Welcome 2010!

Welcome 2010!

Thanks to all our amazing clients, wonderful friends and loving family for a great 2009!

We had a very successful year. We photographed 24 weddings and each was wonderful . New clients brought new friends and great times :)

A few highlights from the year:

First was attending The Mid-America Institute of Professional Photography (MAIPP) with my friend Jenni Hahn (www.jennihahnphotography.com). We had so much fun on our week stay in Iowa learning from Masters of photography. I studied under Chris Carlson (www.carlsonphotography.biz) from Wisconsin. It was well worth the 14 hour drive.

In June, Chris went part-time with FourFront to become more involved with the studio. It was so nice to be able to work with each other during the week and on the weekend for weddings. We also had two amazing interns from Black Hills State University. We enjoyed the extra help and creative input and hope they learned lots as well.

In late July we packed up our Subaru and headed for the East Coast to photograph a wedding in Washington DC! We took the long way... and found our selves camping in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Twelve-Mile Beach. SHHH.... This is suppose to be a hidden secret, but it was so breath taking it is hard to describe how peaceful, relaxing and uncrowded the campground and beach were.

We arrived in Fairfax, Va a few days early to play tourists before the wedding. Washington DC is somewhere everyone must go in their lifetime. The monuments are amazing and huge! It is like you are walking around an empire.

Our whole experience was wonderful as both Sara & Andrew and their families were very accommodating and treated us just like family.

In the fall, Chris created LaRvArT (www.larvart.com). It is truly amazing what he can do with great images, perfect lighting and details.

Our biggest and most exciting decision of 2009 was closing our first studio location. I was so overloaded with the workload of our expanding business this fall. I am incredible thankful for it, but we’ve decided in order to accommodate our clients and be better photographers we needed more space.

So we will be putting our home up for sale in the next week and are currently looking for the next location for Black Hills Portraits! (We are definitely staying in Spearfish!)

I am looking forward to what 2010 will bring!

A year of experience and knowledge as I journey to Las Vegas with Erin Vossler (www.lifeinpicturephotography.com), Sara Munneke (www.studio5sd.com) & Jenni Hahn (www.jennihahnphotography.com) for the Wedding & Portrait Photographers
International (WPPI) convention!

A year of change as we open a new studio location and growth for our business. Lots of new sessions and products are in the works.

Time with our family, friends and clients will make 2010 our best year yet!

Wishing everyone the best for the New Year,

Loni & Chris LaRive

Here are just a few highlights from 2009! There are more on Facebook! As always, you can view more of our work on our website.

Emily DeCook - AnyTime

I needed to get out of the house with all this snow and Emily was totally up for the idea of being my model today while I tested some new equipment.
We had a blast running around town trying to find areas to photograph. We did, but it was at the cost of walking and standing in 3 ft snow drifts. LOL!
Thanks Emily, you are growing up so fast and are a beautiful young lady. :)

All in the Details

Details, Details, Details..... I love details. Here are a few more highlights from Kristi and Bret's wedding in November.

Locations and Details make for wonderful photographs. And Spearfish Canyon Lodge was an excellent choice for their ceremony. Sonya's hair salon in Spearfish was amazing as usually to work with. And Cynthia Massine, owner of Bent Willion Designs did an incredible job with the flower arrangements and decorations! Get ahold of Cynthia at 605-645-0927 or bentwilliowdesigns@rushmore.com

My Hero!

As I become older and hopefully wiser, my views change. But one view that will never change is my hero. A man I love to talk to, listen to, laugh with and look up to. I am so proud of my dad!

He has been with the postal service for almost 26 years now. Chris and I met up with him on his route yesterday and had a few minutes of fun between houses. Here are a few from our outing. Enjoy!

It's Here!

LaRvArT is ready online at www.larvart.com And it is a great idea for Christmas presents.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon! LaRvArT a division of Black Hills Portraits. Details next week.

Garrett - Lead-Deadwood

Here is a sneak peek of Garrett's senior section. I was really fun to work with and brought his guitar. We love working with props that bring out personality. We've added the first image to our LarvArt collection.

Email is Working!

Our email is back on track! Thanks.

Email Down

Our email is down again :( Call me at 722-0802 or email portrait_photos@hotmail.com until we get it going again

Edwards 5 +

The Edwards, and their families were so much fun on the holiday weekend! I am looking forward to editing through all the families and their personalities :) Thanks everyone you did a great job!

Sydney & Kanin Wedding

Sydney and Kanin are married! I've known Sydney since she was five years old, so it was a fun and emotional day. I am excited to share more about this amazing couple, but for now, here is a sneak peek.

A happy Goodbye!

“Do you want to shut this?” asked Chris. And I nodded a slow yes. I was shutting the door of my first studio. My very first studio! Just moments ago, we got into our own cars as I welled up with tears, I’m sure he saw me in his head lights as I sat there looking at it in my rear view mirror.

It was mine, the place I had started my dreams as a professional photographer. I pulled out and drove the blocks to home crying, I am both sad about the change and excited about the next to come. We feel we have officially outgrown our studio space and need more room to suit our clients.

So, here it is, our big news. We are moving!!!

We don’t know when exactly, but we are planning on knowing by the spring. So stay tuned on our exciting adventure as I update the blog and Facebook about our newest decisions. :)

If you need to pick up or place an order, please call me at 722-0802 or email me at blackhillsportraits@rushmore.com

We are still photographing outdoor and on-location sessions for the winter season!

Thanks to all my supportive clients, friends & Family!!! We would not be here if it weren’t for you.

Thank you,

Black Hills Portraits

By LaRive

Fisher Family Sneak Peek

A beautiful day at Canyon Lake Park with the Fisher Family.

Kristi and Bret Sneak Peek

Kristi and Bret's love for each other is so pure and real, I am super excited to blog about this beautiful Spearfish Canyon wedding! But for now, here is a peek. :)

These were the moments before they saw each other for the first time. They were both incredibly calm and excited for their first moment together.

To:Clients Message:Thank YOU!

Thank You to all of my clients who have been so patient. We have been so excited by the rate in which our business has been growing :) But with growth comes alot more work. And so orders have taken much longer than I had predicted.

I loved turning around orders in two weeks, but over the last three months most orders are taking 3-4 weeks and weddings up to 6 months (on albums).

I have also not be able to spend as much time on the blog updating Sneak Peeks and telling stories, sorry to those of you that did not get a sneak peek. Your business is very important to us and I am working out ways of improving our production and customer service.

Again thank you for your patience. We are currently in the works of lots of changes for the business and New News coming soon :) So stay tuned and keep checking for the big news!

And because a post is always better with a picture. Here is one from Halloween. Can you believe I photographed a bride on Halloween! LOL.

AnyTime Session! Sneak Peek :)

Greg Stagner - Lead Deadwood High School

Jami Iverson - Sturgis Senior!

Leslie Simons

Abbi & Brooklin Sneak Peek!

Sami & Nate Engaged!

Sami & Nate are planning a winter wedding! They were able to make a quick trip home from Utah to start the planning and have a fun Engagement Session. Here is a sneak peek

Engagements!

I was so excited to photograph Aaron & Erin's engagement session on such a beautiful fall day. They are such a great couple and you could really see there was a comfort in each others arms all afternoon. I can't wait for their 2010 June wedding.

Black Hills State University

I was honored this week to speak in front of a classroom of photography students from Black Hills State University. I shared my business and what I've learned in the business world from the last five years. I am super excited for the photography program at BHSU as they are expanding with new classes every year. They are in the process of gaining a photography studio to their work space as well. Thanks Steve Babbit for calling and asking me to speak to your students!

Tim & Renee Engagements!

Time for a love story!!

She was working for Chadron State giving tours to new students when she first laid eyes on him. He was an athlete getting settled in on campus and still remembers the way she looked that first day. Tim and Renee have "IT"! They really do, you can see how much they love each other in the way the look at each other, smile at each other, touch each other and best of all the tone they converse with each other. Chris and I had so much fun getting to know these two as a couple. We are very excited to document their wedding day this next 4th of July!

Thanks to our friend Jenni for connecting us. Jenni is an amazing photographer in Rapid City. (www.jennihahnphotography.com) Jenni gets to be in the wedding and enjoy being a friend!