As 2025 starts up we are taking a moment to reflect on our highlights of 2024. Boudoir Photography in Calgary was one of our best.
Who Were The Women Of 2024
Like past years, they were diverse in age, with the youngest 31 and the oldest 70 years old. Body shapes varied too, from super lean and fit to a more comfortable body. More married/relationships women came, 72%.
We had 72.7% coming in just for themselves. (Although a gift was occasionally a secondary consideration.) Then 73.9% had children, most of the kids were older.
You Can Always Come Back
2024 was a delightful year because of so many returning clients. Some had their first boudoir session as far back as 40 years ago. Most had their last session with us 15 to 25 years ago. Returning clients are more relaxed, bolder and adventurous. They know what to expect and tend to push the envelope more.
I first photographed Alice in 2007 in the Bahamas, it was amazing, I spent a week photographing her. Her life has had some bumps so she came back for a “feel good” boost. It was such a delight. We are planning a 2025 session already.
Traveling Clients
The other interesting thing about our clients in 2024 is that half came from outside of Calgary. A couple had us travel outside the city for their session. A few crossed national borders to arrive for their boudoir / nude photography session. That was exciting.
Mark Does A Wedding!
In the spring, we photographed our first wedding in decades. The bride insisted we do her wedding. She loved our vibe and look. It was a double-culture wedding, so there were two ceremonies. Both were simple and elegant. They had booked the whole Lougheed House, giving us all the rooms and stairways to work with. It was very low-pressure and easygoing. Fran was fantastic with her help.
Teri, the groom, is pointing to a placcard that reads, “I am Delicate; please do not touch.” And he is touching her. They thought that was hilarious. Below is Cindy in her two wedding dresses. Gorgeous!
Our Charity Work
Our charity donations, which have been ongoing since 1980, had the running total grow even more. Our donation running total by the end of 2024 is $521,250. We are pretty proud of that.
From Inner Spirit Photography’s inception, charity donations have been a core company pillar. We gave our boudoir and family session/prints to a range of auctions, from supporting a witch’s coven that helps struggling members to the Vulcan Kinettes Christmas Market to the Calgary Catholic Education Foundation.
EWI Fund Raiser
As part of the EWI (Executive Women International, I am the token male.) we donated photography at their Christmas fundraiser. Our donation from sessions that night accounted for 75% of the donation. Each year, they raise funds for a new charity.
Oh, if you would like to come to one of our dinner meetings to see what it is all about, give us a call.
Body Painting Still Rules
We hosted a body paint jam in the studio early in the year. The creative energy flowed freely for the day. We had painters Melody, Fran, and Amber, with models Carol, Trixtan, and Brittany, who were expecting. What made this special was having partners Tristan and Brittany combined. Men are not common body paint models; having to shave their entire body makes most pause.
Bold Body Fire
We launched our Body Fire add-on sessions, which are amazing. Kez is our Fire Master. It is very safe, and you feel like your body has come close to a warm radiator. The images are stunning, but the experience is powerful.
We do some testing so you get comfortable, not nearly as scary as it looks.
Mark Gets Into Fine Art
Mark launched his MarkLaurieArt.com to showcase and sell art images he creates. Very diverse, from grizzly bears, abstracts, flowers, body paint art, wild animals and nudes. He was curated into three art shows by Raw Artists. All of his wall art nudes sold out to women, we thought that was interesting.
We have had over 18,500 visitors so far. You can visit his gallery at http://MarkLaurieArt.com
His work is organized in all those catagories for easy selection. Mark’s Fox print has been the most popular.
The Chopper Named Slayer
A client bring in their $75,000 custom chopper. It is an incredible design. The heart of the custom paintwork tells the story of a barbarian woman wielding a battle axe against a dragon. The story unfolds from the front fender to the gas tank to the rear fender, which has the battle axe mounted. You can read the full story on this shoot on our blog The Chopper Slayer Session
The 930 Ferrari Photo Shoot
Mark photographed his first Ferrari, the 930, in custom red. The owner, Henriette, did an edgier theme. She was way out of her comfort zone, wearing a dominatrix outfit and outside. We even tied the car up. Mark dragged along his 12-foot ladder to get some over-the-top aerial shots. We created 4 stunning metal prints for her walls. Her husband was speechless for two hours when she unveiled them.
I brought along a 12 foot ladder to get the arial feel.
Henritte is one of our returning clients. Her first session was 17 years ago. We have done her family images as well. These Ferrari shots were fantastic!
Sponsering Irish Rose of Tralee
We were approached by the Irish Rose of Tralee, Western Canada branch, to be a sponsor, which we embraced. Very excited about that. We did a podcast interview with Katie, the regional chair. That will air in January.
Do you have Irish Heritage? You can enter here- Rose of Tralee Entry form
Facebook page for insights – Facebook-Rose of Tralee
Fascinating Women Podcast
Our Fascinating Women podcast made strides. 2024 was our 5th season. We are now in 20 countries. Our listeners leapt by 73% over 2023. We now have over 4200 listeners to our 72 episodes.
Our top 2024 episodes were
Dana Macintosh – Fearless Woman Retired View
Jennifer Strukoff – Philosophical Yogista
Lara Jickles – Wild Child Now Mom.
Our top all time downloads were for
Laurie Anne Sakla- Jello Wrestler & Domestic Violence Savoir
Patricia Hjali- Negotiator & Diplomat
AI Art- Something Very New
AI Art is evolving fast, and Mark is in the thick of it. He has been creating original pieces and incorporating AI Art into client images. Radically altering images is not new to him, just the medium. Back in the late 80s, he collaborated with airbrush artists who would re-imagine backgrounds & clothing for his client’s wall prints. This silver woman is onboard the Voyager 3 Time Capsule Nission.
Then, in the 90s when 3D programs were emerging, Mark collaborated with computer artists to extend his visions with 3D sets. While pretty basic by today’s standards, they won awards back then.
AI opens up new, fascinating doors; Mark has had a blast creating with this quickly emerging art form. It is handy to redress clients. The women were not dressed like this.
Or to create a whole new background for our client to sit in.
Or just as an original art piece.
Award Winning Continues
And of course, we can’t forget about some of his new awards.
The PPOC (Professional Photographers of Canada) selected and rewarded his images nationally and regionally. In the Figure Study class “Force 2B Reckoned With,” the judges gave it the highest scores possible.
Angel In The Morning and Suspended were rewarded with the second-highest score possible. Few contest entries rise to this level.
The PPOC National and Regional judges choose my last three to be included into the show. Can you match the titles to the images, Laughing Cat, Peacock, and Patricia Lake, Jasper?
What do you think of our past year? We are pretty pleased.
2024 was an amazing year for us. We can’t wait to find out what 2025 holds for us.