see My work on instagram : @redbloomphotography & @monicaleannestudios
Currently booking 2024 Elopements & intimate micro weddings, 2024 boudoir sessions and maternity, engagement & newborns
I’m a Calgary Photographer specializing in Couples Photography & Boudoir Photography . I am going to share a little bit about me and my quirkiness below but first here is a brief snipit of my style and how I got into photography.
What made me fall in love with weddings was the story of the day.
I look for the little moments in the day that when strung
together with the big moments tell the story of your wedding day.
I got into wedding photography through my own search for a wedding photographer. With every website I visited, I fell more and more in love with wedding photography. I remember telling my then fiance that I think that is what I want to do. He instantly said I would be great at it as I always had a great eye for travel photography.
Boudoir came a few years after weddings. Some friends were asking me about it so I shot some for fun sessions. And in one day I was hooked. It was tricky to get started cause unlike weddings where you can shoot outdoors, with boudoir you need a space. It is quite common for boudoir photographers to rent hotels to shoot in but that is expensive for someone starting out. I chatted with my husband and we decided to convert a small room in our old townhouse into a studio. That studio is where my love for boudoir grew bigger and bigger with each session. After two years in that space we decided to build a new home with
a custom designated boudoir studio! The studio changes slightly over the years and I love it more and more with every change.
People tell me I shot in a laid back style, I pose my photos but I want them to look natural and it is because of this posing that my style that people often mistake my photography for candid but it is actually quite directed, posed and romantic.
I want my couples to feel comfortable and to just be themselves
during their time with me. I do this through a mix of romantic and candid posing prompts. I ask my couples for complete trust in me and to just love like no one is watching.
In 2020 when my work life as I knew it was turned upside down by Covid, my balance shifted from wedding photography to boudoir photography. 80% of my wedding bookings postponed due to the pandemic and my boudoir business boomed! I would have never guessed that my busiest year ever would be in the middle of a pandemic but with people home and wanting something for themselves they booked a self love experience! Because of this I realized that I no longer wanted my focus to be wedding photography with a side of boudoir but to be boudoir photography with a side of elopements and micro weddings. I took a permanent step back from capturing big traditional weddings to focus my time and energy into self love boudoir experiences, couples sessions (engagement, maternity etc) and elopements!
"Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite"
I feel this way and I hope all couples do as well.
Our love story is so much a part of my business, as meeting him and marrying him is what brought my to wedding photography!
I believe that being married to Paul makes me a better person and a better photographer. He inspires me and encourages me everyday to be the best version of me. He is my number one supporter and my sounding board for ideas. He puts up with the endless hours of social media and he deals with random detours to check out locations.
Paul and I grew up on opposite sides of the world and opposite environments. But somehow our paths crossed in Thailand and
our love story began.
I grew up in a small town in Saskatchewan and after high school I spent 6 years studying to be a teacher in Saskatoon. Immediately after graduating I began what was supposed to be an 18 month trip by myself travelling and teaching in Asia. But, fate had its own plans and on my 7th day in Thailand I hopped on a tour bus
and my life changed. As I sat alone waiting for the bus to load, a guy sat next to me. He kinda fell into the seat and almost sat on me and then turned and apologized and introduced him self with a sweet English accent. Well that guy charmed his way into my heart and just 2 weeks later I left my Asia trip to go to New Zealand with him and just another short 8 weeks after that I moved to England with him.
They say when you know you know. And we knew...or we were young and crazy and thought we knew. 19 years later we still stop sometimes in a bit of disbelief and he says "you're the girl from the bus".
Ready to chat?
