It sure has been a while, yikes! Not to make up excuses or anything but I’ve been consumed in so many other projects this past year that I completely abandoned my blog. It makes me sad, or maybe it’s disappointment, to look and see that the last time I was on here was over a year ago. I’ve shot so much since then, new families here in Mexico, as well as all my lovely clients back in Ontario during the Fall, and not to mention the thousands of photos I’ve captured of my family. Anyways, enough about why I’ve been away so long, I’m here now and I have oodles to share!
For now, I’m going to leave you with a peek at this family’s beautiful candid session. During our time together we were lucky to enjoy the beautiful setting sun. The change in light, as the sun fell below the horizon, was absolutely gorgeous! It was as though Mom knew ahead of time what Mother Nature had in store for us because she selected the most perfect dress for the occasion! Wouldn’t you agree?!
I must say, it was a pleasure meeting some fellow Expats and even more awesome having the opportunity to document their love. It was honest and unforced and inspiring, to say the least!
This sweet family was my first in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. They broke the ice for me and allowed me to learn about the new environment I was shooting in, all while capturing these playful, fun-loving images of their family enjoying the warm, Caribbean sunset.
Not only were they my first clients but our first friends as well. The Dad was actually our real estate agent and spent endless hours taking us around the Riviera Maya to find our dream home. We spent so much time together in our first few weeks here, and got to know each other quite well, that he actually ended up offering my husband his first job here. Amazing right!! I’d say so! They now work together in the real estate world and are building not only a booming business but also an even stronger friendship.
There was a big bonus for me too, having this family as my first client. The Mom is Canadian, born and raised, and while she’s been here for many years, you can just imagine how much we had to talk about. It was nice not having to struggle with a language barrier on my first session too, that added pressure may have taken me down. Overall, it was a match made in heaven, well, for me at least!
All of this combined made for the best first session I could have imagined here in beautiful Mexico. I always feel in my element with a camera around my neck but this brought me to whole new level of comfort while working in the new environment.
I will forever be grateful to these three lovely people. For helping me break the ice, for allowing me to share my passion with them, and also for referring my business to others after having worked with me. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate you Brittany and Hugo. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart!!
It’s been 9 months since I’ve worked with a newborn baby. Man, to say that out loud actually hurts. I knew I would miss this line of work but never did I imagine that it would be this much.
When I left Canada I thought I would be leaving behind this line of work completely. Turns out that doesn’t have to be the case at all. There’s tons of young families here, and I’m super eager to work with them, and so, I’m going to do everything in my power to become known as ‘the’ newborn baby photographer in Playa Del Carmen.
In order to do this, I’m going to ask you, my lovely loyal clients, to pop on over to google and provide the new business name with a review, pleaseeeeeeeee.
You see, my previous business name was well known in Ontario and I’ve been receiving inquiries on a monthly basis regarding newborn sessions in Burlington which was slowly breaking my heart having to repeatedly tell potential and past clients that I was no longer in the area and sadly could not document their newborn baby. The name change for the business had to happen for many reasons, and that was certainly one of them. In the process of changing my name, I’ve lost all the positive reviews surrounding my business as well, which yes, I knew would happen but is a rather hard pill to swallow. I worked hard for each and every one of those positive words spoken about my art.
And so, I would really appreciate if you could take just a moment to pop on over to google, search the name Heather Clemente Photography, scroll down a little and on the right side of the page you should see an option for “write a review”. I’m not asking you to write anything that you don’t believe is true, if you were unhappy with my work, absolutely that needs to be shared, I would just love for potential clients to have some sort of idea of what they can expect when hiring me.
With many thanks, and because I just can’t post without images, how about a peek at my very last newborn session in Ontario.
It’s been a while since my last post, a little over a year to be exact, and while I had no intention of leaving my beloved photography journal blank for that length of time, what can I say, life got in the way. My personal world changed, got super busy, and left me with not a lot of time for what I loved….photography and writing.
Twenty Twenty One was a difficult year for many. In Canada, the province of Ontario kept going into lockdown and then a slow phase of re-opening from mid 2020 all the way into, well it’s still happening now in Jan 2022. It was a very difficult time to live through, both my husband and myself were self employed and we were forced to shut down our businesses. No income, a mortgage on our house, and plenty of bills to be paid. Life became heavy and uncomfortable, so, we changed it, in a big big way.
In mid Feb 2021 we decided to put our house on the market, it was a sellers market and one that we felt could benefit us greatly. Our house sold within a week, with a 8 week closing, which didn’t leave us much time at all. We decided to sell absolutely everything we owned and move to Mexico. What a whirlwind those few weeks were! We packed our lives into 8 suitcases, 4 carry on’s, and 4 backpacks, and started on a new journey.
We landed in Mexico early May 2021 and hit the ground running. We spent weeks looking at property and real estate and had a ton of options presented to us, from oceanfront, to the middle of the jungle and everything in between. After countless hours of searching we decided to buy land and build our dream home in a gated community, close to schools and hospitals, in the city of Playa del Carmen.
In the process of our life change I felt my business needed to change along with me, as it’s not only what I do but is also a very big part of who I am. While I loved my previous business name, and was very attached to it, it just didn’t feel well suited to this new chapter, and so with that, let me introduce you to my new business……….welcome to Heather Clemente Photography where the service is everything you’ve grown to know and expect, with heartfelt experiences and candid captures. My goal is, and always will be, to provide my clients with beautiful imagery, captured from the heart, for a lifetime of memories.
And so, here we are, 7 months later, the beginning of a New Year, and our home is close to complete. Our lives have found a new rhythm and were settling in beautifully to the new life we’ve created for ourselves. Now that life feels a little more settled, you can expect to see me here, on my beloved blog, a lot more frequently. I hope you will continue to follow along, and forgive my absence these past 12 months, while we hit re-start and found a new way of life.
The growth of this family never fails to shock and excite me all at the same time. Every time I receive a message from Mom that they’re expecting another child, it makes my jaw drop, and also lights me up. With three under the age of four, this Mom is my hero!
All her babies have strong similarities but also delicate differences. I’ve absolutely loved documenting each of them individually, and this time around as an entire family unit. What a task it was, but oh so enjoyable! I just love watching the older siblings hold and snuggle their tiny new sibling. Tracing their little fingers along the edge of babies nose, moving in close for a cheek to cheek kiss, even simply holding their new baby close. It makes me melt and make all sorts of odd noises of admiration.
I imagine days at home with 4 children can be quite chaotic at times, but if anyone can do it, it’s this Mom! She exudes a sense of calmness that I’m sure her children feed off of because each and every one of them is an absolute joy to be around!
My hat goes off to you Mom and Dad! You make parenting look like the easiest job there is!
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