Rob, Rina and Lily

I generally get along really well with children. Though this is not to say that they're always easy to photograph. Even children that I know well and have interacted with before can be a challenge.

A friend of mine invited me to do their family Christmas photo. They had tried to have a session at a local portrait place, but Miss Lily wasn't feeling too inspired that day. We thought that having someone in her home, where she felt comfortable, might produce positive results.

Lily and I have a pretty good rapport established already. She doesn't seem to mind me too much. The night that I stopped by, she was fine with me being there. She did seem to mind being asked to sit in one place so that I could take her photo with mom and dad. She had things to do and wanted to dance to music on her show. She wasn't a disagreable baby, we just didn't all share the same vision.



So we worked with her. She was happy that Blue's Clues was on TV, that got a few smiles going. We also tried to give her props to play with.



Then Daddy got his guitar out to play, and mommy sang, "The itsy bitsy spider..."



Overall, we captured some really nice family moments. Here are my favorites.

So, if you're looking for a family photo to reflect your special connection - there are always possibilities. Sometimes a candid photo is better than a completely posed image. And sometimes, you just have to work to a subject's advantage.

Thank you Rob, Rina and Lily for asking me to hang out with you! I had a lot of fun.

I will continue to add photos to the portrait and baby photo albums.

Miss Sadie

I had the opportunity to visit a college roommate and meet her new baby girl. Sadie is only just over a week old now.

There are more photos available. You can view them by following this link to my baby photo album.

Gerrett and Sarah

Weekend Photos

Finally, the sun was out for a little while this past weekend. I met up with a family to do a photo session which included group pics and a few images of their senior.


There are more family photos in the 'On Location Portraits' album. Click Here.



You may also visit the Senior Photos album.

I was glad that the weather behaved favorably. Last week I took a couple quick photographs of two of my husband's cousins. It was rainy out at the family farm, so they toured the barn and chased cats. Hay bales were already stationed near the doors, so I asked them to pause for a moment there.

Fabulous Family Portraits

This afternoon I made some photographs for a local family. They were hoping to have a photo to use for Christmas cards this year and also needed a picture for the community directory.



Charlie has a love of classic cars. The Ford Model A in his collection has been in his family for years. So, of course it should be in their photograph.

The weather didn't fully cooperate, the wind was a bit too brisk to have a full shoot outside. Fortunately Charlie's shop was available and served as an appropriate setting for his truck.



Thanks for the fun afternoon!

The Eureka Kuchen Factory

My full time job is as an associate producer at South Dakota Public Broadcasting. I get to travel around the state meeting many interesting people. SDPB airs a magazine style program called 'Dakota Life', I produce a few segments each year for the show. When I go on these shoots, I tend to bring my camera along. It's nice to get a few photographs that the marketing folks at the station can use, plus I like to have them for myself too.

I enjoy making images of people doing the things that make them happy.

Last week, a co-worker and I travelled to Eureka, SD to visit The Kuchen Factory. In case you're not familiar, kuchen is South Dakota's state dessert. It's a pastry with a sweet dough crust, a filling of sorts (fruit or chocolate or sugar) and custard on top. It's yummy.

The folks in Eureka were key players in getting Kuchen designated as the state dessert. They travelled to Pierre two years in a row to promote the pastry that their German ancestors produced. In 2000, state legislators and the governor agreed and granted kuchen a key role in South Dakota's identity.

If you haven't tried the state dessert yet, you really should. Unless you're lactose intolerant. I wouldn't suggest it then.

You may order it online from a number of different vendors.

www.madeinsouthdakota.com has products from both vendors in Eureka.

I think that if you google search kuchen, you could find a few others to try too.

Senior Dance/Volleyball Session

Sierra, Hannah and Sophia were wonderful during their session today. I think that they all had a good time. We spent our time photographing them in one of their outfits for dance.

Click here to go to view photos in the album.

Steph and Wade's Family

Follow the link in the side column labled 'On Location Portraits' to see more photos.

Carlos and Ivonet

Again, I had the opportunity to work with Candy Acosta (check her out on Facebook) and assist her with a wedding shoot. We each took loads of photographs. I can only share a few here.



Be sure to check the albums for additions to come later.

Preparation

Portraits

Celebration

Family Portraits

More portraits here.

Event Photos

I've been photographing people competing in various events during Beresford's 125th Anniversary Celebration.

Here are a couple images from Thursday night's antique tractor pull.




There are more photos available from the tractor pull at my online proof site. Feel free to browse through the album. If there's a picture that you'd like a copy of, you can order one there. Follow this link for tractor pull images.

I also photographed runners in the fastest mile race. I do not have pictures available from the 5k, I ran in that event.



Beresford's Fastest Mile Online Proofs

If you participated one of these events, you may purchase prints from me. Any proceeds will go to benefit the National MS Society. Do you want to learn more about that organization? Click on this link.

Kari and Brian

I wasn't the photographer at my friend's wedding, but I was able to snag a few shots. Here's a picture that I made of the two of them. I'm working on experimenting with some light painting in portraits. I think that it has some potential, it just takes a few more moments to set up.

I've uploaded a few more pictures of their wedding here.

The Wedding of Betsy and Israel

My friend Candy asked me to help her shoot photos at a wedding last weekend. Check her out at Dulces Producciones



Betsy and Israel are a beautiful couple and were very photogenic. I hope that you enjoy browsing through the images. The full album can be found here.


"Can you hear me now?" "I do."