36 - Grayslake Photographer and Writer

Hello 36!

I celebrated my 36th birthday this week.  Since today is New Years Eve I'm trying to sneak in a quick blog.  Taking a quick look back and setting an intention for this coming year has become an important tradition for me.

My 35th year was great.  I met some of my most challenging goals.  I lost some where around 15 lbs. Exercising became a priority in my life.  Yoga is still a constant but I've also added the fun of Zumba to my weekly routine.  I don't enjoy running but I know it works for me so I still do it a few times a week.  I'm hoping that I will enjoy it one day.  Meditating is something I can comfortably do at any time.  My photography business has reached more people this year and I had more new clients than any previous year.  I don't overwhelm myself with jobs, I am very content with my work flow.  I understand that I don't need to do more to be successful.  My family is happy and healthy no coincidence that I have taken the lead on this happy and healthy state.  I no longer have to choose joy, after consciously choosing it for the last few years every day, it now comes to me automatically.  I find that other emotions like sadness or anger are challenging to allow.  But it is important for me to allow those too.  I'm trying to find something to report that went wrong last year or I want to change, at this moment I can't.

My intention for this coming year:
I should start heading out to my sisters soon, so I will make it short.
This year, I have decided it will be my year of Metta practice.  What is Metta?  Metta is a philosophy and practice of loving kindness.  When I meditate I will practice the loving kindness meditation.  I've studied it and have decided which one I will commit to every day.  I will post more about it another time.
This year is my loving kindness year not only for others but for myself too.  

May you all be happy.
May you all be safe.
May you all be well.
May you all be peaceful and at ease.

Happy New Year!

    

Merry Christmas - Grayslake Family Photographer

I got my Christmas cards out last week, the earliest I've ever had them completed.  I love Christmas cards! I love to send them and receive them.  It's one of our holiday traditions.  This year the kids even helped by putting the stamp and labels on.  I hope they all got to the right place.

The tree was also up early and most of the gifts have been purchased.  This year, I really feel like I have handle on that to do list.  I planned a little earlier and I slowed down.

Speaking of slowing down... I was listening to a talk about relaxation and how important it is for mental health and physical well being.  Healing happens in relaxation.  Just a few minutes a day of relaxation really adds up to healthy benefits.  At the end of the talk the speaker gave the floor to the audience.  One person said something very profound that we can all relate to, it went something like this:
I had an embarrassing realization while you gave the talk.  You mentioned that it is very simplistic to relax, I am very tense always thinking, planning and strategizing; it didn't seem very simple to me at first.  I asked myself, if I could relax would I and the answer was 'no' because then I wouldn't feel important.  We have such a strong bias that using the mind, thinking and stress is inherently superior.  I accessed this fear in myself that I wouldn't be important.  What would I do if I had to relax I asked myself.  I would feel as if I were naked.  

The speaker congratulated her on her realization and insight as to why it wasn't so simple for her to relax.  

Find just a few minutes to relax and not think about anything today, we are still important if we do.

May the peace and joy that Christmas brings always be with you and your family! Merry Christmas!

Thank You - Grayslake Family Photographer

Sessions are winding down here and preparations for a wonderful Christmas and New Year are in full swing.  I want to thank all the amazing friends and clients that have allowed me to take their images this year.  A majority of these sessions are first time clients.  I really appreciate my friends and previous clients that have put in a good word for me.  You guys are the best!

I hope to see everyone's beautiful Christmas cards!
I also would love to see you all next year.
Next year I plan to have more available session dates at the same reasonable price.
 

Thank you all for making my photography business so successful in 2015!  

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com

Wedding - Grayslake Family Photographer

I specialize in family photography not wedding photography.  When a friend asked me if I could do her sisters intimate wedding, I kindly declined.  But life has other plans and sometimes you just have to go with it.

I had the privilege of capturing a few images for this beautiful couple....

Congratulations Sara and Michael! Thank you for allowing me to be part of your special day!

L family - Grayslake Family Photographer

Another new family on the blog today! I am so happy that mom trusted me with their first ever family portrait session.  They look fabulous and did great!  At the end they said they had fun!

The kiddos have taken professional pics before and they wanted to recreate an image they did when they were toddlers.  So precious.

Thank you so much family L!  It's so hard deciding on the 25 images that will make up your gallery!

Special thanks to Carrie for the awesome referral! 

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com

The Light - Grayslake Family Photographer

This is the second post for today.  Make sure you check out my first post.
Like I said before this is the same location as my previous session but a different time of day.  The light was very different in the evening time.  It was also doing this pretty amazing thing around mommy as you will see...

I've been photographing the duo above since little E was a newborn. 

 

Mommy is celebrating her 40th birthday next month.  She is looking amazing.  There was so much light around her, it was probably coming from her.  

Thank you for another fabulous photo session.  Sending you lots of love. See you soon.

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com  

M family - Grayslake Family Photographer

The beautiful sessions keep coming.  I have two blogs this week so make sure you check out both.  Funny, they are actually taken at the same location but two different times of day and edited a little different as a result.  I believe every session should have a different look/feel.  If every session I did looked the same, yes it would be easy for me but it wouldn't express how different each family is.

The M family is a new client and I had a great time getting to know them.  Turns out that we live in the same neighborhood! How cool is that?  

Enjoy your sneak peek:

By the end she was not only giving me real smiles, her eyes were smiling too.  

Thank you for contacting me! It was a pleasure to work with your gorgeous family! 

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com

G Family - Grayslake Family Photographer

I am thankful for this wonderful family.  I will travel any where for them and I love the locations mom selects.  I have known mom since college and capturing her family year after year is a highlight for me.  They have a special place in my heart.

This last image is a personal favorite.  Real life with three boys!

Thank you G family!!!!! 

C Family - Grayslake Family Photographer

This is the second blog post for today so make sure you check out the previous one too.

C Family, we got some great shots! Enjoy your sneak peek!

It was a perfect day and a great location! Thank you for asking me to take these!

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com

Yoga - Grayslake Photographer

I posted my annual Halloween post early so make sure you check it out.  Today I have two fantastic sessions to share.  

First, This beautiful Yoga instructor Leticia check out her FB business page here.  I was so excited when she contacted me regarding this project.  I LOVE Yoga! It has been one of my life changers.  

Leticia had such beautiful, positive energy at our session.  That's what I really wanted to capture.   

Right after she said she was happy with the images we captured the rain started to pour down.  As we were walking to the car getting drenched she said to me, "the universe always conspires in our favor."  The rain had waited for us to finish.  I will always remember that.  

Thank you Leticia it was an honor to work with you on this project.  I appreciate you sharing your love of Yoga with me.

Halloween Emotions - Grayslake Photographer

This years family themed costumes were perfectly chosen by the youngest member of our family.  After throwing around some ideas, he went with the 5 emotions in the Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out.  We had so much fun putting this look together!    

[from movie trailer]
Joy: I'm Joy, this is Sadness, that's Anger, this is Disgust.
Disgust: Ugh...
Joy: And that's Fear.
Fear: Ahhh! Look out!

Hubby said this was a role he could really get into.  I think they were roles we all got into.

 [from movie]

Anger: "Is it garbage night? We left the toilet seat up! What? What is it, woman? What?!"

[from movie]
Sadness: "It's long term memory... you'll get lost in there."
Joy: "C'mon! Think positive!"
Sadness: "Okay... I'm positive that you'll get lost in there!"

 [from movie]
Fear: "All right! We did not die today, I call that an unqualified success."

[from movie]
Disgust: "What's pu-ber-tee?"

[from movie]
Joy: "Come on group hug! You too, Anger."
Anger: "Don't touch me."

There are moments when I wish I could roll back the clock and take all the sadness away, but I have the feeling that if I did, the joy would be gone as well. - N. Sparks