My Trip to Ontario

Last month, I traveled to the city of Sudbury, Ontario. And of course, I wouldn't dare to leave home without my camera and lenses! There are some very pretty sites in Northern Ontario - there are many more rocks, hills, and bodies of water compared to the Edmonton area. I had a lot of fun there, met a lot of great people, and returned home with fond memories, as well as a lot of photos! Here is a small sampling:

I visited the scenic A.Y. Jackson Lookout, over by High Falls, a feature on the Onaping River:

There are streams everywhere, rushing in between mountainous areas. This site is along Sandcherry Creek:

I made these pictures at the Lake Laurentian Conservation Area:

Here is a photo of Sudbury's mining heritage monument, a beautiful bronze sculpture in lovely Bell Park:



I liked the appearance of these colourful Muskoka chairs:

Growth along the walls of brick buildings = photo opportunity:

Well, I hope you liked the non-job-related showcase above! I enjoyed the natural beauty of Sudbury - you can't go very far in the area without running into a forest or a lake. Looking forward to going back to Ontario again very soon!

Alex and Cody's E. Session

Wow, what a beautiful evening for an engagement session!

I had so much fun with Alex and Cody a couple of evenings ago at the very different-looking Old Strathcona Area. These two are young and dynamic and fit to be models.

It still makes me smile, thinking of all those people that were passing by and asking about your engagement. If they knew what we do... :)

"And walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
-Eph. 5:2

By the way, sorry about the jeans, guys, I hope the grease comes out...

I can hardly wait until July 5th to photograph your wedding and be a part of it. I know we will have so much fun on your special day!

Love,
Helga

Cynthia and David's Wedding

Back in May, I received an e-mail from David saying that he needed a photographer for his upcoming wedding... the thing was, him and his fiancee were getting married in just one week! Wow, that was pretty close! Fortunately, I had no major plans that weekend, so I took on their wedding. We met three days before their big day to go through some details and I was very pleased how nice they were; I knew right away that it would be a great day for all of us.

My boyfriend did not need much convincing - he was quite happy to help me that day (in fact, it was his first wedding as an assistant) and we headed to the beautiful Devonian Garden, which is not too far from Edmonton. What a day! With a bright sun in a blue sky, a picturesque Japanese garden, and most importantly, a beautiful couple, what else could we possibly need?

Thanks so much for having us photograph your wedding, capturing memories for your lifetimes! You two were a lot of fun, especially after everybody left, when we really got to try a number of original ideas in the little flower garden area near the grove of trees and the pond.

Enjoy your images and have a wonderful life together!

Helga

The Gallagher Family

On a beautiful June day a few weeks ago, I went out to the foresty rural outskirts of Edmonton, to do an outdoor family portrait session. The Gallaghers are a lovely couple, with a pair of sweet children - Matea and Liam - to round out the family. Although we had sunlight, I think the cute smiles of those kids lit up the photos the most! I had a lot of ideas in mind prepared for portrait compositions, but their rustic property provided a lot of opportunities for impromptu, spontaneous photo ideas. As the sampling below shows, everyone got into it, with some gorgeous grins to showcase this family's happiness:

What a sweet family:

Momma's boy:

Daddy's little girl:

Big sister taking care of her baby brother:

I definitely had a great time doing this photo session. It was such a comfortable atmosphere for doing photos, and it's very rewarding when the finished product comes out so well. Thank you to the Gallaghers for helping make it such a successful time!

Helga

Daina and Vimal's E. Session

A couple of Sundays ago we were blessed to spend some time doing an engagement session at the picturesque grounds of the Alberta Legislature with a lovely couple, Daina and Vimal. Their wedding is just a couple of weeks away, and they were both in high gear to make the best out of that beautiful evening as the sun was setting (which, incidentally, gave us perfect light for our photoshoot).

We had so much fun, I just can't get over Daina's sense of humor, and of course her amazing eyes, plus Vimal was a true gentleman in both attitude and attire. I'm very happy how well the images turned out, and I can't wait to show a sampling of them, so don't waste any time - check them out for yourself...

I had some great results with a fish-eye camera lens:

The style and colour of those neo-classical columns are a great backdrop!

Thank you so much for the wonderful time - the photos turned out great, and I'm looking forward to shooting your wedding as well! I hope you enjoy selecting your favourites.

Helga

Our Trip to Drumheller

Last week, my boyfriend and I went to visit Drumheller, Alberta. There were many interesting sites in the surrounding landscape, known as the "badlands" whose hilly features are distinctly different from the typical endlessly flat prairie horizons of Alberta:

Stormy clouds did not dampen our spirits, but provided photo-opportunities instead:

The area is known for its fascinating geological formations known as hoodoos:

There is also quite a coal mining history around here. At the former site of Atlas Coal Mine, historical remnants include this headframe:




Another local curiosity is this extremely small local church, known as "Little Church". Very tiny. It has room for six within, including one preacher:

Then there was a historical suspension bridge to see, which once brought coal miners and ore to and from Star Mine.

And for this same site, a little enhancement went a long way:

Who would have thought traversing the Red Deer River would be so interesting?

Well, I hope you enjoyed this introductory sampling of photos. More to come as I provide some of the results I have enjoyed from photo sessions, trips, random occasions. I am always watching for that right confluence of lighting, location, and drama, and hope you return to see them.

A Professional's Photography

Welcome to my blog, and its very first post! I decided that this would be a great forum to share some short stories and highlights from my various photographic exploits. I own my own professional photography business, and regularly work to "capture the moment" at Edmonton-area weddings, portrait sessions, area daycares, and many other situations (for more detailed background about my business and a wide sampling of work I have done, please visit my official home page: Helga Himer Photography Co.).

Apart from my business, it goes without saying that I have a personal love for photography, and rarely go anywhere without a camera, even if I'm not doing an official photo-shoot! With my own personal sense of artistic license, I like to capture interesting landscapes, people, and situations, and then sometimes enhance them with Photoshop. And now, with this blog, I can share the bounty of digital photographs I make with the rest of the world (or at least, anyone with access to the Internet). I hope you enjoy them, and please feel free to comment.