This past April, I headed to Calgary to teach a workshop alongside one of my favorite photographers, Boon Ong or Figuratif by Boon Ong (he's the one that inspired me to put music to my blog posts to amp up the experience!) I had contacted him last year to see if he would be interested in teaching with me for a few reasons: 1) I wanted to learn from him 2) I knew he was the complete opposite method and approach as me and 3) There are very few Canadian boudoir specific workshops that happen! When I reached out to him, I could tell he was a bit apprehensive about the whole thing, but part of my charm is that I don't give up and I pester with extra emojis and exclamation points until people come play with me, so when he agreed I was suuuuper excited!!! As we approached the workshop day, Boon and I checked in with each other here and there to chat about how we wanted the workshop to flow, what were we each teaching about and just how would 2 seemingly opposite humans create a successful workshop. Welp, somehow we made it work. We booked a stellar airbnb in Calgary, managed to convince 7 strangers to hang out with us for the weekend to learn about the ins, outs, up and downs of our businesses, and helped Boon celebrate his birthdayl! Through the 2 days that we were teaching, I learned A LOT about Boon and was so impressed with the thought that goes into his art. As an educator in the boudoir field, I always think it's important to let my attendees know that there is never ONE way to do things, and by having Boon and I, literally complete opposites, teach together, we hammered this home. We helped our attendees understand a few key things: that you don't need to be an entrepreneur photographer to be a professional photographer, the best experience you can create for your clients is by being 100% authentic to yourself, and of course, don't put yourself into a box when it comes to making art. The thing I like about having Boon as my colleague is his quiet confidence and ability to honestly critique my work....I have massive respect for this guy because every time he puts out new work, I notice something new...to the point that sometimes in the middle of sessions I will stop and say "how would Boon frame this/light this/pose this?" just to mix things up!! I think he is humble in his acceptance of my accolades, but that just makes me swoon over him that much more! Anyways, I hope we will do another Calm & the Chaos in the future!Photos featuring me were taken by the beautiful and talented Shannon Smith of Artist Shannon Smith in Calgary, AB (so you should book her for your session!!) She caught me looking my most professional, of course.
Winnipeg boudoir photography
