Introducing the Huntington Holgas Gallery!

Photography is not only my profession, it is still very much my hobby. A couple years ago while in Seattle I discovered a wonderful little plastic camera, called a Holga, and fell instantly in love. For those of you unfamiliar with this type of camera, it is basically an inexpensive toy camera that uses medium format 120 film. Holga cameras are quickly growing in popularity, however, as photo fanatics like myself have grown to love and appreciate the old-fashioned appearing, imperfect, analog quality images that it produces. When you look at a Holga photograph, sometimes it is hard to determine whether the image was captured yesterday or fifty years ago!

It is for this very reason that I began photographing different parts of Huntington with my Holga about a year ago. When I saw the nostalic, almost authentically classic quality of the images, I became convinced that this is the only camera that can do justice to images of our beautiful, historic city.

I am now very excited and pleased to be able to share with you some of the images I have captured over the last year in my new Huntington Holgas gallery! (Password: huntingtonholgas.) Prints are available for purchase, if you wish, and I am even offering a 10% discount on the purchase of three or more photographs. (See details in gallery.)

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I have enjoyed taking them. The gallery is a work in progress as I continue to photograph Huntington in my spare time, so please check back often as new images are added. Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to request a photograph of a specific part of Huntington. (304) 522-7747.

Enjoy!

February Featured Wedding: Alana and Brian Williams

This month's Featured Wedding is one that I previously blogged about a few months ago - the wedding of Alana and Brian Williams. However, with their permission I am now happy to have the opportunity to share with you their entire wedding day, plus Alana's gorgeous bridal session.

As you may recall from my previous blog, Alana and Brian are my brother's best friends and he was Brian's Best Man, so I was especially excited to photograph their wedding. The ceremony was held in my home town of Cross Lanes on October 25, 2008, with the reception immediately following at Scarlett Oaks. The highlight of the ceremony had to be when the Maid of Honor, Sheila, forgot to bring the Groom's ring and one of the Bridesmaids made a mad dash back to their dressing room immediately after walking up the aisle to retrieve it! (Nice save, Kedron!)


The reception was highlighted by Alana and Brian's first dance, which was a choreographed waltz to Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters." Imagine, someday they will be able to tell their children and grandchildren that they waltzed to Metallica at their wedding! Awesome!

To view their photos, click here and enter the password: alanabrian. Enjoy!

2009 Bridal Expo Special!

I had a fantastic time at the WKEE Bridal Extravaganza yesterday, which was held at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in Huntington. I met so many wonderful people! My only regret is that I never had an opportunity to walk around and say hello to some of the other photographers at the expo. My friends and fellow photographers, Holly Bond-Farrell and Amanda Nagy, stopped by my booth for a nice chat, as well as a few new photographers to the area, whom I really enjoyed meeting.

Now, as promised, I am offering a special discount on wedding packages this week! If you book your wedding between January 18 and January 25, 2009 you will receive a 20% discount off the Divine and Exquisite packages!!! That is equal to $420 in savings off the Exquisite package, and $700 in savings off the Divine package! And don't forget, if your wedding is scheduled on a non-Saturday you will still receive the regular 10% Non-Saturday Discount, for a total of 30% savings! (These offers do not apply to the Lovely package.)

This discount is being offered ONLY during the week of the 2009 Bridal Expo and, again, ends on January 25th, so don't miss out! Call today to schedule your free wedding photography consultation and/or book Courtney Bell Photography to photograph your special day. (304) 522-7747

Fun Pin-Up Shoot!

Yesterday I had a blast shooting a pin-up session with my friend, Sarah, while she was getting a tattoo! I have been friends with Sarah ever since junior high and now she is an AMAZING hairstylist at Karma Salon in Bourboursville. She did her own hair and make-up for the shoot and looked absolutely fabulous.

The session took place at Tat-Nice Tattoos, located at 1327 4th Avenue in Huntington, with the persmission of Matt Hays, her incredibly talented tattoo artist. I also need to thank Saka, who is a tattoo artist and also a photo enthusiast, for being such a great assistant during the shoot!

All I can say is that Tat-Nice really does live up to its name because everyone there was extremely nice and accommodating. Sarah's photos turned out even better than I had hoped. It's nice being a photographer and having super hot babes as friends. :)
Thanks, Sarah!

Because Valentine's Day Will Be Here Before You Know It...

(Click to enlarge!)


Call today to schedule your Boudoir Session! (304) 522-7747

2008 Christmas Special!

Only $40!

Includes your 1/2-hour studio session and

choice of either

one box of (24) 4x6 folded Christmas cards with envelopes,

OR (1) 8x10, (2) 5x7's, and (16) wallet prints.

You may also add prints ala carte (see Create Your Own Package pricing on website).

I know I'm late posting a blog about my 2008 Christmas Special (surprise, surprise!), but its not too late to book your holiday session! As shown by these sample photos, Courtney Bell Photography uses simple, contemporary backdrops and props for holiday portraiture (in other words, not cheesy!). The new prop for Christmas '08 is the holiday fireplace setting, but I also have a wodden sled, large snowflakes, oversized ornaments, and a variety of furniture.

The 2008 Christmas Special will run until December 12, so call today to book your session! (304) 522-7747

Catching Up and Looking Ahead

Well, I was afraid this would happen. I hesitated to start a blog for a long time because I wasn't sure if my busy schedule would allow me to keep up with it, and sure enough it looks as though I'm starting to fall behind. So, to make up for it I am going to post a few shots from some recent sessions that I've worked on, including:

Senior sessions for Tanisha (my exotically gorgeous Senior!) and Justin (my charming, talkative Senior!), Cara and Wes' engagement session, a portrait from the Herrenkohl family reunion (Amy Herrenkohl's family of gorgeous men), Jamiee's bridal session (my Phoebe Cates look-alike!), and the weddings of Kelly and Joe and Kristen and Scott.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to let you guys know that Courtney Bell Photography now has profiles on both MySpace and Facebook! Be sure to add yourself to my Friends list to stay updated on the latest news, specials, blog entries, etc.!

In addition, I wanted to mention a couple of things that you guys can look forward to from Courtney Bell Photography. I recently discovered that the program I use to create my Wedding Memories DVDs has the ability to export clips to YouTube!!! I haven't actually tried it yet, but my hope is to soon be showing off clips from some of my wedding DVDs!

Also, be on the lookout for some Christmas portraits, which will probably be posted after this weekend, along with some holiday pricing information. (Sheesh...Christmas already!)

All in all, things have been rather crazy around here, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you to all of the wonderful families, Seniors, couples, and individuals who have helped make this such a successful, busy season! Hopefully, when things calm down a bit, I will be able to post blog entries on a more regular basis.