too sure about me at fist, but she warmed up by the end…prancing around in her bloomers! She’s got sass!

I really enjoyed meeting you guys this morning! Enjoy your quick sneak peek and I’ll get back with you guys at the beginning of next week to schedule your ordering session! And here we go….

Thanks again, guys for a fabulous morning! MWAH!

By Courtney | Posted in portrait | 14 comments Show Comments | Add a Comment

To Infinity and Beyond!

June 22, 2008 – 8:31 pm

So everyone knows that Eleanor is the princess and she loooves to dress up. Well, poor Jon David, he wants to play dress-up, too. But pink tulle just doesn’t really compliment his skin tones and he has a hard time walking in glass slippers, so this week, I did something about it. Jon David now has his very own Buzz and Superman costumes to add to the costume wardrobe. He thinks he is Star Command!