Photo Blog - Monika Life Photography

If your home was a book, what would the…

November 22, 2022November 22, 2022

Where were you when your house was created?
Did you help write its origin story?

“Home. That blessed word, which opens to the human heart the most perfect glimpse of Heaven, and helps to carry it thither, as on an angel’s wings.”
– Lydia M. Child

Sylvie now and then our home as a written story — Looking into the looking glass of your home.

If your home reads like a book, do you like the prose?

Is your home older than you? Does your home have a story or two to tell?

Our homes are deeply personal extensions of who we are. The textures and fabrics of our homes contain layers of depth far beyond our years. They have their own stories to tell.

Maybe you live in a newly built home that is writing its first chapter. Or, are you in a century home, one that’s rich in history, like a tome stuffed with tales and dusty memories?

Did you choose your home or did it choose you?

Do you ever wonder how long your home will live after you have moved on to another home or another life?

‘Arte-facts’ of life carry your poetry with them, long after you are gone.

sylvie now and then antique table and classic flowers with guest bed

Inspired Restoration

On a recent visit to my client’s home, I was inspired to photograph her parent’s home. Sylvie lovingly restored this forgotten century old home, cleaned out debris, disinfected and eliminated mold, added rich layers of personal effects for decor and dedicated the living room for dance lessons.

She has revived this home and opened a new chapter in her life.

How many chapters will you add to your home’s story?

Now and Then…

One day you are the central character in your home’s story. The next day, the page is blank.

next day you are gone and your home story goes on.

If your home was a book, what would the title be?

Enjoy living photo stories? check out this one about living in an urban condo of magical light.

animal

Pet Photography: How to photo LOVE your Extended Family

April 25, 2022April 25, 2022

We love your extended fur and winged and scaled pet family, as much (if not more) than you! And, pet photography is such a joy and wonder. What can be better than capturing your favourite furball catching a frisbee in midair or rolling in joy on fresh, green grass?

Pet Photography Basics:

What to consider when photographing your pet (ok, your most favourite family member!)

lighting – shoot outdoors on a cloudy day (or indoors with light diffusers/reflectors) to avoid squinting
attention – keep their attention, offer treats/showing treats just off the camera lens side
patience – do tire them out with a brisk walk or run so they are ready to sit, pause, or lie down as requested
focus – focus on the eyes is a must but a clear, doggo snout is what makes the photo composition just right (avoid shallow depth of field, for example less than f5.6)
distractions – avoid distractions from family, friends or well meaning owners (it is often easier to shoot on your own, or when the owners are out of sight, even when you are on location at their home)
speed – do use a fast shutter speed (1/125th), especially on darker days or working with less than optimal lighting. Also, shoot quickly and allow the subtle movements and adjustments on your pet’s face to be captured
special – do keep it special. Photograph your pet at their best, doing their favourite activity or catch them in the action of their most common/funny pose.
resources – use the camera you have! ( YOUR phone is great.) If you want something bigger, better, brighter, check out these cameras: cameraio.com/
inspiration – a picture is worth a thousand words (or ideas!) check out great photo sources, for ideas, to get your best shot. dreamstime.com/photos-images/pets

Try these tips above and send me a comment with your success story!

Need a helping photo hand? book a session by contacting me here.

Enjoy Some of My Fave Doggo Super Stars

in My Dog Photography Gallery

Check out happy dogs in my last travel blog post here

art

PALACE PIER – AN URBAN ESCAPE AND OASIS

April 18, 2022April 18, 2022

On a recent stay down in Palace Pier, I bathed in light. I immersed my senses in the elements of nature. And, the sublime lines of ever-changing shadows dancing a timeless dance.

There are few places like Palace Pier in the city of Toronto. This is a place where earth and heaven meet upon the dance floor of the rich blue hues of Lake Ontario. The subtle, yet powerful lines and textures of the interior design in this beautiful home are at times understated and other times provocative. The constant shifting between the two make each room a delight to behold at different times of day.

What do you think?

Do these photos convey this experience?

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SITTING

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SUNRISE

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SITTING 2

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SITTING 4

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SITTING 3

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE LAKE ONTARIO

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE LAKE ONTARIO 2

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE SITTING GREENS

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE LAMP GOLD REFLECTION OF LIFE

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE GLASS 2

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE ABSTRACT

PALACE PIER TORONTO URBAN ESCAPE LAMP LIGHTS

city living

Custom Beautiful Home Real Estate Photography

January 28, 2022April 18, 2022

Love it and List It

The perfect backyard sunset, the layered linens in the old wood plank pantry, flowers on a breakfast nook table, a stack of your favourite grandmother dishes on the kitchen sideboard all convey a warmth, a comfort. Just like the description in your favourite novel, we strive to bring to life these stories and memories through our photography.

Want your real estate listing can stand out?

We use our skills and creative to capture unique design features
We highlight the natural design and flow of your home
We record every fine detail you wish to portray
We focus on the custom build and style of your design

Our real estate photography session delivers service and provides you with excellent photography files.

Whatever your needs, we photograph your home for listing, insurance, or memories.

GET A QUOTE NOW

URBAN OASIS CITY PHOTOGRAPHY

What if your home is a work of art? That special reading room, in your interior world, invites the playful and powerful play of the elements? Then, it is time for capturing those moments of life into art. You may even need to celebrate candid snaps of time with your loved ones in the beautiful spaces that define who you are in your most sacred moments.

My home is an homage to Art & a Life Well-Lived. Let’s Capture this!

SOFT AND MODERN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Which is your favourite living nook? Are you a read the newspaper at the breakfast table, a the crack of dawn kinda human or do you lounge in bed for as long as possible?

I need you to photograph my custom designed home

BREAKFAST NOOK
STYLE LOUNGE
LUXURY BEDROOM

FARM HOUSE STYLE AND FAMILY LIVING PHOTOGRAPHY

Farm living make your heart skip or scare you back into the city? Is it romantic spending time with wild flowers or just a dusty, dirty, sweaty mess? It’s alright, if you confess. I won’t hold it against you or make any snap judgements. But, I will snap your photo or two.

yes: photograph my romantic farmhouse

SOFT GAUZE OF FLOW
OLD WORLD ROMANCE
VODKA SHOTS
LINENS AWAIT GUESTS
FORGET ME NOTS
FARM DISHES SIDEBOARD

FLORIDA CLASSIC OLD WORLD CHARM AND STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY

When you think of the beach do you also see the moss hanging from the hundred-year-old trees by the old lantern-style front gate lights? The charm of vintage, cream coloured fence wall bring on a pleasant nostalgia and a sudden urge for black and white movies and and ice cold tea? If this is the property that warms your heart, we can photograph that too.

Photograph My Old World Charm Home

Florida classic old world charm fence with trailing ivy — CLASSIC IVY WALLS

florida home real estate photography 5 — CLASSIC IVY WALLS

events

Our natural photographs of your loved ones are your…

January 26, 2022May 13, 2022

Natural and Effortless life photography begins here.

Want to capture a few moments in time of your kids playing soccer? How about Rover and Mousy running through the back gardens? Maybe you want to remember your first few weeks in your brand new home?

find out more

celebrating friends fun on the farm in ontario

Whatever the moment you wish to remember, you can now save it in your beautiful family portraits archive forever, with our at-home or on-location natural and effortless photography service.
Book a session for a half-day or a day, where you and your loved ones can enjoy graduation, preparing for a big game, setting up at the cottage for the summer, or your first day at home with Fido.

Moments of your family and loved ones are treasured so much more when you can share them again and again through pictures with your extended family and friends, over time.

time to enjoy your family

Let us capture your special moments of your family times. Share these memories across the miles, with many smiles.

find out more

NOW BOOKING FOR APRIL 2022.

BOOK NOW

our family portraits gallery

animal

Samara Beach Sunsets in Costa Rica: How to Photograph…

January 15, 2022April 18, 2022

chihuaha on the beach with sunset warm haze in costa rica

Which photo belongs where? Can you tell?
Beach Sunsets are magical.

Samara Beach is the perfect place to take in a gorgeous sunset at low tide, pick up ceviche from a trolley vendor and maybe a few extra cold beers, up the street in the tuck shop…

Quiet reflection of branches, ocean and sun setting on the beach on Samara Beach, Costa Rica

beaches are the greatest story tellers and secret keepers of the tropics

Select a photo you love for purchase.
Photos for sale:

Spotlight on:
Samara Beach
Carillo Beach
Bahia de Ora – Playa Camaronal and the Wildlife Refuge for Turtles
Playa Nosara – Tropical Rural Sunshine

Price & Size Guide
Greeting Cards (sets of 5, blank inside) 5×7″ $55
Photo Print Singles
8×10″ $55
11×17″ $125
24×36″ $155

Canvas Print
12×18″ unmounted, canvas only $ 225
12×18″ mounted on a frame $300

beach umbrella on Samara beach — Classic Beach umbrella on Samara Beach, Costa Rica (Visit Samara tourist org)

BUY NOW

boulder among the lava rocks on Samara Beach, Costa Rica

BUY NOW

Fishing and large Driftwood arm on Camaron Beach — Fishing and large Driftwood arm on Camaronal Beach, Costa Rica

BUY NOW

'Dinosaur' Driftwood and Clouds landscape at Samara Beach, Costa Rica

Sunsets and Bougainvillea at Carillo Beach Lookout

Surfer heading home from enjoying the surf on Samara Beach, at Sunset, Costa Rica

Dogs playing and people walking on Samara Beach, Costa Rica

You belong here, sunset reflection on the sea of Samara Beach, Costa Rica

Looking back on the setting sun and surf at Nosara Beach, Costa Rica

You Belong Here.

Looking back on the sea, surf and sand landscape, I hear the ocean whisper sweet nothings that sound like:
‘You Belong Here’ as the surf breaks and the sea rushes foam to shore. The beauty, harmony and balance between water, earth, air and fire are enticing and soothing.
You belong here – I hear again and again.

What do you hear, when the Pacific waters talk to you?

The atmosphere is relaxed, friendly and typical surf town fun. The surfers, fishermen and beach goers all get along well, with the big bay ocean swell.

Carillo Beach is quiet and ideal for families, bird watching, picnics and resting in between scenic drives up the hillsides to watch the sunrise and sunset. The rock formations offer beautiful intrigue and fascinating views. The gently sloping, white sand beach is flanked by two river beds, that generally dry up during the dry season of December to April.

Bahia the Ora – Wildlife Refuge Protected Beach is ideal for nature lovers. Come here to watch baby turtles be released into the ocean. Fish and enjoy the surf on a most magical and extensive quiet beach. Bring your own beach comfort gear, food and drinks since there is no access to vendors on the beach. And, remember to take everything you brought to the beach: back home with you.

How to Photograph beach sunsets and beach life basics:
1. Use and try photographing at different time
2. Watch for cloudy or partly cloudy days to offer contrast and intrigue to your photo
3. Allow people, animals or relatable content in the photo for depth and intrigue
4. Do go to the same area a few times to see how each day the light changes
5. Do vary up the height vantage point, when taking the photograph
6. Do look for contrasting activity: high surf, quiet beach or beach goers and flat ocean with low tide

Which scenic beach sunsets photograph is your favourite?

city living

Processing – takes time

December 5, 2021December 5, 2021

When do you take time to process life?

Do you even take the time to process life? How much is enough time? What does ‘enough time’ look like, feel like? Is it prescribed? Is it flexible? Who decides how much time is enough for you?

We used to process photographs in many steps. It took physical passing of time, to see an image emerge. Now, the process is instantaneous. Millions of photos languish in the electronic ether.

How many images are on your phone right now? Do you even remember most of them? How many of the Images are almost identical?

Where and when do we process life, when all the obstacles, of obtaining just about anything we desire, have been removed? We have all been taken for a giant ride. We stand at the precipice of a new era. We stare at an abyss: the abyss of the age of communication, struggling to hold on to any glimpse of stability we have left. But what do we hold on to, when our external world is crumbling?

How do you remember to go back into your own wisdom? Into your own core of love, knowing and understanding? I do so by writing, reading, talking, photographing, editing, telling stories, exploring nature, talking with plants and animals. That is my processing.

How do you do it?

Journeys of life are vast, expansive and adventurous — What does your journey look like? Mine looks something like this.

Ready to place time where it belongs? It belongs to you. For now, for today.
Ready to take flight into a different way of living, by allowing yourself time to process today?

Uncategorized

Photography Exhibition & Sale

September 22, 2020

The Photography Exhibition and Sale is on now until October 31st at Tatsu Bakery in Toronto. Open 10am – 5pm, stop by to view and/or purchase these lakeside themed specialty photographs and try the best sourdough & berry scones while you’re at it!

We may know Toronto, but don’t really take time to see it.

Explore Toronto with me, as I take you behind the scenes, as the city wakes from its slumber, in the early hours of dawn.

I was determined to get as close to the “art” as I could…

In summary: get to the art.

On now at Tatsu Bakery – 3180 Lakeshore Blvd. West, Toronto

city living

An Arborist Paradise – Walking amongst 100 year old…

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020

A tree contains the wisdom of a thousand ages. A stand of trees can tell you stories of a peoples long gone.

Walking amongst the ancient, graceful, magical giants of the southern Florida landscape, I feel overcome. I feel teary, inspired and on the verge of discovering an ancient part of me.

I can only hope that you catch a glimpse of this magical flare, this ethereal calling these ancient trees hold in our landscape.

city living

My Florida Home – Tropical Styles Real Estate Photography

January 18, 2020January 18, 2020

Love the tropical, rich layers of old growth palms and evergreens in the South Florida Climate. Everything about this region entices visions of magic and enchantment. The lifestyle is flowing, easy, yes breezy and visually stunning.

At first glance, it is easy to be enamoured with the grandeur and design of some of the new architectural master pieces, but after several walk thrus in a neighbhourhood, the subtle, historical nuances of style, design and lush layers of life come sweeping over you.

Enjoy this first installment of

Where were you when your house was created? Did you help write its origin story?

If your home reads like a book, do you like the prose?

Inspired Restoration

How many chapters will you add to your home’s story?

Now and Then…

If your home was a book, what would the title be?

Pet Photography Basics:

Enjoy Some of My Fave Doggo Super Stars

Love it and List It

URBAN OASIS CITY PHOTOGRAPHY

SOFT AND MODERN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

FARM HOUSE STYLE AND FAMILY LIVING PHOTOGRAPHY

FLORIDA CLASSIC OLD WORLD CHARM AND STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY

Natural and Effortless life photography begins here.

NOW BOOKING FOR APRIL 2022.

memories worth sharing

our family portraits gallery

‘My Florida Home – Tropical Styles (Where the magic sways in the wind”

Where were you when your house was created?
Did you help write its origin story?