Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography

03/14/2025

I never do a good job of sharing my client photos. Partially because I'm very busy with life and just don't make a good habit of doing so. But, this wedding was more than just a wedding. This was the wedding of my very own niece who is like my "daughter" because I only had boys. Being able to not only be there to support her on her very special day, but to document and see the love these two have together was more than I could have imagined. It was much harder to edit these as often I was overcome with emotion from that day and reliving it all over again. I remember the day she came home from the hospital and every moment we have been able to be with her since. From an infant, through her high school graduation, through her finishing nursing school. She's an amazing girl who found an amazing boy. Couldn't be more proud or love them more. While it was a challenge to make sure that I took the family photo and was in it (thank you to my assistant husband, my sister-in-law and a tripod), the day was perfect. This small Beverly Hills old Hollywood wedding will forever be one of the favorites I've shot and I had to share it. Congratulations Mr & Mrs Parra. Can't wait to see how the love story continues.

12/23/2024

Although I wasn't able to be there last weekend did load the photos on my website. Enjoy and merry Christmas!!!!

Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography

12/16/2024

December 14 Santa photos from Cousteau breakfast are up on the site for downloading.

Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography

12/14/2024

Weekend #2 for breakfast with Santa. Don’t let the rain scare you away. The big guy is on his way!

12/09/2024

First week of Santa Photos up for downloading. See you again next week!

Tenaya Fleckenstein Photography

12/07/2024

Best time of the year with the big guy at Costeaux!!

07/28/2024

Once again an amazing event put on to support local Northern Sonoma County Fire resources. Not only did they make a great fundraising event, we are blessed by some amazing supporters like Watch Duty, Senator Mike McGuire, and so many other event sponsors. Some of my favorites in this gallery are during the auction, and the flyover on the way back to base from Tanker 85 from supporting a fire in Lake County that started during the event. If you didn't make it this year, don't wait next year when the tickets go on sale!!!

07/28/2024

07/25/2024

Few photos from the Flora Fire tonight before I hit the sack. Mostly the air show as the crew hose lines were super steep and I didn't hike them getting there half hour into the incident. Strong showing by all to keep it from heading towards homes. Lots of memories of this area from 2017. Great people and crews worked hard. These resources will be out on the line again tomorrow mopping up and keeping things in check. Resources on scene included of course CAL FIRE, Northern Sonoma County Fire District, Sonoma County Fire District, Dry Creek Rancheria Fire, Healdsburg Fire Department, Santa Rosa Fire Department, North County Fire Protection District, PG&E, CHP, Henry-1

07/01/2024

So as I catch up on a few photos from the Preston Vegetation Fire in Cloverdale I realize that my nervousness for the next couple of weeks can be turned into a PSA. We're all excited for the holiday to celebrate and have some time off. I am very excited about this as my family could desperately use a breath right now. However, the reality is that with all the extreme heat/red flag warnings coming in the next 10-14 days it will take very little for things to go bad. CAL FIRE LNU issued the following statement:

“If a fire were to start in these conditions, it has the potential to spread rapidly and exhibit extreme fire
behavior,” said CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Deputy Chief Matt Ryan. “We want to remind residents and visitors
to take fire safety precautions this week and to make sure you are preparing yourself in the event a wildfire
should start near you. Now is the time to have your evacuation plan in place, pack your go bag and sign up for
emergency alert notifications through the county you live in or will be visiting.”

Not only as a resident of the area does this concern me, but these faces and so many others of the fire family will be forced to go work in these conditions when things go bad. This puts them at risk of potential fire behavior, but of heat illnesses. This scares me just as much as the fires. My PSA is to beg you all to please be diligent, careful, respectful and think for just one moment of all those firefighters out there that will jump into action because they have to if accidentally start a fire. Yes you might feel like your holiday is less than if you don't get to use sparklers or fireworks (remember that fireworks are banned in the State Responsibility Areas (SRA) of Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. That includes ‘Safe and Sane’ Fireworks). But I hope you remember what is at stake especially for those families who have people on the line. Today especially this feels true as the 11th anniversary of the Yarnell Hill Fire that claimed the lives of 19 of the 20 Granite Mountain Hotshots on June 30th, 2013. We've had more fires this month than normal and it takes all of us being part of the solution. Ok PSA over, now enjoy the photos of these firefighters doing good work!

ReadyForWildfire.org

07/01/2024

I am about 2 weeks late, but wanted to post just a few of the initial couple hours at the Point Fire on 6/16/24. I got a little distracted after the first initial hours so not too many to share.

06/22/2024

This month in remote areas of Geyserville/Cloverdale protected by the Northern Sonoma County Fire District and CAL FIRE over 1000 acres have been treated with prescribed burns under the Vegetation Treatment Program (CalVTP). This was done to both reduce fuels and use sustainable methods for managing land and enhancing the resilience of streams and watersheds. I was fortunate to attend two of the larger burns this month to document the landowners and public partners collaborating to achieve both these goals.

The first burn was 700 acres at a private ranch. This is the first of a series of proposed burns to treat their land and improve the watersheds. The burn started in early evening when prescription was achieved and split into several crews spread over the land. This coordinated dance of introducing fire, using the terrain and weather to purposefully consume dead, down and non-native invasive species on the land. There were minimal winds and many of the fuels were still green with high fuel moisture causing mosaic burn and some areas did not burn as fully as they would later in the season after drying out. The landowner and crews successfully completed this burn and monitored the land for the next few days and now there is a large break that will not be susceptible to uncontrolled fire in this coming summer season.

The second was almost 300 acres 2 weeks later at Lake Sonoma in coordination with the US Army Corps of Engineers who manage the land surrounding the lake, and local tribal partners. It was great to hear tribal representatives describe about how the fires used to clean the land and how he was excited that after this burn the natural growing fruits and nuts that should reemerge to the land. Getting back to the natural cleansing of the land is something we are embracing. A briefing with the objectives, plan and weather was done with the large group of agency firefighters and a class from SRJC before ignition began. This burn in contrast began in the early morning and ignition was targeted to be complete before the heat of the day. The fuels were much more receptive at this burn than the first one, light flashy fuels burned quick, clean and required minimal mop up. The down and dead fuels were well consumed and left the watershed cleaner. I have shared several photos where you can see the burned side of the break and the unburned side for comparison. Much of the down fuels around mature trees were consumed, and this leads to natural habitats as well as reducing fuels to be susceptible to uncontrolled fires during the season.

At the end of the album, you’ll see some side-by-side comparisons for the Half A Canoe area Thursday night before and then on Saturday morning during mop up and patrol. While the black may look ‘ugly’ for now, I’m interested to go back next year to see how clean and fresh the areas look after having this cycle completed. While there was some unplanned acreage, it was quickly controlled and only treated extra areas down to the lake edge. Crews mopped up the entire area overnight Friday and all day Saturday. While fire can be scary and exciting, I feel honored to see the cycle of good work that many are doing with these low-intensity fires promoted fire adapted and dependent ecosystems. A side benefit is the training and education that the firefighters get and documenting this work is important.

06/08/2024

Congratulations to all the 2024 graduates out there. HHS students, stay tuned to get your photos soon.

04/21/2024

I am not great at posting photos from my paying customers. Often, I'm just moving so fast and on to the next thing. But once in a while I remember to do so and put a few of my favorites together for sharing. This beauty is so amazing and graduating from SSU this year. Her dream was to document this time of her life and get some totally awesome photos with her grandpa's beautiful corvette. We had a blast putting her in all sorts of locations on this enchanting spring day. She's was fun, easy going and you can tell so proud of what she's accomplished. I felt lucky to document her smile and spirit and after hearing about her endeavors for years from her father, it was amazing to spend a few hours getting to know her and chat it up. Congratulations Miss 'N', you're going to do great things!!!!