Meet Monika

I'm a wedding, portrait, and event photographer based in Lander, Wyoming. I'm also a geologist, former science educator, fair-weather climber and runner, and obsessive gardener. Those parts of my life may seem separate, but together they shape the way I photograph people, landscapes, and the stories that connect them.

• My path into photography began in 2013 while I was pursuing my Master's degree in geology in California. I saved up for my first DSLR because I wanted better photographs of the rocks and landscapes I was studying for my thesis. I didn't realize at the time that photography would become much more than documentation.
• As I taught geology field courses throughout the West, I brought my camera everywhere. I practiced on landscapes, field camps, climbing trips, friends, and the in-between moments that often tell the best stories. Over time, photography became the place where my love of people, landscape, and storytelling came together.
• In 2014, I moved to Durango, Colorado, where I met my husband, Nick, while climbing in Indian Creek and around the Mountain West. The community we built there encouraged me to take photography seriously, and in 2017 I opened my first wedding photography business while teaching geology at the local community college.
• After several years working in education, international sales, and marketing, I returned to photography full-time in Lander. Those years gave me skills I bring into every session: clear communication, organization, professionalism, and the ability to help people feel comfortable.
• My husband, Nick, and I moved to Lander in 2022 in search of a tight-knit, outdoor-minded community. We found exactly that. The foothills, sagebrush, Wind River Range, climbing, trails, and the people here continue to shape my work every day.
• If you live in Lander, you'll probably run into me at High Mountain Fitness, at Pushroot Brewery with friends, running the Tomato Loop, working in my backyard garden, or heading into the Wind River Range with a camera in hand.