Courtney Z Photography: Portland photographer

Showing posts with label Portland photographer. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

10 on 10 - Feb 2015

Happy 10th everyone! This time on the blog, I'm taking you all on a little trip to the Portland Zoo. I went there with one of my fave families and my favorite (almost) 2 year old little boy. Before we dive into that though, be sure to check out the other 10 on 10ers listed below:

Twinty Photography

Anya Elise Photography

Button Media

CLB Creative

Brittany Conner Photography

Shaw Photography

Welcome back. Now for some fun with the lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! But really, if you have never been to a zoo with a 2 year old, I highly recommend it. It will remind you how exciting it was to see an animal for the first time. The kind that you only learn about in books, so you know what they sound like, but now they are right there in front of you in real life! Everything was mind blowing. I loved it.

If you can't tell, I hang out with all my friends and family who have kids to get my fix.

By the end of the day, all of us were ready to crash. A fun-filled weekend day at the zoo. As always, thanks for letting me tag along on your family time Erickson family. :)

Until next time...

Saturday, January 31, 2015

You Matter

I'm sitting here watching the very last episode of Parenthood. Well, I'm watching it now, but by the time I'm done with this post, it will most definitely be over and I will still be crying. I don't know about you, but I think this is about the best show to ever grace my television. Ever. Anytime Nabil comes into the living room and I am in a puddle of emotional mush, his first comment is "Parenthood?". It's a good kind of cry though.

The show gives you the bad with the good, and it cuts to my core because that's real life. In real life you get in fights with your spouse, you might fail at your own small business even though you put all of your blood, sweat, and tears into it, and you will probably get so frustrated with your family that the only thing you can do is to yell, loud. Life is frustrating, unfair, and really, really hard.

But then there is all the good stuff. This month I made my 10 on 10 about my beautiful niece, Myra. I have so much love for that little girl, and she doesn't even know it yet. It feels like my heart is going to pop when I see how excited she gets to see her uncle. "Play?" she says as she grabs his hand and leads him into her room strewn with all of her toys; each of which she plays with for a total of thirty seconds before she's bored and it's onto the next. It's that moment that is the highlight of our whole week. Probably of our whole year. Probably more.

But back to the show. Tonight as I began my weekly ritual of removing my mascara with my own tears, I was reminded (again) why it is so important to document life. I'm not going to give any spoilers, but I will say that in the last episode, there is a wedding. ...I guess there is a little spoiler. Sorry. One of the characters, Max, photographs the wedding. That's such a simplistic and almost diminishing way of putting it, because what he's actually doing is giving everyone a reminder of a time they all shared together.

Thinking back to my wedding, my favorite part of the whole weekend was seeing all of the people that were the most important people to the both me and my husband in the same place, at the same time. Nabil's high school and college friends danced with my parents. My dad laughed with Nabil's relatives from Texas. And my last living grandparent made her last big trip from home. She past away three years later, and my favorite memory of her is still watching her cut a rug with her walker in tow at my wedding. Hindsight is 20/20, but if I were to know that day would be one of the best times of my life, not just because I married the love of my life or partied till I couldn't take it anymore, but because all of my favorite people and all of Nabil's favorite people were in one place celebrating us. If I would have known that then, I would have tried a little harder to soak it all in. Thankfully, I have some incredible photos to remind me of the whole day.

In the present, the bad things seem so difficult and our failures seem so big, and if you are anything like me, you tend to minimize your own successes. As life goes on, the bad things seem to fade away with the past, and you really only remember the good. The real good. Not the things you bought, but the moments you shared. The relationships that you have in your life now, may not always be there, so hold on to what you have because you never know when it might be gone. I know that sounds cliche, but it doesn't make it less true.

My favorite photos that I have from my wedding and throughout my life are the photos that show real life and real relationships. The photos of me and my sister being as weird as we always are around one another. When we were little I half hated her and half loved her. There is one photo in particular of Syd back in the day. It gives a twinge to my gut. For one because I know I should have been nicer to her, but also because I love her so much now. I love how much we have been through together. I love that she is my best friend now and I love watching her reach all of her potential. I'm not shitting you, that girl is out of this world amazing. I see that photo and I feel so lucky to be her only sister. I don't even have to share. All of that, in one photo.

Nabil and his two siblings and they share a similar story. When you are in the same room with them, you can feel how much they like each other. I don't just mean that they love each other because they are bound by blood. I mean they actually want to be around one another. Everyone has their crazy quirks (and I'm no exception), but they will always stand by one another and be the first in line to support the other.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is document your life. You will not see that line in your chin in 5 years. That thought will disappear, and instead you will see how much you love your daughter. You will be reminded that when your son was young his little nose used to get so red whenever he was out in the cold. And that thought will make your heart ache, because he isn't that little boy anymore.

Document your life. Do it for your family, and your spouse, and your best friend. Do it for you. Document your wedding because it is the only time all of those people will physically come together to support you and your relationship. Cherish the time and the relationships that you have. If you ever lose someone, cherish it all even more. Document your life so you have a reminder how much you are loved and how much you love. Document your life because you are important. Your kids and your grand-kids don't just love you as they know you now, they love you before they even existed. Celebrate real life. Document your life because you and the people around you matter.

Friday, September 26, 2014

30 Days of Awesomeness! ...continued

Last week, I posted the first half of my 30 32 Days of Awesomeness adventures, and as promised, this week is the second half. Just to recap a bit, Chase Jarvis partnered with Borrowed Lenses to put together this really incredible giveaway AND, I WON!!! Pretty random because I never win ANYTHING, and really, really awesome! I was able to use a month's rental of top of the line equipment. I chose my month so that I could fully take advantage of all this gear. Weddings, families, professional soccer, environmental portraits for a few small businesses, senior sessions, a new project that I have a brewing (more info coming soon), and lots of random photos of my own life.

For those who just want me to stop blabbing and get to the goods, here is a list of the gear that I got to play with for a month:
5d Miii camera body
16-35 2.8 L II
24-70 2.8L II
85mm f1.2L II
70-200 2.8L II
200-400 f4L Extender1.4x

And, just a quick refresher, you will notice that for each photo, I also included all the info below the posted photo:

Day

description

camera body, camera lens

focal length, ISO, shutter speed, aperture

flash (if used)

Day 17: Sunday, August 3rd, 2014

Craig Mitchelldyer let me tag along in the media section for a Portland Thorns game

5D Miii, 200-400 f4L Extender1.4x

560mm, 8000, 1/1250, f5.6

Day 18: Monday August 4th, 2014

The beginning of dahlia season

5D Miii, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

200mm, 640, 1/100, 4.5

Day 19: Tuesday August 5th, 2014

King of the Yard

5D Miii, 16-35 2.8 L II

16mm, 800, 1/250, 3.5

Day 20: Wednesday August 6th, 2014

Jehn Glynn // Visual Designer

5D Miii, 24-70 2.8L II

Left: 70mm, 100, 1/640, 3.2

Right: 42mm, 100, 1/640, 3.2

Day 21: Thursday August 7th, 2014

Skating #LikeAGirl

5D Miii, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

130mm, 200, 1/1000, 3.5

Day 22: Friday August 8th, 2014

A glimpse of the coming fall

5D Miii, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

200mm, 640, 1/200, 2.8

Day 23: Saturday August 9th, 2014

Nabil and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary

6D, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

200mm, 400, 1/100, 7.1

Day 24: Sunday August 10th, 2014

Meet PDX interview with Michael Cox of Wild Abandon (more info coming soon)

5D Miii, 24-70 2.8L II

24mm, 320, 1/30, 5.6

600 EX-RT on camera flash

Day 25: Monday August 11th, 2014

Z says it's bedtime

5D Miii, 24-70 2.8L II

42mm, 1250, 1/25, 2.8

600 EX-RT off camera bounce flash

Day 26: Tuesday August 12th, 2014

A photographer's "selfie"

6D, 24-70 2.8L II

70mm, 160, 1/180, 4

umbrella mount on 600 EX-RT off-camera flash

Day 27: Wednesday August 13th, 2014

Fresh crab and artichokes for dinner

5D Miii, 16-35 2.8 L II

16mm, 2000, 1/20, 2.8

600 EX-RT on camera flash

Day 28: Thursday August 14th, 2014

Not a little bud anymore

5D Miii, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

135mm, 800, 1/80, 2.8

Day 29: Friday August 15th, 2014

A little mood lighting for Friday dinner

5D Miii, 70-200 2.8 L IS II

200mm, 2500, 1/160, 2.8

Day 30: Saturday August 16th, 2014

Another fabulous view from another fabulous wedding

5D Miii, 24-70 2.8L II

24mm, 320, 1/80, 16

Day 31: Sunday August 17th, 2014

Senior portrait season in full swing

6D, 24-70 2.8L II

28mm, 400, 1/200, 4.5

Day 32: Monday August 18th, 2014

Up early to catch the sun rise over Mt. Hood

6D, 200-400 f4L Extender 1.4x

200mm, 100, 5, 22

I can't tell you how much fun I had playing around with all of this gear. It gave me an opportunity and a little push to learn more about lighting, choosing the right gear for the right situation, and really just play around and get to know what each lens can do. Needless to say, I've added a few more things to my ever growing "too expensive for Christmas" list.

Thanks again to both Chase Jarvis and Borrowed Lenses!! I'm forever grateful. :)

Friday, September 19, 2014

30 Days of Awesomeness!

Think way back, back to February. In February I won a giveaway. It was kinda funny because I enter a fair amount of giveaways. Not to the point where I seek these contests out or anything, but if I follow a person or a blog consistently, I enter many of their giveaways (if it's not spam). It's one click. Why not?! ...but I never win.

Well, guess what?! I won!!!

I'm a big fan of Chase Jarvis. I so admire his (perceived) fearlessness and tenacity. I mean, this guy knows how to dream big and get shit done. Anyway, one day, I saw that he tweeted me. It said that I won his giveaway for a "dream camera kit". Cue the skies parting and the hallelujah chorus.

So what exactly did I win you are all asking? Chase Jarvis paired up with BorrowedLenses to put together a 30-day free rental of one amazing camera body and 5 equally amazing lenses. Seriously!! It really was 30 days of awesome! Buying gear is crazy expensive, but renting gear isn't cheap either, especially this kind of quality gear. A few of these lenses I rent regularly, so I was familiar with how to use them, but there were two that I hadn't even touched yet. It was an opportunity that I quickly decided to take FULL advantage of.

Incase all you gear heads are chomping at the bit, here is a list of the insanely awesome Canon gear that I was able to play with for a month:
5d Miii camera body
16-35 2.8 L II
24-70 2.8L II
85mm f1.2L II
70-200 2.8L II
200-400 f4L Extender1.4x

I wanted to use this as an opportunity for a short glimpse into my future life. I gave myself some time so that I could use all the gear during peek wedding season, but also to plan and set up some projects that have been bobbling around in my head for a while (more on MeetPDX another time). It really was just the kick in the pants that I needed.

Take this long story as an intro into 30 Days of Awesomeness (...it was actually 32 because I'm sneaky and chose to have my 30th day fall on a weekend so I couldn't possibly ship it all back until Monday). As part of this month long adventure, I wanted to make sure that I did something to use the gear everyday, so I decided to shoot, edit, and post at least one photo a day for the whole time I had the gear. Obviously most days I took many more than one photo, but for the purposes of not overloading my audience, I will just use one per day.

If you follow me on Facebook, you have already seen all of these photos, and if you don't, take a moment to click on that "f" in the upper right hand corner of the blog and go like my page so you don't miss out on more fun photo projects like this (shameless plug).

And now, without further ado, here are the first 16 days of my 3032 Days of Awesomeness. Since I was focusing a lot of my attention on exploring all of the gear, I also posted a brief description of the image and how the image was shot below each image.

Day

description

camera body, camera lens

focal length, ISO, shutter speed, aperture

flash (if used)