My journey through life on South Dakota Ranch
Friday I was blessed with the opportunity to photograph a 6 week old baby! I have never gotten to do that before so I honestly had no idea what to expect. It was great fun! Babies have the cutest fingers and toes, and this baby was especially agreeable. I’m going to share with you a few of my favorites from the day!
Happy Monday and Happy Trails!
Many of you will recall that I was able to witness the birth of my cute colt, Rival, a couple weeks ago. Now that he’s growing up, he’s really starting to find his legs and his favorite past-time, save for taking naps in the sun and eating, of course, is running, and bucking and kicking and otherwise stirring up trouble. He’s just a boy. What can I say?
I can never seem to catch him in the act of beings super cute, though I have managed to catch a few photos of him goofing off. So I’m going to share those with you, because who doesn’t love to see a baby horse play? No one I can think of, and if you don’t, then there’s clearly something wrong with you!
So without further ado, here is being his handsome self!
Just like his mama- tail in the air and all. His mother is sure she was born to be a wild mustang and roam the hills of South Dakota free as a bird. After all, her name is Shuttle!
Run, kid, run!
Handsome, handsome!
He is really precious and I just love him! Thanks for letting me share him with you!
Happy Trails!
I awoke to the sound of Meadowlarks this morning.
We slept with the windows open last night. It’s a peaceful, soothing thing to go to sleep to sound of bullfrogs croaking, only to awake with Meadowlarks singing their beautiful song.
About a month ago, when the Meadowlarks first made it back into the country, I photographed some of them. I plan to try to get sneakier about photographing them in the coming weeks, but for now, these photos must suffice.
I’m not sure if hearing Meadowlarks singing is my favorite sound, but it’s certainly among those that make my heart happy! What’s your favorite sound of nature?
Happy Trails!
XO
Easter Weekend I got to photograph a lovely family! We had a great time, and since he’s a cousin of Zach and the family it was nice to get to visit with them. So without further ado, I’m going to show you what an absolutely gorgeous day it was and how photogenic this family was!
Happy Trails!
Last week I entered a photography contest at Beef Magazine, for Calves and Cowboys. The photo I entered won’t come as any surprise to y’all:
Needless to say I was thrilled to have been selected as a finalist!
Now, what I need you to do is go vote!
And by the way- you know that old saying, “April showers bring May flowers?” I think it’s probably true but here in South Dakota this week it has been “snow” showers instead of rain! 
Happy Trails!
Ok folks.
I promised I’d get this done yesterday and then, well, life just got away from me! So here I am! I’ve decided that I had so much fun with the last contest, I’m going to do another one! This one might be even better, because I am going to give away THREE (3) 11×14 prints of your choice from the photos you can see here. And if a photo you’ve seen on the blog isn’t at that site and you want it, just let me know what photo it is and we’ll get ‘er done!
There will be 3 winners total, and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment here (on this post- and I’ll even make it sticky for the week), say hello to me on my Facebook Page, or mention me on Twitter (@thesdcowgirl) using the twitter hashtag #sdcowgirlspring. I am not going to run this contest through Facebook, as they have some rather interesting rules for contests, but if you drop by and write on my wall (To say How MUCH you LOVE me!) beginning today, I will count those entries. And, if you invite your friends to drop by, just tell them to tell me who sent them, and you’ll both get an entry. The person with the most entries is going to get something (I’ve not decided what yet- and I’m open to ideas) so you really have 4 ways to win! Awesome, right? The contest will close at noon on Friday and winners will be announced Monday. I’ve got a busy, busy weekend, folks.
In the meantime, I photographed this cute bird the other day and I’d love to know what kind it is!
Happy Trails and Happy Tuesday!
XOXO
My parents were nice enough, or rather I twisted their arm, er um, talked them into doing some portraits while I was “home”. They haven’t had any photos of just the two of them in several years and last year was their 35th wedding anniversary. My dad still looks at my mom with love in his eyes and she does the same to him. It’s sickeningly sweet in a good way of course, because who wouldn’t desire to have what they have? They still sit on the couch and hold hands.
The following are some of my favorite shots from the afternoon.
I don’t know what dad said here and mom said I didn’t want to know. Yeah, she’s probably right!
I was giving mom a hard time about something here:
Yes, they’re still in love. Ain’t Life Grand?
Happy Trails!
XO
I mentioned, Sunday, that I got to take some photographs of a couple cute kids. We’ve already seen one of them- Annabelle and her mare Tequila. But this time, we added her little brother to the mix, and I have to say- he’s got to be one of the most photogenic little boys ever. And he’s fun to be around.
I should say, I’m glad I’m not their mom and have to choose through the photos to pick the ones I want, because honestly, I had a hard time narrowing it down too. There are so many great photos that either I’m getting better as a photographer, or these kids are just uber photogenic, or both, I suppose. That’s a possibility too!
Without further ado, enjoy these shots. I know I enjoyed taking them!
Happy Hump Day and Happy Trails!
I’m going to give a you sneak peek at one of the photos I took this Saturday of a pretty girl and her gorgeous horse. I plan to share a few with you later this week, but I wanted to enter this one into the “Love That Shot“, It’s All in the Details photo competition this week. Which means you get to see my favorite shot sooner, rather than later!
Without further ado, here you go:
To see more of beautiful shots, head over to Love That Shot!
Happy Trails!
I got this snazzy new camera, and I’ve been playing with it like it’s some kind of toy or something. I’m taking pictures of everything, as evidenced by the dog photos and random things around the house photos from this week.
In addition to getting a new camera, I also got two new lenses. Part of my wonder in this process, is how different every lens makes things feel. I mean, as a photographer, I know this, but it still never ceases to amaze me. I love exploring new angles, and settings and focus points. And of course I love editing. That’s half the fun for me!
I managed to take a couple shots of myself that I kind of like. I didn’t do a lot of editing other than a few color adjustments. I love the lighting in these. And pardon my wrinkles. Botox anyone?
My favorite one:
And speaking of portraits…I’m headed to the great state of Texas next week, so if you’re in the DFW area and would like to book a portrait session for your family, yourself, or with your equine(s)/dog(s), please let me know. You can learn more about my photography here.
Happy Trails!
