Maternity Session Smile - Grayslake Photographer

I love it when friends I haven't seen in a long, long time (since high school) contact me for a photo session.  Not only do we get to catch up chatting in between shots; I also have the privilege of capturing beautiful images for them.  That's exactly what happened here with this beautiful mama...

At one point we discussed some photography challenges like getting everyone to smile, especially when you have multiple little ones in a family.  Sometimes everyone just doesn't smile at the same time and I have to make a composite image.  Moving faces and smiles into one perfectly happy image is something that takes some practice.  My beautiful friend let me know that her handsome husband doesn't smile in images.  Below was the first set of images and I think these smiles are pretty good...

As we started having fun the smiles kept coming...

This was the last set of images (below).  They were so comfortable with the camera and having fun. You just can't Photoshop this kind of love and joy displayed through smiles.

Thank you S for the opportunity to capture you and your husband during this very special time.  It really was a privilege and I hope to see you guys again soon with your new little blessing!

email: angelclarkphotography@gmail.com

H Family Session - Grayslake Family Photographer

I had the wonderful opportunity to capture the H family on the beautiful grounds of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake.

These awesome parents finally bit the bullet to do a family session.  

I hope it wasn't too painful.  Everyone did a great job!

Take a look at these CUTE little guys....

Thank you H family it was a pleasure to work with you on this wonderful family session!

Thoughts - Grayslake Family Photographer and Writer

As I realized the link between my thoughts, emotions and physical well being (Last post).  I started wondering where thoughts come from.  For a long time scientists hypothesized that thoughts arise in your brain like a computer.

But now cognitive scientists believe that the thought process is more like an ecosystem.  Thought occurs not just in the brain, instead it is a tangled communication among the brain, body and environment.  Our thoughts are directly linked to physical experience according to some studies.  Fundamentally we perceive the world in terms of our ability to act on our environment.

My favorite example of this is the study in which baseball players with high batting averages perceived the ball as bigger than poorer hitters.  Or the study in which volunteers were asked to estimate the steepness of a hill just by looking at it from the bottom.  The answers correlated directly with how physically suited they were to climbing the hill.

It's easy to get lost in our thoughts without awareness as to where they come from.  My personal freedom lies in the awareness of those thoughts.

The thinking patterns are usually the same.  

Same anxious, worried thoughts every time change comes back around.  

It's time to call them out for what they are.

I see you!

Finding Peace Today- Grayslake Family Photographer and Writer

These last couple of weeks have been a climax of change ending with today the last day of school. As all these changes started coming the last few weeks I really started noticing my thoughts and emotions.

My little guy lost his first tooth.  "There will be no more first lost tooth in this house...." Right after that thought came in I realized that it didn't serve me any good to stay there, I let it go.

"My oldest will no longer be in elementary school the new school is bigger and different."  Another thought that I had to just let go of.

Similar thoughts have looked around the corner for a couple weeks to see if I wasn't paying close attention.  I was paying close attention and I wouldn't allow them to turn the corner.  I didn't let these thoughts consume me and run away with me for hours on end as I had in the past.

I can see the direct link between my thoughts, emotions and my physical well being.  These emotions are exhausting, very heavy to carry when I surrender to them.

Instead I asked myself what do I really have to be sad about?  I couldn't find an answer to that question.  What can I find joy in?  The list was never ending.  This morning I woke up feeling so much lighter, joy filled and at peace.  

Happy last day of school!

angelclarkphotography@gmail.com