meet cortney
Welcome! I’m so glad you’re here.
I’m a professional writer and photographer specializing in children’s portraiture and family photography.
The truth about my photography journey? It came about very … unexpectedly.
For nearly two decades I was a professional writer. I started in journalism as a magazine editor and eventually grew into roles as an executive communicator and writer for Fortune 500 executives, CEOs, even an Ivy League dean.
As a classically educated journalist, I developed an eye for quality photography early in my career … but I never thought I’d be the gal behind the camera.
Several years ago, I began photographing business owners, restaurateurs as well as my own recipes for my personal food website, Sweet New Roots.
As a writer, my work has appeared in numerous media over the years, but it wasn’t until my food photography was picked up by an agency for an advertisement in Magnolia Journal and then again for an article for Southern Living that I realized I had a skill worth devoting more time and attention toward developing.
Fast forward to today: I’m incredibly passionate about capturing families in every stage of life.
I love what I do, and it’s been an absolute honor to work with my cherished clients, whom I now call friends, in Atlanta, Forsyth County and North Georgia.
My professional business background keeps me organized and communicative while my writing/storytelling career adds depth and new perspective to each family’s narrative.
Your memories are so special, and these days are flying by. Let’s make time stand still, if only for a moment. It would be my honor to serve as your family’s photographer!
A Little more About Me
- I love the Lord and I’m grateful daily for His mercy and grace. If you don’t know Jesus I’d love the opportunity to tell you how he’s worked in my life and what he can do for you, too.
- I’m incredibly blessed to be married to David, whom I fell in love with at the ripe age of 20 but didn’t marry until I was 37! Our love story is proof that God’s plan for our lives is so much bigger than anything we can imagine for ourselves.
- Dog mama to the sweetest Yorkies, Magnolia Pearl (“Maggie”) and Millie.
- I was raised in a large family, which means I know firsthand what it’s like to wrangle everyone for family photos!
- My specialty is winning over the skeptics and the toddlers. If it feels like chaos, we’re doing it right!
- David and I have a baker’s dozen of precious nieces and nephews with another on the way in April 2026. We love them so much.
- Our nephew Cooper is on the autism spectrum and is currently non-verbal. I have a huge heart for working with children who communicate differently. I’ve had the most precious honor of photographing children who share much in common with Cooper.
- We’ve lived in Forsyth County, Georgia, since 2021, but we’re from Texas and the Dallas-Fort Worth area will always be “home.”
- I hold a bachelor’s degree in News-Editorial Journalism from Texas Christian University (TCU), a Master of Business Administration from Dallas Baptist University, and a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University’s T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies.
- When I’m not behind the camera photographing families, I’m often in my kitchen cooking up something delicious.
- I’m also the writer, photographer and recipe developer for Sweet New Roots and the owner of a digital marketing agency that specializes in serving mission-driven non-profit organizations.