Lake Tahoe and San Fran Part I...

Lake Tahoe ➜ San Francisco ✨

I don’t think I’ve really relaxed all year until this trip. My best friend Tamara got engaged (🥹💍) and we decided to celebrate in her city, San Francisco. Before I share their epic engagement photos, I just want to honor this moment…

Grateful for slow mornings, deep breaths, and the kind of laughter that only happens with your best friends. Lake Tahoe was magical, hiking, incredible pizza, and way too many rounds of Monopoly Deal 😂✨

Here are some photos from a weekend that felt like a reset, a celebration, and a reminder that life is sweetest when shared. ❤️

LAKE TAHOE

I Became My Own Client | Brand Photography

Most of the time, as a photographer, I hate taking photos of myself. 😅 The timer, the angles, the pressure, it’s a whole thing. But this season, I made a promise to myself:
”if I trust my work, then I have to show it”.
And if I truly trust my work, I can confidently ask others to invest in it.

So, I decided to do exactly what I do for my clients.

1. I Started with Intention

I had a goal and a purpose. I wanted to create with intention, just like I tell my clients to do.
I am my brand. Denisse Monge Photography is me,
and that means I have to showcase my face, my energy, my story.

2. I Chose My Colors

My favorite tones are mauve (well, pink) and black.
I love pink. It makes me feel in my feminine power (RAWR) soft, beautiful, and tender, yet strong. And the New Yorker in me? She’ll wear black any season, (spring.summer. fall. winter.)
Always black.

So I chose an outfit that felt like me professional, elevated, and aligned with
the NEW ERA
I’m stepping into: trusting my ability to create.

I’ve been creating for others for 20 year photos, stories, moments and now this season,
it’s about getting
paid, booked, and busy.

3. My Experience Shapes My Vision

The last ten years I spent teaching yoga gave me something priceless: the ability to see people. To understand bodies, confidence, and energy.
Everything happens for a reason and I truly believe that.

When I photograph someone, I build them up. I know how vulnerable it feels to be in front of the camera, and I also know how powerful it can be. Photography is an investment, not just in images but in confidence. My goal is always to capture what’s real
the authentic power within you.

4. Moodboarding the Moment

No two photos are ever the same. Inspiration is everywhere, but authenticity? That’s something deeper.

What is authenticity, really?
It’s being you even when you’re nervous, unsure, or thinking, “Do I look good right now?” True authenticity comes from that inner knowing that no one else can do what you do.

And I know no one can do what I do. My style comes from effort, intention, and presence. You can copy and paste all day, but effort and presence are what create true style.

 
 
“Visibility attracts opportunity.
And my superpower? Seeing and capturing what others might miss.”
— me but inspired by pinterest

this is my favorite cause thats me a baddie!

“ A shooter’s gonna shoot. 🎯”
— NEW YORKERS

me and my film camera that I had since I was 20, loyalty runs in my blood!

5. My Coca-Cola Moment

My headshots were also inspired by one of my favorite brands Coca-Cola. If you know me, you know how much I love it. The red, the nostalgia, the feeling of a cold Coke on a hot day, it’s timeless.

For me, Coca-Cola represents nostalgia, the feeling that we’re never going to get this exact moment back. That’s what I try to capture in my work: presence.

Visibility attracts opportunity.
And my superpower? Seeing and capturing what others might miss.

6. Doing the Work

There’s a saying that “those who teach can’t do.” I’ve always hated that.
To teach something well, you have to live it.

And right now, I’m living it.

That’s on that.

With gratitude,
Denisse Monge

P.S. Let me know which headshots are your favorite, I’d love to hear what you see in them. 💫

Love, Love, Love 💍 Rainy Miami Engagement 💍

Sabrina and Chris invited me to capture their engagement photos, and we had set aside a quiet Sunday for it. What we didn’t plan for was Miami’s torrential rain. 🌧️

But in between the downpours, light found its way through and so did their love. ✨ These moments weren’t staged; they were real, raw, and beautifully imperfect.

Proof that love doesn’t wait for perfect weather.

Photographed @ Lumi Collection

I photographed this session on both digital and film, blending the crispness of modern photography with the classic, ethereal, and dreamy look only film can bring.

Digital 🔝 Film ↓

I mean!!! 😍

NYC, It’s Been a Minute.

NYC, It’s Been a Minute

It all started extremely randomly — I had no idea my boyfriend had asked one of my besties if I could visit her. To give you some context, I lived in Brooklyn for five years. When COVID happened, all the words I had ever uttered about leaving this place suddenly came true, and I had to move back home to my mom’s.

I think every ex-New Yorker will always either love New York or hate it. During my days here,
I would always ask God to give me signs — through signage, ads, or random words I would come across.

It’s funny that after a two-year hiatus — my last time visiting was Thanksgiving 2022 — I’d be going back during spring. Spring, the manifestation of winter ending, of blooming, of using the rain to nourish the flowers, the green, the freshness of things ready to grow and come alive.

love this image it looks like two images in one !

In the heart of the city, I came across a public garden and saw koi fish — a beautiful, unexpected moment.
Spiritually, koi fish symbolize perseverance, transformation, and strength in the face of adversity. They’re also seen as symbols of good luck, prosperity, and the ability to flow gracefully through life’s challenges.

“Often, the buildings can feel overwhelming since they’re everywhere — it’s crazy how massive they are. It’s all about perspective: seeing how small I am and how big they are, yet somehow we coexist in this world, both trying to take up space.”
— me

Fresh eyes and time give you the ability to slow down and notice what you missed the last time. Solitude was what I needed to reconnect to why I moved to New York in the first place. I moved to discover a part of myself. I moved there, I survived there, I thrived there, I failed there. I found friends who became like family. I built a community of students. Hell, I even found my man there.

I owe so much to New York — for finding me, for taking me in, for beating me up just enough to make me stronger, hungrier, and more passionate than ever.

Now let’s talk food — OMG, I have missed Asian food. Thank you, God, for Chinatown. Thank you to the immigrants for making the best food in America.

MY FRIENDS IN CHINATOWN!!! thank u for realness of womentime!!!

nothing better then people watching!

NO ACTUALLY INSOMNIA COOKIES post a joint !! heaven on earth !

Thank you, God, friends, and New York for keeping me safe all those years. I believe in the higher powers that are New York City!

For this trip, I shot on film — using Kodak Gold and Kodak Portra 400

South Pointe Park on a Sunday

Sunday’s using kodak gold 200 35mm

Penland School of Crafts

During the week of my 34th birthday, I got to attend a photography class at Penland under a work-study scholarship. I walked a lot, I worked a lot, and I got to photograph a lot. Being in this mountain was not only grounding but necessary. Necessary to my soul ! The oxygen, the greener, and the view was so beautiful.

A Week(end.) in Miami Beach

All photos from a random staycation my friend invited me to!
Developed at Cardinal Labs Miami.

special thanks to my friend Veronica for a lovely staycation in my city!

love you !

Guatemala | Lake Atitlán + Antigua

during 2021 my mom and I went to Guatemala and I forever grateful. Traveling with your parent when you are older you are able to see their wisdom, their life and their experiences.
Grateful for this time!

Mexico City 3333

I got to spend my beautiful 33rd birthday in Mexico City. I am so grateful for my love, my health and my life. Here is to good food, a new city and traveling with a lover!

The places i visited and stayed in.

My boyfriend José got an airbnd in La Condesa.

AIRBNB- and José

José’s Google Map for all the Mexico Food spots https://goo.gl/maps/6EKDT5TNvJmcHfTQ7

Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Random Moments

Keisha Bissram x Denisse Monge

During my time in New York City, life brought me a friend Keisha Bissram. Who is Trinidad Tobago Staten Island goddess and actress, writer, and lover! I am so grateful for her wild Sagittarius soul. This photo series was photographed in my Miami home.

untitled ( thirst trap) denisse monge

new personal work | Denisse Monge

untitled ( thirst trap I II III)

“there was a moment that is fading my mind now, and trust it’s one of the moments I want to hold on to forever but new experiences are making their way into my mind.”

E296DDA3-CD1C-444B-9A6D-748AC526BFB3 2.jpg

Apollo Plants x Denisse Monge

Thank you Lily Mustelier for including me and seeing me. I am so grateful for you!

Apollo Plants

Frida Kahlo in my heart!

in many ways, I have been feeling disconnected from myself lately. 

how? when all I have been doing is spending time with myself. 

the thought. I am not where I want to rises. 

where do I want to be? 

Mexico!  I am reminded of Frida Kahlo, and for the first time in my life. 

I understand her work. 

I have seen it a thousand times, studied it, read about her work.

I have lusted over her work, like a demented artist - who wishes - 

I wish I could make something so beautiful as her work.

I am sitting in my beautiful Brooklyn apartment. The sounds of the garden, hood, fireworks as my backyard. 

but I wish my life was different. 

that's what her work was about - wanting - dreaming -conjuring -

 and existing in a plane that is not the reality of your life. 

The suffering from the extension of our hearts from loving men or women at the cost of existence in this world. 

so when the heart finally breaks- the world we wished for exists.

Capture Dances x Denisse Monge

Denisse Monge X Capture Dances

Collaboration and Imagination.

Capture Dances workshops are designed to create a fun environment for movers, photographers, and other artists to create spontaneously. Visit www.capturedances.com/
Photos were taken in Wyckoff Manor by Denisse Monge.

Brian Monge | Movement Artist

My brother Brian Monge is a beautiful movement artist based in Miami,FL.
IG: brianxmonge