Niagara Bachelorette

A two hour drive from Toronto is the beautiful Niagara wine country. If you are ever in the area I strongly recommend taking a drive through here to sample some of Ontario's finest wines. Last weekend my girlfriends and I jumped into a car and made the drive to celebrate our close friend's upcoming wedding with her bachelorette party. The day was perfect with gorgeous blue skies, a bight sun and lots of wine! We even made a stop at a local dairy farm for some ice cream and an impromptu baby cow birth! We kept the celebrations going throughout the night and gave the soon-to-be Mrs a party she'll never forget!

{Photos © Laura Clarke Photography}

Announcement

Back in June I decided to leave my day job to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. It was a big change as I'd been there for 5 years and I'd made some amazing friends (both with my coworkers and my clients). I had made up my mind though and I knew I needed a change and a new challenge. So I left and I started my new life as an unemployed twenty-something. It's a scary task trying to figure out what you're supposed to do with your life and it's even scarier knowing you could make the wrong decision or you could fail. I spent a long time going over it in my head, chatting with friends about possible options, and bouncing ideas around with my husband. There was one night I was trying to fall asleep and I was going over my possible options: I could go back to an agency-type job but that wouldn't be too much of a change. I could try painting or selling my artwork but then I'd be forcing myself to be in a creative mindset as a form of income. And then there was this secret little dream that I had always thought of; I could be a photographer. At that moment I knew that's what I wanted. I've always loved to take photos - I actually can't think of a moment in my life where taking pictures wasn't a priority! When I was really young I would use rolls and rolls (yes, film!) and snap up shots of everything around me, which was mostly my hamster and my dog. There was so much excitement and anticipation waiting to get those photos developed and then once I had them in my hands I would smile or laugh being brought back to that specific time.

You could say I'm a nostalgic person. Ever since I was little I would keep mementos, reminisce about a particular time, and get lost looking through albums of photographs. I've always had this desire and need to hold on to significant moments in my life and to showcase them in some way. You could say this is where my love for photography has stemmed from. I love and appreciate what a camera can do for someone's life. A camera can take a split-second moment and freeze it to then be looked upon over and over again bringing back those memories and feelings.

This passion for photography is what made me decide to pursue photography as a business. I've been working on a website, a brand and a business plan to all make this a reality and today I'm officially announcing it. It's a scary thing to start something new like this with so many unknowns but with the support of friends and family I'm going for it. I figured I need to take big risks to have big rewards and hopefully this will be the start of a great adventure!

My new site is www.lauraclarkephotos.com


I'll be posting regularly on the blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instgram so you can follow along too!

{Photo © Laura Clarke Photography}

Toronto Flower Market

The Toronto Flower Market takes place every second Saturday each month in the summer and features local Ontario flowers. I had a chance to go last Saturday and it was a lovely display of colourful blooms tucked away down a side street off King West. A friend had told me about it and suggested it as a form of inspiration for my paintings (what a sweetheart!) I snapped up quite a few shots that I'm really excited to paint someday soon.

{Photos © Laura Clarke Photography}

Flea Market

Last weekend I ventured out to the Junction Flea Market with a friend to browse the antiques and hand-made crafts. It was a hotter than hot morning but we kept cool with some iced coffees from Manual Labour Coffee and a flight of assorted beers from Indie Alehouse (I highly recommend the "Inside Joke").

{Photos © Laura Clarke Photography}