Business Update: Where have I been & What have I been up to!

Well it’s been a little over 5 months since my last update. I have been meaning to give you all an update sooner but today is the day I actually do it & not keep putting it off. I’m going to be honest not much in business world has been going on, its been pretty slow but I still think it’s worth give any update about it! I do have a lot to catch you up on so let’s get into it!

After the last update was posted, a few days later, I made a short trip out to the farm to take some photos of my dad out harvesting the 2023 crops. It felt good to get out of the house & get my camera out again since it had been a while. Most of my days consist of doing my household & mom duties so that doesn’t always leave a lot of time to get out & photograph landscapes & other thing. Not much went on after that until the end of November of 2023.

On Thanksgiving weekend, I photographed the Horn Family’s Family Portraits. It was a cold & windy day, but they made it work for everyone involved. Since they have a big family, we couldn’t all fit in the Studio, so they were able to make nice backdrop with some round bales in their shed. It really worked out great & the photo turned great as well.

Also in November, I hosted a Christmas Mini Session Event & unfortunately, I didn’t have anyone book before the event date came or come in the day of the event. This was the 2nd time I tried to host mini sessions at the Studio, the other was around Easter 2023 & had no luck with that one either. Since then, I have decided maybe Mini Sessions maybe just aren’t my thing, so I do not plan to host anymore as of right now. Even though the event didn’t work out the way I hoped, still I decided to extend the deal out for 2 more weeks & I had the Tuntland Family book their mini session & they brought along their dogs & the dogs were dressed for the event! They came in their Christmas Sweater & it made the photo even more fun! Check out the photos to see what I am talking about!

Business was slow in December…not much happened, just me decorating the Studio window for the Christmas Season. And I decided to try out something new & I offered a deal called Santa’s is Coming to Your House. It was an opportunity to get a silhouette of Santa & his reindeer photo-shopped onto photo the outside of your home to show to your kids or grandkids that there was photo proof Santa had visited their home on Christmas Eve. I had one person contact me about getting their house photo done & it turned out great! I hope their kids liked the photo too!

January started out with a big group photo of the crew at Stuart Electric in Tripp. I’m pretty sure that is the biggest group of people I have photographed since I’ve started doing photography! It turned out great & recently the owners ordered 2 large photo prints of the group & it was fun to get to create something other than just a typical sized photo & add in a design as well!

Within the last few months, I have created a new website & an Etsy Shop! My old website was made while I was in college that I used as part of my end the year assignment. I continued to use it up until a few months ago, when I found a new platform that would be better for me & allow me to easily share my online South Dakota Print Store more easily than the old website could. Feel free to check it out: https://lauraannephotograph.mypixieset.com/

The Etsy Shop was recently opened because I realized that I probably have been missing the target audience that just might be looking for one or more of the South Dakota Landscape & Scenery Prints I have in the Studio. I have sold 2 of the original prints that were in my last update but I still have 6 left & I would like to get them sold, so Etsy just seemed like a good place to post them. With the Etsy Shop being open now, I have been looking to different types of productsother than just Photo Printed Wall Decor to have in the shop. I recently asked my Facebook Followers for their opinions on the types of products & they suggested puzzles & greeting cards. I’m still looking into those products & I hope soon I can find something that will work for me & I can start ordering those products! Check out the Etsy Shop:https://lauraannephotoprints.etsy.com

I think I now have you up to date on what I have been up to in the past few months. Most of my days are filled with being with my 6th month old son, my corgi, & my Husband, when he gets home from work, plus a little bit of photography sprinkled in here & there. Business has been pretty slow like said in the beginning of this update & I just have to hope with the warm weather maybe business will pick up soon. It’s hard to say what will happen with this type of business. I hope to have another update again sooner than 5 months but I guess you will have to…

Stay Tuned!

Laura Anne Photography

2 Month Update & Future Plans!

Since my last blog post, there hasn’t been too much going on with my business but I figured its still worth giving an update on what I have been up to these past 2 months!

I’ll start where I left off in the last blog. To give you a refresher, my husband & I were getting ready for our baby boy to arrive & I had just started my Maternity Leave. And four days after I posted my last update, our son, Bennett Charles arrived! Born on September 2nd at 11:16 AM, weighing 8lb 3oz & 20 inches long! So I started out my Labor Day Weekend in labor & ended the long weekend by coming home with our cute little boy!

As you can see, these past 2 months have been filled with navigating new mom life & hanging out with my little boy A.K.A my Little Assistant. He likes to sit with me while I attempt to work on my computer & has been my model a couple times now, which will probably continue until he’s older finally tells me he’s tired of it! LOL

I haven’t been at the Studio much but when I was there last, I decorated my door & window to be festive for the Halloween Season. I hope to get a new backdrop system installed soon. This system will allow me to have about 10 rolled up backdrops ready to be used at anytime all from the push of a button! Definitely will be faster than the current backdrop system I have where I can only use one backdrop at a time.

Speaking of backdrops, I have few holiday/christmas themed backdrops that I would love to get to use this year! So I’m planning on hosting a Christmas Mini Session event when I get back from my Maternity Leave. Hopefully this will be something that will help get those last minute christmas card photos get done & ready to go out in December! You will have to stay tuned to my Facebook & Instagram Pages for future information that should be posted soon! I plan on running a sale or 2 my photo sessions so that everyone has the opportunity to come get so photos done & save a little money. And lastly, I still have some South Dakota Landscape & Scenery Prints available for purchase. They would make great Christmas Gifts for pretty much anyone on your Christmas Shopping List this year! You can also purchase from my Online Print Store, where you can choose from some other photos that I have in the Gallery & you can choose the size & material you want those photos printed on! Even better they ship right to your address of choice, just like shopping on Amazon or any other online store! You receive a High Quality Product all while supporting me & my Small Business! Just click the link to check it out! Laura Anne Photography Online Print Store

I hope to have more business-like things to give you all any update on again soon! My Maternity Leave is ending on November 6th, so if you are thinking about how you have been wanting to get some photos taken or you want to take part in the Christmas Mini Session event feel free to let me know either by email:lauraannephotograph@gmail.com or message me on Facebook or Instagram!

Stay Tuned!

Laura Anne Photography

Summer 2023 Update

Four months have gone by since my last update here on my blog. Unfortunately, after school ended for the year, business slowed down for me again. I did a few small print jobs, sold a few of the Prints off of my Gallery Wall at the Studio, & eventually a couple portrait sessions that took place recently. So this won’t be a super eventful update but just enough to make it worth give you all the update on what I have been up to!

In June, I was asked by two different people if I could print some photos of their own for them. The first client was a fellow church member of ours. He asked me to touch up & reprint some old photos that someone had found & he had never seen before & want to have his own copies of them. I took those photos & got them edited into a sharper & more clear form & printed them for him. He was very happy that I was able to get that done for him & couldn’t wait to show his friends & family & explain who the people in those two photos were & how they we related to his family. The second print job I did, was for a family friend of ours that had a photo that was taken by either him or his nephew while they were on their Alaska Trip a couple years ago. He decided he wanted to get that beautiful Alaskan Landscape photo printed on a 10×30 Metal Print with a thin float mount so that he could hang it in his office. After a few minor touch ups & sharpening, I ordered the Metal Print & it printed beautifully, once again, I had another happy customer! That same family friend just purchased both of my Old Beardsley Elevator Fine Art Prints from my Gallery Wall recently as well.

Since April, I’ve sold a total five of the Fine Art Prints off of the Gallery Wall. I was also asked if I would frame one of them for a client. Lots of great pieces are still available for purchase for anyone interested! The photo above shows what is still remaining on the Gallery Wall. As soon as, I sell a few more of those, I plan to print some more with the new photos I have added to the photo options. I might even print a few in some bigger sizes. Definitely something to look out for in the coming months.

As I mentioned before, I have done a couple portrait sessions within this last month. One of them was my Little Brother, Daniel’s Senior Portraits. Ever since I started doing photography, he has been my model, so he’s been preparing for this session since he was in Third Grade. And now he is finally in his Senior Year of high school & it’s sadly coming to the end of his time being my go-to model. We have done a few different sessions now to get all the photos we want to get done for his Senior Session. Eventually, we will do one more quick session to get a few of the remaining ideas. Here are a few of my favorites from the ones we got done so far.

The most recent session I did was a couple weeks ago. Caleb Finck contacted me & asked if we could get some quick cast photos taken for the Tripp Area Theatre Group to use for their upcoming play that is happening very soon! We got it done in no time & they turned out great. I’m sure the play will be awesome! It was great to get to work with the crew again as well.

Overall, even though business has been slow this summer, my husband & I have been busy in our personal lives getting ready to welcome our soon-to-arrive Baby Boy. My Maternity Leave officially started on August 20th & I plan to be on leave until November 6th. Currently, we are just taking this time while we wait for him to arrive to get everything as ready as possible & enjoy these remaining hours, days, or weeks we have left of it just being my husband & I along with our corgi as family of three before we become a family of four!

Stay Tuned!

Laura Anne Photography

May Update: Prom Portraits, 8th Grade Graduation, & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!

Well look at that it only took me a month to remember to write another blog post! It’s been a pretty busy month, so I figured I should give you all an update on what has been going on. I won’t make you wait any longer, let’s get into it.

I’ll start where I left off in the last post… Tripp-Delmont Prom Portraits! I was asked back again this year to take the formal couple & class portraits for the prom attendees at Tripp-Delmont’s annual prom. This year’s theme was A Night on Cloud 9 & it was very beautiful setup! I had quite good number of students come get their portraits taken & it was great turn out for the event itself! I hope to get asked back again next year!

A new event I was asked to photograph was the Parkston 8th Grade Graduates of this year. The students & staff had a great set up perfect for capturing photos of the individual students as well as getting that very large class to fit into the frame of my camera. That was so far the largest class I have ever taken a photo of & I’m sure it won’t be the last! Congrats to the Parkston 8th Grade Graduates!

As if April hadn’t been busy enough, my business neighbor, Jeana & I finally decided to set a date to have our building’s official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony & Open House! On April 29th, Jeana & I cut the ribbon to officially welcome our new remodeled building along with both our separate businesses to Tripp Main Street. We celebrated with our family & other community members! And yes, those giant scissors really do cut & are actually pretty sharp! It was great to finally give the community the opportunity come in & see our businesses & also get to know us a little better! We are so grateful to have the support of our families & community members by our side!

As you can see April was a pretty busy month for me, just like March had been as well. But that’s okay, that just means what I have been working for all these years is finally paying off. I hope have some busy summer months coming here soon!

Stay Tuned!

Laura Anne Photography

Studio Portrait Sessions & More!

Once again, I have gone MIA when it comes to posting blog posts, but I’m here now to give you all an update on what I have been up to since my last post! I mentioned in my last post that I had some sessions coming up on my calendar. Well all those session dates have come & gone, but that just means I have something to update you on! I have had about five different sessions take place from the end of February to the end of March. So you could say I have been kind of had a busy month or so!

Let’s start with the Senior Portraits I did for Ariene! She was in need of a few Senior Portraits for the yearbook & graduation things, so she came into the Studio to have them taken. This was the first session that took place in Studio, which was exciting for me to finally get to try out the space & get to use my studio equipment! Ariene’s session was just a quick Senior Portrait session, since she only need a few photos to choose from, so we knocked this session out in about 15 minutes. In the end, we got some great portraits of her to have to remember her Senior Year!

The next session I did was Business Portraits with the Neighborhood Veterinary Care Staff! Dr. Shawn had showed me what she was wanting their photos to look like & since all the staff members have pets, she thought it would be a great idea to incorporate them into each of the staff members individual portraits! I agreed with the idea & thought it was a very creative idea. Each member brought their pet or multiple pets into the Studio so that could take their individual portraits. We accomplished these photos with the help another staff member getting the animals to look at the camera while being bribed with some treats, which worked really well! Then we took a group photo with the entire staff together without the pets. This session went pretty smooth & fast & we ended up with some awesome portraits!

After the hanging out with the Vet Staff for a while that day, I had another session scheduled with one of their staff members right after their session finished up. Cara had asked if I would be interested in taking some End-of-Life Pet Portraits of her & husband’s dog, Cody, who was unfortunately coming to the end his life. I was happy to do it & so we captured photos of just her & Cody hanging out & her giving him some love. Her husband came to the session as well, & we got some photos of just him & Cody together too. Then we got some group shots of all three of them hanging out on Cody’s bed just like they would at home. By the end of the session, we got some great photos of the bond they both share with Cody individually & as a family. A week or so after the session, Cara informed me that Cody had passed away & she was so glad we did the session when we did! I was sad to hear about Cody’s passing but I was happy that I was able to capture those special memories for them to have forever!

About a week later, I took some photos of the cast of the Tripp Area Community Theatre for their upcoming play. Caleb had contacted me about having some photos taken for them use with a graphic designer to create a play poster & advertisements to let everyone know about the upcoming event. We got the exact photos he was envisioning & they looked great on the poster & in the play bill. After we got those photos done, Caleb also wanted to have some Business Portraits taken so he could have some new & update portraits to use for his businesses & other events he needs professional photos for. After having to reschedule the session because of snow storm we were finally able to accomplish the session & the photos turned out great!

You can definitely say I have been busy lately with my photography business… but that’s not the only thing that is keeping me busy. I am happy to announce my husband & I are expecting our first baby that is due to arrive in September! I guess you could say I’m going to busy with both the business & a baby pretty soon!

The next upcoming photography event I have is Tripp-Delmont’s Prom Portraits, so stay tuned to see the photos & hear all about all the other things I might be up to!

Laura Anne Photography

A New Year & New Adventures!

The Schiltz Family

Happy New Year! I know I’m about a month late to saying that, but January was kind of long & busy month. 2023 has seemed to start off pretty well for me & hope for all of you as well! How about we just get right into what I have been up to since I last updated you all?!

Let’s start with the Family Portrait Session I was asked to capture for the Schiltz Family. Deb & I used work together back when my husband & I lived in Yankton. We had a couple discussions about me coming & taking photos of her whole family but we just seemed to never get around to getting the time booked, thanks to the pandemic! I actually kind of forgot about the whole thing after my personal life got more hectic with moving & such. But then Deb contacted at the end of December of 2022 & asked if I would be available to come to Yankton to do the photos during their family’s Christmas get-together in January & it finally worked out! We managed to get their hotel room set up with the strobe lights & such & with the tight space we worked in, we got the session accomplished. It definitely helped with Deb’s organization skills getting everyone where they needed to be & when they needed to be ready to go!

Now for the announcement I have been waiting for quite awhile to tell you all about! It’s been many months in the making but I finally can officially announce that I now have a Studio location on Main Street in Tripp, South Dakota! I’m excited to finally have a location to have clients come to & have their sessions done in a studio setting! I will be offering more than just photo services. I have a plan to have an in-store print shop, where customers can come in a purchase my Landscape, Scenery, & Still-life photos that will be printed in Prints, Canvas, Gallery Wraps, Metal, & many more products! I also have an Online Print Store that offers the same prints & products that can be shipped directly from the printing lab to the customer’s home address! If you would like to check it out & maybe make a purchase feel free to click the link below!

https://lauraannephotograph.pixieset.com/lauraannephotographylandscapesandmoreprintcenter/

I can’t wait to advance my business more this year now having the Studio! I think I have some Sessions coming up pretty soon so I’ll update you all as soon as those happen!

Stay tuned!

Laura Anne Photography!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays Everyone!!

Click here to see this year’s Christmas Video!

Merry Christmas Eve, here is this year’s Christmas Video! I had a lot of fun working on this video & got more & more ideas as I was filming it. I hope you enjoy it!

Again Merry Christmas & have a fun & safe holiday! And stay warm, its definitely a cold one here in the midwest!

Stay Tuned for more to come!

Laura Anne Photography

Ready for Christmas 2022!

It’s hard to believe Christmas will be here in just a few short days, whether you’re ready or not! Hopefully, your week is going well, especially in these few short days leading up to Christmas. I have all my gifts wrapped up & under the tree, got a little bit of holiday baking done, & had couple Christmas Sessions completed, within these past couple weeks.

To start out the Christmas Season, I decided to take Aubrey’s Annual Christmas Portraits & try out one of my new-to-me Christmas backdrops. I really like how this backdrop looks, with a simple set up & few props. Also had to use my white backdrop to get a little bit of a winter wonderland look with a few hanging ornaments. It worked for what I needed at the time but definitely something to improve for next time. Of course, Aubrey used her modeling skills as usual & seem to know exactly what to do. Getting to work with the new backdrop gave some practice for the next session I did last weekend.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to photograph Paisley & her parents to celebrate Paisley turning 3-month-old pretty soon. Paisley’s mom wanted to go with a Christmas theme so, her & I both showed up to the session with lots of Christmas decorations & props to used & I think we blended our ideas pretty well. Paisley was giving us all different kinds of expressions & had lots of stories to tell us. We even got a couple family portraits of Paisley, Shelby, & Cody all together. I love how these photos turned out, & I was so happy to hear from Shelby that she loved them as well! I hope to get to work with them again soon!

There are some fun & exciting things coming in 2023 for Laura Anne Photography & I can’t wait to share it all with all very soon! I can’t wait to have even more sessions happen in the next year! Check back on Saturday, to see this year’s Christmas video I put together.

Stay Tuned!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Laura Anne Photography!

Another Life/Business Update+Getting Ready for Christmas!

Our new family photo!

My life has been pretty busy, hence why it took me this long to sit down & write this post. So now that life seems to be slowing down a little, I figured it was time to let you know what I have been up to recently!

Let’s talk about my seasonal job with Lifetouch. As of almost 2 weeks ago, we ended the 2022 Fall School Picture Season. The job was definitely a new experience for me! Definitely a lot more driving involved than I had originally thought there would be. But I learned a lot & I can’t wait to use the new techniques & tricks that I learned over the past few months, in my own business! This whole season, I had a lot of driving time to do, so after a while I discovered you can only listen to the radio, YouTube, & podcasts for so long, until you are just not in the mood to listen to any of it anymore. Which means I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do about considering doing another season with the company next year. As the season got closer & closer to ending, I was definitely for sure going through with my decision that I would be resigning from the job at the end of the season, & that’s just what I did! I’m very happy with my decision! I appreciate that I got the opportunity to do a job that actually made sense with my college degree, rather than just working in retail, like I have been since 2017. But I’m happy I’ll have more time to focus on my photography business!

Selfie of me after I finished my final scheduled job assignment!

Speaking of my photography business, I have an exciting announcement!! I opened my own Online Print Center, where you can order from a select few of my Animal, Still Life, Scenery, & Landscape photos & have them printed on 8 different material types to choose from! You can click or copy & paste the link below to view gallery & Store. The items ship directly to you, which is so convenient. https://lauraannephotograph.pixieset.com/lauraannephotographylandscapesandmoreprintcenter/

My husband & I took some time to take a new family photo since we haven’t had any done since our wedding last year. So he decided to pile up some leaves for our corgi, Aubrey to run through & play in but she ended up just running around the pile but it did get her energy out & calm her down for awhile. I took a few pictures of that fun event as well as the new family photo of all three of us.

On Black Friday, as we do every year, we set up all our Christmas decorations! This year’s Christmas is extra special for us, because it will be the 1st Christmas we get to spend in our house! Of course, I went all out when it came to decorating both inside & out! The Christmas Season is my favorite season to celebrate & decorate for. You can tell, because I have way more Christmas Decorations than I do for all the other holidays I decorate for throughout the year.

Now that the year is getting closer to the end, it’s time to get some more things figured out for what’s to come in the new year for my business, as well as my personal life! I hope to have some more good news to share with you very soon! But in the meantime, check out my social media pages to see more frequent updates!

Stay Tuned!

Laura Anne Photography 📷

Homecoming Football Action & Family Portraits!

It’s been almost a month since I’ve updated you on my photography activities! I’ve been pretty busy with my job with Lifetouch doing School Picture Day Photos, the season is coming to end soon though. But I have had some time to also photograph for my business as well! So let’s get into what I’ve been up to.

On Sept 30th, Tripp-Delmont celebrated their 2022 Homecoming. I was in the parade again this year. The theme was Cartoon Characters, so I made my float into Sully from Monsters Inc. I really liked how it turned out! I asked my dad to drive it for me while I walked down Main Street throwing some custom pens I had made with my business name & info! And then of course, I photographed the Homecoming Game. I got some great shots, even one with the team walking down Main Street to the field hand in hand, which I have been wanting to get a photo of for a long time now & I’m happy to say I can check that one off my list!

Speaking of photos to check off my list, I have been wanting to do more Family Portrait Seasons & I got to do that a couple weeks ago for the Fechner/Hotchkiss Family! I got a message one Sunday afternoon saying there was an emergency need for a photographer for this family’s very-well planned out Family Photo Day. And for me, that’s not a message I receive very often but I was glad to help this family out with their emergency! I went out to their family farms where they had each scene set up ready to go just as they had planned to use them for their photos. This session was all about the family, the memories, the important vehicles & tractors that are part of the family history. Everyone was so fun to work with, they even helped me pull off all the burrs I got on my shoes & pant legs while standing in one of their cornfields while capturing some photos for their session!

As you can see, I have been busy in my personal & business life! I hope to soon focus more on my business a little more in the coming months! Maybe even offer some Christmas Mini Sessions this year!

Stay tuned for more!

Laura Anne Photography 📷