Welcome to the blog for Courtney Hathaway Photography!
I'm Courtney, a wedding & portrait photographer serving the Outer Banks of North Carolina and worldwide! I hope you take a little bit of time to check out some of our recent sessions and weddings, and read along with some of our "helpful hints" to make your session or event go smoothly. For for more information please website at: www.CourtneyHathaway.com.
I met up with Kate and her family in Corolla for their family sessions. In a week of crazy weather, they lucked out with the most beautiful evening and beautiful light. Add in their ridiculously cute kids and you end up with a session that just comes together. I had such a great time getting to work with them!
Clearly little brother isn’t as thrilled to be hanging out with big brother? 
That time of year is almost here again. Where you listen to the waves crashing, feel the wind and sun on your skin, the smell of salty air, and tasting the ocean on your lips. Every summer is different here in the OBX; and each summer is full of families and new adventures. Planning your trip is just the start. What better way to remember your spectacular vacation at beaches like Nags Head, Corolla, and Kill Devil Hills than with your very own OBX family portraits. So this summer let Courtney Hathaway Photography capture the memories from your Outer Banks vacation.
It’s that time of year again, the time when families are making their vacation plans for summer! It’s hard to believe we’re in February already, but school will be out before you know it and summer vacation will soon be here! Many families are making plans for their Family Beach Portraits and what better time than during your OBX Vacation?
So what’s different about this year? We’re moving forward with our desire to go totally digital, with the exception of our wall art! So what does that mean for you? We’ve revamped our session offerings, and now every session includes the digital files. Images from your session are accessed via your personal and private online gallery, where you will be able to download your digital files directly to your computer. Now each family member can log into the gallery and download their own copy of the images from your session!
Don’t worry, you still have the option to purchase prints through your gallery. We specialize in Wall Art (Prints & Canvases), specifically prints 11×14 and larger. Wall Prints are carefully mounted and receive a linen texture finish and protective lacquer coating for durability and longevity. Gallery Wrapped Canvases are printed on a high end canvas and wrapped around a wooden stretcher with the hanging hardware already attached!
To book your Outer Banks Family Portrait, please visit our website at WWW.COURTNEYHATHAWAY.COM!
Don’t forget to become our fan on FACEBOOK!
This week I had a great time photographing Stevi’s senior portraits at Coquina Beach. It was overcast and windy, but she rocked it out, and had the perfect hair for the beach!! It looked awesome blowing in the wind. I also love how she brought a photo of her mom to include in the portraits – she would definitely be proud of the sweet young lady you are!
The other week I had the pleasure of working with this gorgeous family at Coquina Beach in South Nags Head. It’s a rare treat to work with a family of all adults. That means that (hopefully) no one is going to cry or run away from me. The whole family was amazing to work with, and did anything that I asked them to. We had some amazing light, the temps were great, and without the wind we were able to get some amazing reflection shots!
It’s always flattering when another photographer chooses (or refers) you. I consider it to be one of the highest compliments. When Renee contacted me about photographing her family while they were here on vacation I was excited! She’s super sweet, and her boys were adorable. It was great getting to meet them, I hope to see them next year! We grabbed a few family shots to begin with, and then focused on some candids – and more specifically Renee with her kids. As most mom’s know, you rarely ever get IN the photos with your family. As a photographer mom, it’s pretty much impossible as everyone expects that you’ll be taking the photos. I’m glad we were able to capture some sweet moments between Renee and her boys!
One of the main reasons for being in Mexico is the fishing! Sailfishing that time of year is simply amazing, there is nothing like it. Let’s just say Rob thinking about fishing and boats as much as I think about photography and cameras – pretty much all the time. It’s hard to get me away from relaxing by the pool, but we had a couple of really beautiful days so I headed out on the boat for a little fish action! We spent the day fun fishing, and our crew consisted of another captain and his mate – plus our local mates.
One of the few times you’ll see Rob (on the right) down in the cockpit instead of “driving the bus” as I like to say.
So ladies….reason #1 why you shouldn’t discount fishing….a 3:1 guy to girl ratio. Consider yourself lucky to see me more than once on the blog. We’re hooked up with a triple – meaning we’re catching three sailfish at one time.
Every angler wants to be able to hook and catch their own fish. I’m usually sitting back relaxing, but I told Tommy I wanted to learn to hook my own sailfish. I was quickly sent back to my seat when on the first try I hooked a bird….whoops! The birds dive-bomb the bait in the water, and it ate my bait. I wasn’t the only one – Kevin the other mate hooked a bird too. The birds are always okay, and I was able to grab a quick shot before we set him free.
Summer? Where are you? All this water and sunshine makes me VERY ready for summer and warm weather. Mother nature has teased us here on the OBX with a few unseasonably warm days this February. It sure is hard to go back to wind and cold after wearing shorts.
So after doing my session with Mallory, I did a quick and fun session with my super adorable little sister and one of her friends. I love our sessions – it’s great “girl time” and she fills me in all the important things going on in her life. Let’s just say after an afternoon with her I know everything that’s going on in the 6th grade….it’s a blessing and curse. 
We stayed at the Island Farm, and moved around a bit for some different looks. They even both wore their cute rubber boots. If you know me, you know that I’m a sucker for rubber boots…..LOVE LOVE LOVE my rubber boots. Seriously, I wear them even when it’s not raining…and I’m a dork and wear my jeans tucked IN them. I’m pretty sure the kids still think I’m cool, because the girls showed up with their pants tucked into their boots too. We finished up our session with lunch at Poor Richards, a local favorite for sandwiches, where I was got to hear all the code names for the cute boys in class.
Who says we don’t get snow at the beach? Well, if you’d asked me a couple of years ago if we got snow at the beach I’d say “heck no”. The reality is we might see a some flurries every few years but never anything substantial. This year has been crazy in the weather department here at the beach. Throughout the off-season and winter, clients will send me emails just to say hello – and inevitably they ask how the weather is. This year it seemed like my answer was always, “it’s snowing….again”. Yes my friends, we had around 4 or 5 (I’ve really lost count at this point) snowfalls this winter. It all started with a light dusting in early December. What? December? We had several more after that. For all of them I stayed inside, nice and warm snuggled up with my doggie. We finally had what I think will be our last snowfall this winter a couple of weeks ago. As soon as it finished snowing I decided to jump at the chance to do an impromptu snow session.
Insert Mallory and her sweet dog Molly. I’ve known Mallory since preschool – that’s one of the perks of living in a small town. Now we’re all grown up, and Mallory is engaged. What’s a post about old friends without a trip down memory lane? Wanna good laugh? Here’s a VERY old dance photo, I’m going to guess we were around 3 or 4? You can see me (looking thrilled) on the far left kneeling in the front – Mallory is on the far right kneeling in the front. I’m pretty sure I had the same haircut as my mom! Really…Mallory only has herself to blame for this seeing as how she put the incriminating photo on Facebook to begin with! 
So now on to the good stuff….
This wonderful family was staying down on Hatteras Island alllll the way at the end near the ferry. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE shooting on Hatteras Island. It is by far one of the most beautiful areas of the Outer Banks. Untouched beaches with beautiful dunes and very few people.
As fate would have it, they were forced to leave early (for the second or third time!!!) due to an oncoming hurricane. Luckily we were able to fit their session in the night before evacuation. It was like the calm before the storm. I was blessed with great light and awesome kids. One of my favorites elements to a session is when people bring props – like chairs or other items that mean a lot to them. I think it really adds to the photos. These guys had planned on doing some fun kite flying as a family for their pictures – but as nature would have it there wasn’t enough wind. Go figure, evacuated for a hurricane and not enough wind to fly the kite…haha. We managed to get a couple kite shots in before we gave up on the flying. They also had their super cute puppy with them – I love photographing the family pets. As a huge dog lover myself, I always welcome bringing along animals.
I also want to take a moment to point out their great clothing choices. They kept it classic, but with some fun too. I love the punch of color with mom’s top, and that dad and the boys are both wearing blue – but different shades. It’s totally possible to stay classic with your beach portraits, while still add some fun and color as well. Great choices guys!
