My work schedule has been a little crazy this week while trying to get everything caught up around.  Although I typically work mostly (early) mornings and days, this week I’ve been burning the midnight oil.  So don’t be surprised at the time stamps of emails that have gone out this week.  Thank you Starbucks for my afternoon pick-me-up/caffeine jolt to keep me up at night to get some business done!  The weather has been so nice and we’re busy playing catch up around the house too, planting our garden and getting everything back in order from being away.  Including cleaning the gardens, moving and raking 10 yards of fresh soil, a few weeks worth of laundry and filling empty cupboards that look worse than Mother Hubbard’s.  I’m not even going to talk about how I’ve been trying to recover my lost iPad or how our kitchen plumbing exploded on me when I had to fix the clogged drain, it’s just too gross and depressing and I’m still glowing from vacation.

Although I haven’t had much of a chance to work on my pictures yet, here’s one I took with my iPhone on our trip to Forks & La Push The Olympic Mountains.  Happy Friday!

Kacey’s dress was beautiful layers of beading and lace…

Love the shoe bling!

Nicole created their invitations and were so pretty…

As Kacey would say.  ”Tears.”  Because this will bring them on.  What a beautiful text from her father on her wedding day.

Kacey & Matt chose a first look which you know I love…

Need I say more?

I love spring in Michigan…

I adore this image I caught of Kacey and her Mom…

These next 3 images were processed using MCP Actions‘, “remember when” Lighroom presets and I love the look feel of them…

Married!

Some of the beautiful details…

And one last favorite…

To see more from Kacey & Matt’s wedding, click here for a slideshow.

Some things I’ve practicing lately is backlighting and sun flare.  I absolutely love the look when you get it just right, but I haven’t quite perfected it yet.  The weather this spring has been amazing and I’ve been totally enjoying every second I can outside.  I was not about to let an 80 degree day in March go by without getting my camera in my hands and since I didn’t have any sessions scheduled, I wanted to practice.  It was to perfect of an evening for it not to include a little shooting…  So I called Erin and asked her to let me take some new promo pictures for her.

Erin was my assistant at weddings last year and I’m looking forward to working with her again this year.  We really developed a groove towards the end of the season, I’m looking forward to picking that back up with her at my first wedding of the year towards the end of this month!  We decided to meet in downtown Mt. Clemens for a quick session with beautiful light and lots of laughter.  Thank you Erin for being awesome and letting me practice!

I love the warm light in this one – processed with MCP Actions Mini-Fusion)

This one is my favorite from the day…

Don’t kill me for posting these Erin, but i just loved this series!

Happy Monday!

I was so excited when Stephanie first contacted me for family portraits.  She wanted them done at their home, to include tutus and their dog Schnitzel, and most importantly their family captured naturally.  She had just described my ideal session!

Andee is the baby and always on the move.

I love this one…

I love these two images of Ahna, so sweet and so serious…

Steph & Brett…  It’s no wonder they have such beautiful girls…

My favorite picture from the session, I love, love, love the interaction and the way the colors pop!

These gorgeous Tutus and Hair accessories were made by Tara of TuTu Cute Accessories, be check out her Facebook page for more super cuteness!

And one last favorite…  These dirty little feet completes this for me…

To see more from their session, click here for a slideshow!

Spring mini’s are back and will take place on Saturday April 14th!  You’ll have your choice of a morning Urban session in Downtown Mt. Clemens or an evening Park session at George George Park in Clinton Township.  Mini-sessions last approximately 30 minutes and are super fun!  You’ll spend the time laughing and playing and I’ll be there capturing your family.

If you’ve been wanting professional portraits but haven’t had the extra money, mini-sessions are a great way to get some nice pictures taken while on a budget.   Sessions are $125 and come with your choice of a professionally printed & mounted 11×14 print or 3 digital image files with a printing release.

People often ask if they can include their pets and the answer is YES!  I love to including your pets!  They are absolutely welcome but they must be on a leash and it’s better if you can bring someone to hang onto them so we can get some pictures without them too.  If the weather doesn’t cooperate (but I know it will), a new date at the same locations will be chosen.

To reserve your session, Contact me or send an e-mail to shannon{@}clickingthroughlife.com and request to book a Spring Portrait Mini Session.  Let me know which session you’d like (urban or park) and if you have a time preference.  I’ll try to accomodate time any requests that I can, but spaces are limited so don’t wait to contact me!  Payment is due in full at the time of booking and can be paid with cash, check or credit card (processing fees do apply for cc purchases)

And because every post is better with a picture, here’s one from a session that I’m currently working on!

This picture makes me melt…

And I love his smile in this one…

Garrett’s first time on the swings.  I think it’s safe to say he loved it!

Then we headed into the studio for a few more, and I absolutely l-o-v-e this one…

To see more from their session, click here for a slideshow

One of the personal changes that I’m working on is taking better care of myself.  I want to be more aware of what I’m putting into my body.  We do eat really healthy at home and I try to stay away from the evils of fast food, soda and processed foods, but let’s face it.  It’s hard.  But I’m vowing to make more of a conscious effort.  I love food.  And I love cooking.  So I decided to start a series here about food and getting healthy.  I’ll be sharing some of my favorite recipes, tips and all things food related…  Welcome to the first edition of Food Friday!

I recently started juicing, and I have to say I love it!  I haven’t worked up the courage to do a fast yet, although I’m looking forward to trying one soon.  I purchased Kris Carr’s new e-book  Crazy Sexy Juices & Succulent Smoothies and have been really enjoying the recipes.  Some of them are still a little “green” for me, and I’m not sure that I’ll ever be able to drink an avocado smoothie, but after a almost 2 weeks of juicing daily, I can tell you that I’m starting to like them “greener” every time.  Kris’ e-book is not only filled with lots of awesome recipes for juices and smoothies, but it’s choc full of great information on juicing, fasting and detox, and lots of awesome resources.  If you’re new to juicing or looking for some great recipes, I definitely recommend you check it out!

And because every post is better with a picture, here’s the CoCo Pear Juice from Crazy Sexy Juices I made the other day…

As I was perusing the classified ads two days later, I asked Scott, What if I start my own photography business?  I had just purchased my first DSLR camera and my Macbook, I had been absorbed in learning everything I could about my camera and photography in general, and people seemed to like my photos, so why not?  Because he will(has) support(ed) me in everything that I do, he simply smiled and said “Sure… as long as it doesn’t interfere with your finding a job”.    I couldn’t blame his sarcasm.  After all we were still paying off the investment in my attempted career as a Creative Memories Consultant.  Then I read my horoscope and it said “Assume that you’re supposed be exactly where you are and shine.”  That was it, maybe I was exactly where I was supposed to be.  I decided that I was going to shine, I was going to take advantage of a bad situation.  I was going to start a photography business.  All while working on finding a job…

My horoscope – July 26, 2008 hanging on my wall next to my desk where I can see it every day.

Well I never imagined that 4 years later I was going to be a successful, full-time photographer, running my own business.  I’m going into my busiest year yet and I couldn’t be more excited about it.  2012 is going to ROCK!  I just know it, I have so many fantastic weddings come up this year with so many amazing couples that there’s simply no way it can’t rock.   There’s a ton of exciting things going on with the business lately too, but the one that absolutely blew me away was receiving the news that my business had been given TWO very big honors.  My sincerest thanks to my clients, whose reviews of my work and service have honored me with The Knot’s Best of Weddings 2012  & WeddingWire’s Bride’s Choice Award 2012.  I have been truly blessed with some amazing people as clients.  Thank you for having me be a part of your wedding.  And thank you for trusting me as your photographer.  I’m blessed to be able to have this sitting proudly on my desk!

PS… If you haven’t had a chance to, but would like leave a review for me and our time spent together, please follow this link and talk about your experience.

We were able to find a little bit of snow in Hart Plaza…

To see more from their engagement session, click here for a slideshow.