Peyton and Karson...

...along with their Mom and Dad came over for a session a couple of weeks ago. It was a privilege to photograph this beautiful family. I thought their images looked really nice in black and white for some reason. Maybe it is because the black and white emphasizes that kissably soft baby skin!!! I love my job!

I can't get over the sweet smile that Karson is blessing Peyton with! Such fun to see the love between brothers!!


I just love this family portrait...

Thanks, Sheri and Jerod-I really enjoyed meeting you and I loved photographing your family!!

Jessica and Sam...

...tied the knot on Saturday June 21! The bride wore her grandma's broach on the sash of her beautiful dress, and her shoes were hot pink! What fun!

We had a few black clouds as we started photographing outside, but soon things cleared up and we had gorgeous weather the rest of the day.

It was a memorable day-moments before the processional, one of the bridesmaids noticed that the toilets in the church were overflowing. But it was less like over "flowing" and more like a gushing geyser!! After a few quick calls made to the custodian and plumber, the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch!

Following the ceremony, the wedding party made their way to the reception site by horse and buggy!


Jessica is a teacher, and she nannies three adorable girls during her summers off. Two of them were flower girls. Check out this fun shot of one of them during the ceremony!

Here are a few more favorites...

Great brick wall on the north side of the church...

I'm lovin' the look these two are giving each other here!

Jessica had the most beautiful full length veil...

We were able to sneak out of the reception for a few minutes and grab a few shots at the golf course. 

The girls...

...and the guys!

Sam and Jessica-thank you so much for letting me be there to help capture some of the fun of your day!  I hope you had a great time on your honeymoon in Belize!!

Kaitlyn and Dan...

...have some of the most contagious smiles I have ever seen! They plan to be married in December, and had their engagement session one day before leaving on a summer adventure working at Taryall River Ranch in Colorado. The family that owns the ranch is from Orange City!

Won't she make a beautiful bride? Love that red hair!



This last one is probably my favorite of the day...

To Dan and Kaitlyn: Thanks for the fun session and for smiling through the rain! Have fun the rest of your summer!!

Meet Brenda!

About six months ago, Brenda agreed to come and help me organize my office and take care of my bookkeeping. I think a lot of her because not only is she a good friend who I have known since college, but organizing my office and bookkeeping has been quite an unenviable task and she has done a wonderful job! :-)

Brenda is also quite popular with my kids, because yesterday she and her family donated three adorable kittens to the Bartels farm! Here is a picture of Brenda that I sneakily took when she came over to get her kids' pictures taken!

Here is one of the kittens-Hobbes-"reading" a Calvin and Hobbes book. The other two kittens' names are Calvin and Susie.

A couple favorites of Steve and Brenda's adorable kids...

Jamie and Jason

I met Jamie and Jason in Sioux Falls a couple of weeks ago for their engagement session. I always enjoy shooting somewhere new, especially on such a beautiful day! We started at Falls Park...


Then we went for a little walk down town...



We ended up at a little place that is a favorite of Jamie and Jason's...

Jamie and Jason: I enjoyed meeting you and am looking forward to your wedding in a few months! Thanks for showing me around Sioux Falls a little!

I just put the kids to bed 15 minutes ago...

...when suddenly I hear a stampede of footsteps coming down the stairs: "Mom! Look at the beautiful rainbow!" It was way more beautiful and vibrant than I can capture in this image, but I wanted to share this sunset rainbow with you anyway. A good reminder to me...God keeps His promises!

I just wanted to say...

...Happy Father's Day, Eric! I can't imagine a better Dad for our children or a better leader for our family! I love you!

On a cool and blustery saturday a few weeks ago...

...Jenna and Josh tied the knot! The night before the wedding I lay in bed listening to the wind howl and I hoped that it would be quiet in the morning. But it was not to be, as I awoke to the same wind, but at least no rain.

After blowing into the church with my equipment and setting up, I went in search of the bride. And there she was-totally peaceful and absolutely radiant! Josh was equally calm and happy!

As it ended up, we were able to spend lots of time outside and get way more great outside shots than I ever imagined that day! In fact I have so many favorites that I had a difficult time narrowing them down. Here are some of them:
Jenna's gorgeous dress and beautiful flowers...

A private moment-Josh and Jenna's first look.

the wedding party outside...

and just the couple

Jenna-stunning bride...


we made a quick stop at a park between the ceremony and reception.

at the Sioux County Court House

the wind kept picking up Jenna's veil!


the getaway car was a '76 convertible of some kind-Camaro maybe? OK, so I am not a car buff!

Jenna and Josh, thank you so much for letting me capture some of the fun of your wonderful day! It was truly a blessing in so many ways!
Vanessa

It has been so rainy this spring...

...but that did not keep Megan and Patrick from getting some great outside (and inside) images for their engagement shoot!

Megan...

This is way more than what I usually do for post processing on my images, but I thought this style really fit this couple and so I had fun with it!

Patrick...

They are a beautiful couple...

...and you can see they love to have fun together!

Thanks for being patient, Megan and Patrick! You image gallery will be online tonight! I so enjoyed meeting you and very much look forward to your wedding later this summer!!