I love my photography job. And I also love my coffee shop job. I love them both because I get to work with such fun, awesome people!!

I work with Alex one evening a week and it is not enough!! Sometimes I wish she was not a senior in high school so that she could work more hours and I could see her more often! However, since she IS a senior in high school, that gave us an excuse to go around and do some fun photos this weekend! :-)

Don’t you think this next photo could fit right into a clothing catalog??

My favorite part about working with couples is hearing the story of how they met. Richard + Erika went to school knowing each other, and are technically high school sweethearts – they started dating just a few days before graduation! However, their first kiss was at prom…and they weren’t even each other’s dates!!! :-) Graduation came and went, Erika moved to Vermillion for school and Richard went Sioux Falls (almost an hour drive in-between). Richard then moved to Hawaii for school (more than an hour drive, but definitely an awesome location to vacation!) before he came back to South Dakota to finish school in Vermillion.

I believe that living in separate towns and working through a long-distance relationship can really make a couple stronger. Sunday was the first time I met Richard + Erika and I knew right away that they are perfect for each other. The went to high school together. They dated all through college – even with half the country and an ocean between them! They have grown up together and now they get to grow old together!!

Richard + Erika – thanks for being so great! I still can’t believe you laid on the ground when it was a little muddy!! I hope you enjoy your photos, and I can’t wait for your wedding in May!!

When I arrived at Bethany’s parents’ house, I was welcomed by a swarm of already-dressed bridesmaids watching over Bethany as she finished getting her hair and makeup done. I love it when all the girls are smiling and ooh-ing and aah-ing over the bride. Bethany put on her dress and the girls smiled and aww-ed over her some more. Jeff saw Bethany for the first time before photos and the admiration didn’t stop there. Everything about the wedding gave me warm fuzzies inside – from the Christmas lights illuminating the altar, to the hot apple cider and big red tissue paper flowers at the reception. Everything was beautiful, relaxed and well put-together, just like Jeff + Bethany.

When Bethany asked if they could do their first look on this bridge at the end of a gravel road, I jumped up and down and said “yes, please!”

Bethany + Kaitlynn – I know that you two have this constant battle to get photos of each other making weird faces. In these next two photos, I wasn’t even trying – you just happen to make funny faces a lot and they were bound to be captured by me. :-)

Jeff + Bethany – I hope you are having a fabulous honeymoon!! Safe travels, and enjoy your photos!! :-)

As I write this, I am crossing things off my ‘to-do’ list before I drive back to Brookings for Jeff + Bethany‘s wedding tomorrow!! While I’m on that side of the state, I am also going to be doing Richard + Erika’s engagement session for their wedding in May! I’m also meeting up and having coffee with Brandon + Laurie – another wedding for next summer!

This weekend I will be in heaven. Photographing Jeff + Bethany’s wedding, and meeting two other awesome couples. Have I mentioned before that I could do this every weekend? Love it!!

Because blog posts are better with photos… here is a photo from Jeff + Bethany’s engagement session to remind you how simply adorable they are!

This morning I woke up three hours earlier than normal. Just for a sunrise. My mom asked if we had beautiful sunrises here and I said “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out!” We certainly do. All these photos are from the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park.

*Disclaimer: I am in no way shifting from weddings to nature photography. It’s just fun to experience different adventures once in a while. :-)

And of course there was wildlife on Wildlife Loop Road…this doe stared right at me for the longest time. I really wish I had seen a buck so that I could tell Lance and his dad that I ‘shot’ a buck (they are both out hunting for the ‘trophy buck’ today)!

There were also many, many buffalo. I felt like I was driving through the Roundup. Here’s one little guy:

Don’t expect many more sunrise shoots from this girl. It was fun and exhilarating and beautiful…for about 30 minutes. Before that I was half-tempted to stay in bed. After the sun was up I wanted to either go back to bed or go get a big caramel roll latte!!