I had the privilege of photographing this gifted artist (and one of the photos is now her latest album cover - scroll down to find it)! Gabes is a dear friend of mine, and her music is not only beautiful, but carries such a message of hope too.

If you'd like to support her and her journey not only as a musician, but as a student on her way to a master's degree, click on the link below:
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http://freedomrepertoire.com/

​Lastly, here is Gabes' album cover! Photography by Clairelyseen, design by Faith Amargo. 
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If you've never been to a 1st Birthday party and seen a cake smash, then you have something pretty great to look forward to. Until then, you can delight in this little one's reaction to cake being put right in front of him. He had me smiling the whole time. 

After a detour through the streets of Chicago, we finally found the spots we were looking for and I followed along happily with my camera as Josh and Julia enjoyed a leisurely afternoon together of ice-cream, a walk in the park, and exploring their dream neighborhood. Photos are not just about preserving a unique season of life, for they're also about creating memories too; and this day was full of doing just that. 

Two musicians in a Performing Arts building right in the heart of downtown Chicago. 

A vocalist and and a violinist.

Rosie and Joy. 

These are two very talented Moody students who are performing their junior recital together on April 12th. It's tradition to take recital photos to use as posters around campus, and I was thrilled to get to take theirs! We went outside after going to the Performing Arts building and smiled our way through the morning. 

Hello hello! It's a regular Tuesday in March, nothing special, right? Yet today seemed like the perfect day to share something fun with you. 

Yes, you can now purchase small prints of these images! Find them HERE and HERE. 
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Some of you have seen them before. They're a few of my favorite city photos from the past couple of months, and I wanted to share them with you. You can purchase them in digital format from Etsy, or from a lovely site called Society 6 if you want a print (or iPhone case!) of one of these photos. Links to both of these can be found below! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/Clairelyseen
https://society6.com/clairelyseen

Enjoy! Spring is coming soon, I promise. Get some sunshine and drink a few extra cups of tea! ​

There's nothing quite like getting to witness such a beautiful moment of a proposal. I was giddy as we waited on the riverwalk for Eric and Steph to arrive. When they did, nothing but pure joy followed. I hope you smile as I did when you see this story unfold. 

Lucy and I were middle-school buddies in our little Czech town. Now that she's at Wheaton and I'm at Moody, we're close enough in distance that I was able to take the train out to her last weekend for a special honor. What a wonderful day of taking Lucy and Sheldon's engagement photos!

These two are both artists, so I asked them to choose an activity to do together for our photos, and what they chose could not have been better. Lucy met Sheldon while he was taking a ceramics class, so coming to this place on Wheaton's campus brought them back to the beginning of their story together! Sheldon taught Lucy how to use the ceramics wheel that afternoon. It's much more difficult than it looks! I loved getting to watch both of them doing something they love together - creating. 

Julia will be graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in music and Bible. She's an incredible pianist! Here's a little glimpse of her senior photos.