photography

Fall Flowers

18 Oct posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

This will be the last set of photos I get for this season, because it’s supposed to freeze tonight. I may dare to plant some pansies but let’s don’t hold my breath. For now these Day Lilies will have to do. I had a little fun with them this time, because well, my birthday was last week, and my present was…

wait.

for.

it.

A Mac Book Pro!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

And I had their cool Aperture program installed. So I took some photos of a few new, blooming day-lilies and tried out all the cool stuff you can do with photos right from there. Here’s what I came up with.

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Happy Monday, everyone!

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Filed Under: art, macro mondays, photography

Fall Jewelry Designs

11 Oct posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Before we get to the new jewelry I’ve made, some of you know today as Columbus Day. But here on the Reservation, it’s known as National American Indian Day. I didn’t know this day even existed until I moved here. And some of you probably didn’t either, so I thought I’d share.

Now let’s see what lovely goodies I have in store for you! Some of these pieces were barely photographed before they were sold. Those that aren’t sold will be placed in my jewelry shop. If you wish to buy them, you can do so from there. Shipping is included in the prices!

First we’ve got what I like to call, Rustic Elegance. It’s a gold, glass bead, swarovski crystal and Tiger Jasper mixture. This set isn’t actually new, and as such it’s on a major sale. I want it out of inventory. $35 for the set!

Next, it’s Fall in necklace form. This piece is sold. And if you’re nice to me and enter my contest, I might be inclined to make you a similar one. It wouldn’t be the same- no way, because all these pieces are originals.

This piece is also sold, but again, I have more skulls, so if you were to be nice to me, I would make you a custom piece.

Back in Black, is made with swarovski crystals and black onyx beads. It is stunning and there’s a handmade pair of sterling silver drop earrings to match. It’s ready for your next night on the town. I promise! $40

Choke me Colorful, is a beautiful choker-type piece with big, bulky colored stones of turquoise, orange, pink, purple and green. It was actually made to be 18 inches, but due to the size of the stones, it’s wears shorter than that. It’s so cute as a choker though that it would look awesome under a white or denim collared shirt at a big barrel race and if it were too long and you wish to wear it to run barrels it’d bruise your neck due to the weight. $40 If you were interested in this being made longer I would remake it for an additional $5.

Kaleidoscope, is a super fun piece with all kinds of colors. Imagine the possibilities of this one- you could wear it with anything! $37

Buck Me Turquoise, is a fun, playful piece with lots of sparkle! $40

Southwest Red is a longer double-strand piece with swarovski crystals, brown turquoise, green turquoise and red jasper. It’s really a rustic, pretty piece and it’s an older piece as well which means it’s on sale now for $35!

And that my friends, concludes this most recent tour of the jewelry shop.

Happy Shopping, Happy Monday and Happy Trails!

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Filed Under: art, fashion, jewelry, macro mondays, photography

Silhouettes, Sunsets and a Contest

8 Oct posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

On my way to the river the other day to take photos of the gorgeous trees, I noticed that the majority of the mare herd (which also includes a couple random geldings and the yearling to 3yo fillies) was up by the road. I figured that if they were still there when I got back from my river adventure, I’d snap some shots of them too, because sunset is just like fall- reds and oranges and otherwise pretty. Luckily for me, and y’all since you get to see what my office looks like at dusk, they were still there. These are my favorite shots.

[flickrset id="72157625114587930" thumbnail="square" overlay="true" size="large"]

Now the next thing you should know is that I’ve decided to have a contest! Anyone that was paying attention as you scrolled through the slide-show will notice that there are two photos named “untitled”. The good news is there will be more than one winner. The bad news is, not everyone can win, but everyone can play!

Since two of the photos from this venture have left me undecided as to what to call them, I’d like to leave that up to y’all to come up with titles. The winner will receive an 11×14 print of either the photo the named or any photo that’s on my site either here or at *Facebook. It’ll be up to you to decide.

Here’s the two photos again:

I can’t wait to see what y’all come up with! You have until noon on Monday to submit your entry! This should be fun! Have a super weekend everybody!

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Filed Under: contests, horses, photography

Fall Color

7 Oct posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

When I was a kid growing up I hated that we had green carpet in our house. I am, remember a child of the 70s. We had yellow linoleum in the kitchen, and yellow kitchen counter tops. I think we had a white icebox, an in counter stove, and if I recall correctly a black oven. But what really got to me was the green carpet. The hall bath that I shared with my sister was also green from the counter tops to the floor (save for the walls. Every wall in our house was some neutral ivory color. What can I say, my mom played it on the safe side!). It was a custom house that my parents had scrimped and saved to purchase and build they way they wanted. But I wasn’t down with the green carpet. I didn’t understand why we couldn’t have something more trendy such as forest green, country blue or the dusty mauve carpet like my aunt had in her home. My mother always used to tell me that earth-tones never go out of style.

I guess she was right, because I look around my house now, with its pretty taupe and earthen red walls, brown tile floor and think, this is so soothing. So calm, so quiet. I’ve got brown wanna-be dupioni silk curtains and swags; orange throw pillows and other than the zebra print chairs, the inside of my house would blend into any national forest- in the fall.

Which is why I believe fall to be my favorite time of year! Now don’t get me wrong. I love springtime, when all the foals and calves are born and we’re surrounded by babies, brandings and green, lush grass. But Fall begins and so does birthday season for us- the cowboy’s daughter, the cowboy and myself all have birthdays within about 12 days of each other. It means we’ve gotten to ride colts all summer and we can now give them a job when it comes time to gather and sort mamas from babies, pull the bulls off the herd, vaccinate babies, and pair them up with their mamas again. It means perfectly sunny, cool, crisp mornings and beautiful afternoons. And it means that the trees and grass shut down for the winter, and the interior of my house would blend right in to the background; that is if it were to be turned inside out and placed near a river bottom that contained some foliage.

The cowboy’s dad found some of that pretty foliage for me to photograph a week or so ago and I thought I’d share it with you- the pretty oranges, yellows and browns of fall. It just makes me want to curl up and read a book and enjoy the peace and quiet of it all.

Click on the photos below to scroll through a slide-show. Enjoy!

[flickrset id="72157625111507512" thumbnail="square" overlay="true" size="medium"]

What thought or feelings does Fall evoke for you? Is Fall your favorite season too? And if it isn’t your favorite season, what is, and why?

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Filed Under: decorating, fall, photography

Cowgirl Senior Portraits

1 Oct posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Here are some of my favorite shots from the portrait session that Kelsey and I had Sunday! She is just beautiful!

Happy Friday!

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Filed Under: cowgirls, family, photography

Rattle Me This

29 Sep posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Sunday morning Kelsey and I were on a mission to take more senior photos, which I will share soon. However, on our way through one of the pastures we ran across this:

Contrary to what many of you may know about rattlesnakes is that they’re very docile. Unlike, say the Southern Cottonmouth- of which there were plenty where I grew up. Those snakes will get very aggressive. The Rattler will sit and puff up but would sooner have us both go our separate ways.

They’ve been very plentiful here this summer.

This one was close to 4 feet long.

No one freak out- I had my 200mm lens on the camera so I wasn’t in danger of being struck. Plus, it was sitting there pretty quietly. If we got closer than its comfort, it would shake its rattles at us. Yes, that sound is a tiny bit disconcerting. Makes it sound heinous. And they can be if you get bit. It’s not pretty for the human or the animal.

In case you’re interested, rattlesnakes are the only poisonous snake in the state of South Dakota.

This snake made the third rattler we killed in a two day span this weekend, and the 9th one for the summer.

Yes, I took photos of the snake. Then I killed it by running it over. Wrong place, wrong time for the snake. I realize that all it wanted was some sun, and a meal- which it had just had recently. Did you notice the bulge in some of the photos above?

Better it be dead than bite one of the soon to be weanlings, with whom it was sharing a pasture at this point in time. And both us girls were without a knife, so we didn’t get to keep this set of rattles. Yes, we kill them and keep a trophy. Normally when we kill them, we cut the head off and bury it because reflex can still allow the snake to bite something.

This is probably more than any of you wanted to know about snakes, certainly rattlesnakes. But I wanted to share, because I was excited about getting the photos of it. I’ve wanted photos of the rattler for quite some time, and managed to finally be in the right place at the right time.

Happy Tuesday!

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Filed Under: photography, ranching, summer

Senior Photos of Jordyn T.

23 Sep posted by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

A couple weeks ago, I got the privilege of shooting another 2011 senior and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity! Jordyn is an absolutely gorgeous girl! Kelsey helped us on the shoot and we had a great time! Kelsey might be the best stylist out there, and she’s mine! All mine! *smile*

Without further ado, here are my favorite photos from her shoot.