Autumn Wedding - Ashley & Tony

I just want to say congratulations and thank you Ashley and Tony for allowing me to capture your wedding day. Your day was truely surrounded by love and God's blessings, and I am thankful I could witness it. You both are a pleasure to know and I wish you the absolute best in the future:)

Here is a recap of Ashley and Tony's gorgeous fall wedding day. My hope for every couple is that they can take in their day and really enjoy the moments and the people that surround them. That is exactly what Ashley and Tony did from start to finish.

Travis + Marcie

This seems to be the year for college classmates to get married! Marcie and Travis are a beautiful couple, and they were surrounded by amazing friends and family on their big day. It was an honor to witness the joining of their lives. To the happy couple: I wish you the absolute best as you start your life together. This year will be packed with new things and adventure so enjoy it and each other to the fullest! :)

Jodi + Mike

Over the weekend one of my college friends, Jodi, slipped into a beautiful white wedding gown and walked down the isle. She did this on one of T.H.E. HOTTEST summer days I can ever remember and she rocked. it. out. ! Jodi you are a beautiful person inside and out and I am so happy for you and Mike. Thank you for letting me share in the celebration of your day! :)

(I was a guest at the wedding, not the photographer, but go to a wedding without my camera??? Nonsense!)

Trey Thomas Casanova

Trey Thomas Casanova

So my cousin has this amazing ability to make THE CUTEST BABIES EVER....so I was so excited when she asked me to take photos of her newest addition to her family. Welcome baby Trey:) I still can't decide which was my favorite part of the day, watching Delanie meet and care for her new baby brother, or watching Natalie be such a patient, loving, and amazing mother throughout the entire day. Some people are just made to be mothers. I definitely believe God has blessed you Natalie, and He smiles when he looks at you and your family:) Thank you for letting me be there with you for these special moments, I love you guys!

How You Like Me Now?

Mama gave me a face lift! Call it early spring cleaning I guess. I just needed a change. I have more changes I would like to make, but that will be for another day. This is a nice preface to my website which is in the works:)

Have a great day people!

Conde..."A Place to Call Home"

(Conde's Final Homecoming Parade, Fall of 2009)

Certain speakers at WPPI this year made it a point to tell their listeners that personal projects are much needed. Doing work that feeds ones soul, instead of just one's pocketbook, is imperative to the artistic process and progress. How can one grow as an artist let alone an individual if she does not do work that she loves. A personal project is not a work that aims to please anyone but the originator herself (hence the term 'personal'), and the speakers I heard this past week impressed upon my mind that I needed to go home and start something immediately. It needn't be fancy, funny, beautiful, technically correct, or something that I would normally produce. It just needs to come from me, and ultimately be something pleasing to me. Only in doing this process will I truly grow who I am as an artist and gain more understanding overall of what my style is and how I use techniques to achieve that style.

Ok, blah blah blah......anywho~ I have a bunch of different ideas for where to take these personal projects, but one kept recurring in my thought pattern. I kept asking myself who am I and what am I about? The only way to answer this is to begin with where I came from.

As a young girl my mom would share with me stories of her life growing up on a farm outside of our town. Holiday memories, the games her and her siblings played, riding her bike all summer long. I remember trying to picture all of these scenes in my mind, and for some reason I always pictured them black and white...probably because I thought in my mind it was such a long time ago! haha, whatever, anyway! I loved hearing these stories, but I remember thinking I wish I could just see some pictures of what life was like back then.

So my project will be about where I am from. I would love to be able to one day show my children pictures of where I came from. What the town was like. Unfortunately this won't be something that shows what my town was really like as I grew up in it, things have changed. One thing that held our community together so tightly was our school system. In 2009 that unity was severely severed as the state of South Dakota Legislature shut the Conde School system down because it had less than 100 students. But something in me still wants to document the town as it is today. For me. For my memory as I go through my life. Where ever my story takes me, I never want to forget where I came from, and the people who made up the community I was lucky enough to call home.

I love to hear about other people's personal projects! Not just photography either:) If you have something that you are doing or planning to do, feel free to share it here!:)

Let.It.Go.

May I just say that if anyone is on the fence about whether or not to spend the time and money to go to WPPI, it will be well worth what you put into it. That being said, I knew I would come home with so much information that my head wouldn't be able to hold it all, and that's what happened. :) I have merely just begun to learn and realize that I have much to learn and many dues to pay! But I am more ready than ever before to dig in, and to begin making this journey a memorable one.

Jasmine Star, a woman I admire for not only her photography, business skills, and work ethic, but who she is as a person and what she is doing with her life, spoke about writing her own story. She challenged those of us listening to her to take control and begin writing the story of our own lives. Like Jasmine, I do not want to look back on my life and realize I never took the time to live it and truly appreciate the blessings God has given me. I never want to get so caught up in life that I never live my life. I know I am the type of person who can easily get caught up in the small things. The little details can stress me, and I am now reminding myself at least once a day to take one small minute and ask, "Is this something I need to stress over? Will this matter to me one year from now?" If the answer is no, guess what? Let. it. go.