I have been waiting for this post for 9 months! Last Friday, May 29th at 3:42 pm…our own special miracle entered the world and our lives. Finley Morgan has completely stolen our hearts. I somehow managed to deliver her without any drugs, which is an incredible feat if you know what a true wimp I am. My labor was only 1.5 hours, so I can’t complain. haha I am SO in love with her already and as for her daddy, well…let’s just say Finley has become the “other woman” in his life. Watching them together is truly a blessing. Jonny just can’t get enough of her. We have both been soaking up every ounce of this experience together. Sleepy eyed and tired, it has been an amazing ride so far. Piper is so proud to be her big sister and is such a big helper. Our family could not be more blessed than we are at this very moment. The Lord has truly reached out his hand to us and given us the most amazing gift and I, nor my husband, can stop thanking him enough.  My husband has amazed me beyond words and watching him grow so deeply in love with this little angel has made me only love him more. Thank you, Lord for the gift of Finley and for enriching our lives with this sweet, sweet child. I’m so in love Here she is…without further delay Finley Morgan Fries.

P.S. If you have emailed or placed an order, please bare with me. I’m a little brain dead at this point…but promise to take care of all responses in a timely manner. Thank you to my wonderful clients!!!

Okay! SO…I want to start out this post by saying how INCREDIBLY beautiful this wedding was.  At every turn there was some new detail to photograph…it was insane. I have SO many images to rummage through, so I’ll start with just a few to give you an idea of just how colorful and fun this wedding was. I thoroughly enjoyed myself!!! A giant thanks to Shem for coming along and second shooting for me! Jonny and I loved our adventure with you…there were definitely some hilarious memories made. I can’t wait to do it again.  This wedding was held on Jekyll Island at the insanely beautiful venue: the Beachview Club. I promise to post more of this wedding, but I at least wanted to get it rolling with some of my images from the day :) If you’re a bride and you’re looking for a great place to get married…this place has SO much charm!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT! Let’s get this party started:

Just wanted to post a few quickie’s from tonight’s wedding down in Indian Rocks Beach between Leigh Ann & Scott! I will be sure to post more from this super fun wedding over the weekend. I am headed to Georgia tomorrow to shoot another wedding! More goodness to come

I am looking for one lovely lady who is willing to do a boudoir shoot with me! I am trying to get together a marketing kit for boudoir photography and need someone who is comfy in front of the camera and not shy about others seeing the images. You’ll need some sassy lingerie for the shoot!! It will be a very laid back session with lots of fun in a beautiful bed and breakfast! The lucky lady will receive a 2 hour photo session and a cd of all of the images for reproduction! A $850 value!! If you know of someone who might fit the bill, please pass the information along. If you feel more comfortable bringing along a girlfriend who is interested as well, then I would entertain the idea of shooting a second girl within that same 2 hour session and giving a CD to your friend as well  These images would make a great gift for a fiance/hubby/boyfriend! Contact me for more info!! Once these 2 spots are filled, that will be it for the complimentary session, so don’t miss out! Send an image of yourself to: courtney@courtneyfries.com   THANKS!!!

~Courtney

On Saturday, I traveled down to Safety Harbor and had the best time photographing Julia and Glenn’s wedding! I. LOVE. THIS. COUPLE. They are SUCH good people…fun, laid back, down-to-earth, hilarious, kind-hearted…I could go on and on about them. Their ENTIRE family made us feel welcome! Jonny and I can’t wait to hang out with them again after they get back from their amazing honeymoon! I hope you guys have an incredible time in Europe…if I could stuff my pregnant body into your carry-on, I totally would Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such wonderful clients. Your wedding was such an emotional experience for me…I could barely hold it together during the father-daughter dance. It is so special to see families that are close and this wedding definitely was filled with emotion throughout the entire day. Nothing was rushed and I really could sense that they were absorbing every ounce of emotion out of their very special day!! I wish you guys the absolute best!! Let us know when you get back and get settled in…we would love to hang out!

**Special thanks to my second shooter: Maria Felton for helping out on Saturday! We had a great time!!!**

Julia’s dad sang a song for the newlyweds…it was such a sweet and teary-eyed moment!

…and the crew! Jonny’s head got lost…lol…but here’s a quick shot of the gang workin’ it out at the wedding That’s DJ Rob! He was hilarious and did a fantastic job.

This little cutie pie, Miss B, is such a sweet and gentle little girl. She is one of those children that is just easy to be around. VERY happy and VERY in love with her mama and daddy! We spent our time wandering around trying to find the perfect spot and I stumbled upon this little alley that I just fell in love with. SO much texture and color I love that my clients trust me with location…it adds so much to their images and creates a far more interesting photograph when we venture into something a little different than just your average local park! I love parks…don’t get me wrong…but something about this alley just screamed at me. I’m so glad we found it and that I had such a lovely little lady to photograph in it! Here’s a little peek at our session from Sunday morning!

Look at that face!!!!!!!!!! I had the best morning capturing this little one…she had me smiling so big when she would show her little personality. I couldn’t get enough. She’s going to be a little heartbreaker when she gets older! I just love it so much when my littlest clients have such a happy disposition. It makes for a fun shoot for sure! Thank you guys for allowing me the chance to capture her at such a fun stage! Here are just a few from our morning together…enjoy!

Today I had the awesome pleasure of photographing little Miss “K” at her gorgeous home. Isn’t she just beautiful?  At two weeks old, she was amazingly cooperative and once we lulled her to sleep it was smooth sailing. I just loved watching her sleep and it REALLY added to my fever of meeting my own little one in just a few weeks. I can’t believe that I am going to have someone so tiny in my own life. “K” is such a blessing and such a wonderful little baby and her nursery was just delicious! Such a gorgeous setting for newborn pictures. I am so honored to have been asked to capture this precious time in all of their lives. Mom and dad thank you SO much for welcoming Jonny and I into your home. We had a lovely time getting to know all THREE of you. Here is a little teaser of your sweetie! :)

I am off to bed, since I have a couple shoots tomorrow…but I just wanted to post 1 image from the fabulous wedding I shot tonight in Safety Harbor and Tampa. There is MUCH more to share, so stay tuned in the next few days. Lots of good stuff My brain and body are begging for sleep Have a great night everyone!

I had a wonderful weekend in Jekyll Island, Georgia with this beautiful couple.  Erin and Shawn are getting married in just 2 short weeks and after trying to schedule our engagement session with bouts of bad weather, we were able to find a gorgeous weekend filled with delicious light and fantastic weather! I am so excited to share this post, because I just adore this location. I could have shot there throughout the night…and we used every last bit of light we could drain from the sky to create a memorable engagement shoot for such a special couple. I am so excited to be capturing their wedding! Erin is a true example of a client that comes prepared! Her wardrobe was amazing and I can’t express ENOUGH to my clients that what you wear really is the best way to make sure your pictures are as fabulous as you dream them to be. There is something to be said for great clothing and girl, you brought it! I love it when a shoot starts off comfortably and from moment one, they just turned on the charm, resulting in some of my favorite images to date! It is such a pleasure to work with clients that allow you the freedom to create, so thank you both so very much! We will be seeing you very soon. This is a big daddy post, because I just fell in love with too many of them to choose! Happy Sunday, all!