So I'm staring my to do list of two pages of blog entries that I need to catch up on. I decided to start with Marli. Here's a few images to enjoy.

Here are a few of Justin's favorite images.

We had a great time with Mercedes. Here are a few of her favorites.

After a long vacation from weddings, Dacey is again coming with us. Now you may wonder why anyone would drag their kid along to a wedding. We must be crazy or gluttons for punishment.

Truthfully, it's hard to for us to be everywhere at once. Having Dacey along gives us one more set of eyes (and one more camera and lens).

Dacey is great with the little ones and he has this uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time.

Paul and Kari's wedding was held at St. Peter's in Colman. Here are more than a few images from their reception slideshow.

Ever dream of having one of those telescopes you see on the sidelines of football games?

We've been playing with a really big lens of ancient vintage: manual focus from the 70's. It's been a real eye-opening experience. We set up the telephoto in the balcony at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Colman. The balcony is way in back. The church was just too small for the lens.

While there were many challenges, we did get a few really cool images. This one is my favorite.

Sunday we went to Watertown to Ralph Ritcher's studio. Ralph passed away earlier this year. Ralph was an accumulator. He was always working on keeping things fresh, but he kept all of the old stuff. Area photographers were invited to purchase items too numerous to mention and too great to fit into any vehicle.

I had our newest Nikon in the equipment room so I could test a few lenses out. During a short break when I was away, Chad Phillips of Great Plains Photography in Sioux Falls did a few self-portraits. Nice...

So we filled up the car and the van, leaving barely enough room to sit. A wide range of treasures now wait to be used once again. And yes we have one more trip to make.

Ralph was a great mentor and friend. He had so much knowledge and he was always willing to share. He was the one that invited us to join the SDPPA and Imagemasters Guild. I taught a Super Monday class with him a few years ago. Ralph was always the one that kept us in line when we strayed from the course.

The Hallenbeck's spend their summers getting away from the Arizona heat by going north. Ed grew up in Madison and they still have many friends in the area. We photographed their session at Prairie Village.

We hope to see them next year.

Last weekend was a double-header with weddings on Friday and Saturday.

Rachel and Tyler decided on McCory Gardens in Brookings as the site for their wedding. It turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with just enough breeze to keep everyone cool.

Here are just a few from their reception slideshow.

Saturday found us again at McCory Gardens in Brookings for pictures of Ben and Natasha. Caitie came along again to help out. The extra set of hands (and feet) came in handy when the van was over a block away.

We headed south to the Shamrock for the ceremony and reception. Cloudy skies came just in time to keep it cool for the ceremony.

We've been busy this past week with lots of senior sessions and two wedding last weekend. So many thngs to blog and so little time.

Our excitement in Rutland this week is a major electical upgrade courtesy of Ottertail Power Company. The school is adding heat pumps to save on heating costs and it required more juice than was currently avaiable.

So we have new poles in the ground and new lines to be added soon. We were without power yesterday for a few hours so we took a little time off. Dacey and I headed off to see Scott Meyer in Sioux Falls and ElizaBeth and Rachel went school shopping.

School starts in Rutland on friday so life will get back to "normal" for us again...whatever normal is.

The Hattervig boys came in for a session with their Mom a while back.

To see their slideshow click HERE.

Today Kayley came in for her sales session with Mom and Dad.

Now many photographers ban Mom and Dad from the camera room during senior pictures. We don't think that way. Family and friends are more than welcome in our studio. Senior pictures are an experienced that needs to be shared and enjoyed.

What happens if Mom or Dad get pushy, demanding and critical? We only confront that problem when it occurs. We do not assume that confrontation will happen. Kayley's Mom Danise we've known a very long time. We were more than happy when she came along for the senior session. We think that her images turned out great.

Before Kayley and her parents came in for the sales session, we edited and retouched all of the imges that they would see. This does take extra effort on our part, but we think that it is worth it to our customers.

Here a few of Kayley's favorites.

Saturday morning the Gregg family came to the studio for a family portrait session.

The DeVaney family came to the studio last night. It was time for Colter's 6 month pictures. Mom decided that it would be a perfect time for some family portraits as well.

ElizaBeth designed this card for them.

Just because you have kids doesn't mean the two of you have to wait until retirement for another picture.

To see Carrie & Derrick's engagement slideshow, click HERE.

Mom broght Shayla in for her birthday pictures a little while ago.

We celebrated Dacey's 13th birthday on Sunday afternoon at Lake Herman State Park. It's official our lives are now over because we have a teenager.

We are taking a little time off this week for some R&R before the big push that lasts until Christmas. Melissa will be in the studio while we are off goofing off.

Happy Saturday!

Friday found us in Watertown at Holy Name Catholic Church for Katie and Cody's wedding ceremony.

After the wedding, we headed out to the Watertown Event Center for yet another perfect reception.

Here are a few from the reception slideshow.

Jacob came from Howard last night for his senior session.

We had a great time with a little street ball and showing off the Mustang.

Here are a few from yesterday.

Jaclyn came all the way from Yankton for her senior session.

One of her requests was a grand piano. Donna at the Dakota Prairie Playhouse was gracious enough to let us their 9 ft Steinway...it was very cool.

On the way to the studio, we stopped at beautiful Lake Madison and then finished up at the studio in Rutland.

Jaclyn has a killer serious look as well as a great smile.

We have been busy in the studio with seniors the past few weeks. We will be posting more of these on the blog the next few days.

Happy Sunday to you!

What an incredible wedding!

Saturday was a beautiful day for a truly amazing couple. You could see how much Jenn & Gary loved each other as they had their first moments together.

Here are a few images from their reception slideshow.

Enjoy.

Marlena came in for her sales session Monday night. She is VERY excited to see her pictures online so she can show them off to her Aunt Diane in Texas as well as the rest of the relatives.

Here are a few to view until the slideshow goes up on our website.

Happy Tuesday to you!

To see Ben & Natasha's guestbook click HERE.

We traveled to Sioux Falls a while back to photograph the Mathison family on a friday evening. It was time for Sarah's seesion as part of our Baby Plan.

Now we don't usually post family images on the website, but because the Mathison's are very special customers and we want to show off a bit...here they are.

Click HERE to view their slideshow.

Happy Monday everyone.

We stayed close to home for Saturday's wedding in Nunda. Alan & Lacey had a "breezy" warm South Dakota summer day for their wedding day. Because it was so hot and windy outside, we stayed inside for most of the day. The church provided a windbreak and shade for some fun shots as we waited for the hummer limo.

To see TyAnn's Slideshow click HERE.

Ryan's Dad, Brandon, handles all of our plumbing needs. This image will make a cut advertisement for Dad's growing plumbing business. We put Ryan in the back seat of Dad's Dodge pickup.

To see Nikki & Kyle's engagement slideshow click HERE.

Normally we would crop closer but these images were taken for the purpose of a guestbook. That means we frame loose so we can blend the images when we design the book.

We love Sheri.

Why?

Any photographer will tell you that they HATE paperwork, but that comes with owning any small business. There are forms to fill out and bills to pay.

Since Sheri started coming, we've got things running smoothly. She comes onsite once a week to our studio in Rutland. No more hassles.

DeRungs Bookkeeping 480-1938 or 482-8343. Call them. You won't be sorry you did.

We photographed Andrea's brother's wedding a few years ago so Saturday was filled with familiar faces.

Here are a few images from their reception slideshow.

Where else but Rutland can you shoot fireworks off right in the middle of main street?

The kids love fireworks. It is all they talked about for the past week. Now they are all gone and we have room for the next compulsion.

We are taking it easy today: updating a few things on the website this morning and then spending a little time with the kids this afternoon.

We've been creating signature mats for our engagement sessions. Here's a sample of what they look like on the guest table.

There's only a few short weeks left to the summer sports seasons. If you haven't signed up your team yet, please give us a call at the studio.

The Madison Daily Leader featured the studio in a story on monday of this week. The Madville Times blog also gave us some good press.

We still have plenty of openings for senior pictures. Sooner is better than later. Everyone wants August.

It's been a while since Amber & Val's playtime session. Click HERE to see their slideshow.

Dacey loves to mow...NOT!

When you are 12 (almost 13), pushing a lawnmower is not exactly your idea of fun.

Motivation in the form of fireworks will get Dacey out there to do the job.

It doesn't mean he has to like it though.

Summer retreated on Saturday for Justin and Marista's wedding at First Lutheran in Brookings. The cool weather was a blessing, but the howling wind and occasional rain put a damper on outside pictures. Ten bridesmaids and ten groomsmen made this wedding one to remember.

Here are a few images from the slideshow shown at their reception.

Today's "What the Duck" is a fun one. We wish that business worked that way.

We had a surprise party for Nancy Falor today in Rutland. After 28 years of service to the local district, she is moving on. Our neighbor Jolene took on the job of throwing the party and a few of us brought some food.

Nancy didn't suspect a thing until she saw all the cars down by the picnic shelter.

Jossie and Molly's slideshow click HERE.

Take one red 2005 Mustang and add two high school senior girls in their prom dresses. Take them on location to the lake and you end up with some very fun images.

Here are just a couple with the Mustang. More to come later.

My thanks to Greg at Prostrollo Auto Mall for use of the Mustang for part of the morning. We've purchased several cars from Prostrollo's and they have always treated us right - even when we were just there to look.

I know now why Greg wanted me to get behind the wheel: I want this car. It's not practical in any way, shape or form. It's FUN to drive. Who cares if the kids don't fit in the back seat.

Some days they just make you shake your head...

Rachel and Dacey were enjoying the sprinkler this afternoon. Where Rachel got the idea of putting on 5 kitchen garbage sacks over the top of her swimsuit I'll never know.

I got a chuckle out of yesterday's "What the Duck" comic strip.

Intern duck is closely watching photographer duck photograph a family.

Again this strip is close to the truth: sometimes we have to do crazy things to get all of the family members to look at the camera and smile.

Catching up on blog entries....

Ian and Sara were married at St Thomas Aquinas Church in Madison on June 14th.

Here's a few images from their reception slideshow.

To see some of our favorites from Meighan's seesion click HERE.

We are playing catch up with a few blog posts...

Here are a few from Tanya and Troy's reception slideshow.

Another magnet- this one is for Eliza who was a bundle of energy and fun to have in the studio.

A slideshow of Eliza's pictures can be found HERE.

We all dream of having that glamorous job of traveling and taking pictures of beautiful people in exotic locations.

While we still enjoy photography, most of the time it's what Melissa and Caitie were working on today that we spend the most time on: working on the computer and going through orders.

Many of our photographer friends have followed the story of "This Old Church" and the work we have done on the studio.

Four years ago we painted the outside of the church. We had a few places that needed a little touch up this Spring. Where the chimney used to be, the paint bubbled. Caitie fixed that problem this afternoon. No more bare spots.

Photography is one constant learning curve. You never know it all. Education is always continuing.

The same can be said for equipment. In the days of film, you simply bought the best camera available and then sent it in for regular maintance.

With the advent of digital capture, you buy a camera once every two years, use it to death and then go buy the next latest and greatest thing. The same applies to computers and software. The technology gets better every day.

All of this means a constant reinvestment of money, time and energy into learning how all of the new stuff works. We don't believe in sitting still or slacking off. "Good Enough" is not a term we understand. We don't believe any customer should accept mediocre images. We strive every day to be exceptional in everything we do.

Our brother-in-law Anthony was riding in another Tour de Kota last week. The riders sufferred through rain and wind during their ride. Friday morning was a bit breezy for their final day.

We were supposed to meet Anthony and his entourage about 8 am at the Leighton farm just across the field from Rutland at 8 am.

The Leighton family had erected a number of sign along the road alerting riders to the upcoming rest stop.