Belated Thanksgiving Family Gathering: Personal

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving (belated) with a family gathering at my aunt & uncle's house.  It was great to catch up with aunts, uncles and my cousins.  There is a new addition to our extended family, baby Emily!, and we had the chance to meet her today. :)


I'm not sure how she did it, but she slept soundly throughout the noise and 3 boys running around the house! :)
Here's just a few shots I took for fun.... Baby Emily sleeping away.  And I had to include the boys as well!

The Bride's View: Double Feature!

 Two is better than One!


Today on BridesView's site Cecilia Flaming Photography was published in a DOUBLE FEATURE!


First up on BridesView's blog, they posted Courtney's Trash the Dress shoot that took place earlier this year.  I have to say this is one of the most popular Trash the Dress shoots with editors this year!  This is the 5th time her shoot has been published since April.  Past editors have loved her cowboy hat and always commented on how impressed they were that Courtney braved the cold and the snow!


The second feature is Mike and Danica's Wedding at Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club in Coquitlam.  Gorgeous wedding!  I loved the different styles of the bridesmaids dresses and the ladies' bouquets (daisies and crystals!).  This is Mike and Danica's first wedding feature (and hopefully the first of many more!)

Thank you to BridesView for the double feature!

HDR: Personal

I love trying out different types of post processing techniques.  Recently I've had more time to spend with HDR imaging.   [High Dynamic Range imaging].  A great resource for HDR is a software program called Photomatix.  This is purely for creating HDR images.  What you do is take multiple photographs at varying exposure levels, merge the photos in Photomatix and create an HDR image that reveals highlight and shadow detail.


You then can adjust settings to get the look you want and create stunning photographs of high contrast scenes.  HDR images contain a great deal more lighting information than regular images, so you can create some amazing results!


I don't always like to go "extreme grungy" like some examples of HDR photos I've seen on the web, but really it's all your preference and style.   The two photos below are images I've shot recently. I set up my tripod and shot about 7 different exposures to create both images.  Post processing took about a couple minutes with Photomatix!

Mochaversary: Personal

Mocha + Anniversary = Mochaversary!  Really, I had no idea what to title my post...  so I resort to mushing words together to sound intellectual. :)

2 years ago on Thanksgiving we welcomed Mocha into our home as the newest family member.  He's our "kid".  Mocha was 8 months old and talked non-stop (still does!).  He's a short-haired ragdoll, loves to eat grass, treats, drink water from the tap and growls when the door bell rings (yes, he growls instead of hissing). :)  Mocha was named by his previous owners (even though most of our friends think I named him because I'm addicted to Starbucks and "all things coffee").  We tried choosing a new name, but it suited him well.


Mocha was featured in September on the blog of Two Bright Lights and he is now our "superstar".  Check out his 5 minutes of fame here!  Here's a shot from this past Thanksgiving weekend, we spent a couple days relaxing at home and Mocha is a pro at "relaxing".

Lindsay: Campbell Valley Park Session

I've finally had the chance to catch up on a few sessions through the couple months!  I noticed I only posted a sneak peek of Lindsay's session in Campbell Valley Park, so I wanted to share some more photos!


We had a great time, although it didn't go nearly as planned.  I had planned to use some off camera flash for her shoot and it started pouring rain.  I packed away the lighting gear and instead we decided to have some fun with an umbrella and walk around the park.  The weather was a bit dreary, but Lindsay was still up for anything!

Adam & Gena: Crescent Beach Session

I apologize to Adam & Gena for taking a while to post these photos... (Sorry!).  These photos are from an evening I spent with Adam & Gena at Crescent Beach in August.  Gena has second shot for me a couple times this past year (yay!).  She's great, and if you're ever needing a second shooter, that is what she loves to do and is currently working on her portfolio website. (I'll post a link once it's up!).


That evening I wanted to test out a new lens, take a break  from "wedding shooting" and have fun with a portrait session at the beach.  Gena and her husband volunteered.  Crescent beach is fabulous for portrait sessions, the beach, pathways, fields, grass and much more... you may have seen Matt & Katie's session in the same location!