sharon clark . wedding & lifestyle photographer

sigh.

Mar
6

two weeks and counting until we make the big move from north carolina to colorado! i am truly so full of emotions right now & am really sad about starting to say goodbye to everyone we love in lake norman. to distract you and myself from becoming weepy, i wanted to share one of my favorites from a too-incredible-for-words wedding that i shot last weekend at the fearrington in chapel hill. you will undoubtedly fall in love with julie and michael when i share their wedding preview next week, but i couldn't help myself from posting this shot of loveliness while you wait! happy saturday :)

kelly . aaron . stella

Feb
28

these three are perfect together. kelly & aaron bring the love and laughter while stella brings the snuggles and squishy-faced-kisses. we had so much fun playing in the sunshine on an unusually warm february day! kelly is one of those brides who makes my job easy. lets just say she had me at hello when she showed up in cowboy boots & a simple black top from anthropologie. she told aaron that she caught a peek at what was in the back of my car & just knew that it was for their engagement shoot. and, of course, she was right :) clearly you will see why i cannot wait to have these two in front of my camera in october for their wedding! happy weekend!

two cupcakes.

Feb
22

little girl sweetness sure does get me happy dancing during a photo shoot! these two were delightful, full of charm & fancy. glorious sunshine made an appearance and always makes my camera happy :)

american honey.

Feb
20

it's hard for me to imagine that this day would ever come. i've thought about what it would be like to write these words on my blog, about how official they would feel, about how emotional i would be. well, this day has come & it certainly is every bit as hard as i imagined it would be. i keep erasing my words, trying to figure out the best way to say it & the truth is that there isn't an easy way to say that you are leaving everything you know and love for something that god has called you to. in the summer of 1999, i met my husband working at a young life camp in colorado. i was 18 years old. during the month we spent working and serving together, we talked about our dreams, hopes and wishes for our future. looking back, i can see that god has had this plan for us all along. we decided from day one to trust the lord with our lives. we gave him our marriage, our family and our future. we trusted him when he called ryan into full time ministry with young life. we trusted him when he brought us to lake norman for ryan to serve as the area director. we trusted him when our son bosten was sick for the first year of his life. and we are trusting him now, as we have been called to leave everything and everyone we love to move to colorado. ryan has accepted the guest services coordinator job at frontier ranch, a young life property in the small town of buena vista, colorado. we will be moving in less than four weeks to a place that is unfamiliar in many ways, but already feels like home in others. in many ways, it doesn't make sense. it doesn't make sense that we'd leave our home that we love, our incredible friends, our amazing young life area, our daughters school or the place where i've built my business for the last four years. it doesn't make sense. and part of the adventure of following christ is that we trust him in the times where life doesn't make sense. i don't doubt for a second that god wants only the best for us. god has wired ryan and i in so many ways that crave adventure & i can say without hesitation that everything we have been given is a gift from him.
so, it is with sadness and joy that we begin packing up our lives this weekend and prepare for the next chapter of life. we'll raise our kids on the banks of the arkansas river, in the middle of the rocky mountains & plant a garden in our backyard. the views are breathtaking and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't excited to continue my photography journey amidst the bluest of skies and purple mountain majesties. smitten photography is a huge part of who i am and i will be traveling back to the east coast many times this year to photograph some incredible weddings! my hope and prayer is that this blog & my business will continue to grow in new and exciting ways as god goes before us in our move out west. i've always joked about how much i wish i could do photography out west & on the west coast and now that it's actually going to happen it is pretty exciting :)
lady antebellum sings a song called american honey. the words have played so many times in my head over the past month as the potential for this move has come into our lives. i think this song was written for people like us & those who long to live life built around beauty & community...

She grew up on a side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows
She grew up good
She grew up slow
Like American honey

Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed
Couldn't wait to get goin'
But wasn't quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey

There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowin' in the wind
Callin' out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothing's sweeter than summertime
And American honey

Get caught in the race
Of this crazy life
Tryin' to be everything can make you lose your mind
I just wanna go back in time
To American honey, yea

There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowin' in the wind
Callin' out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothing's sweeter than summertime
And American honey

Gone for so long now
I gotta get back to her somehow
To American honey

Ooh There's a wild, wild whisper
Blowin' in the wind
Callin' out my name like a long lost friend
Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh nothin's sweeter than summertime
And American honey

i'll keep you posted over the next month as we continue saying goodbye & just want to thank you for the joy you have brought to my life. YOU are why smitten is smitten. and i look forward to sharing this new journey with you! here are some views from the town we will be living in & the many breaths of fresh air that await our family...

debra + gordon

Feb
19

it was one of those days. one of those heavenly days. one of those heavenly days when rain and clouds couldn't ruin anything. in fact, the rain and clouds parted the way for a wonderful celebration between two people that love each other dearly. debra and gordon smiled through every drop of rain on their wedding day just thinking about the moment that they would become husband and wife. savannah is such a beautiful city to be married in & i had so much fun exploring the town with them! when we realized that the rain wasn't going to quit on the morning of the wedding i ran and picked up some adorable blue and white rain boots for debra to wear during the photos and i just love the way the pictures turned out! i can't help but feel overjoyed at the fact that i get to photograph weddings like this one - and that rain really does make things new. for both of those things, i am grateful & i wish debra and gordon a long and happy life together!

page 1 of 47