About the Photographer
“Good photos are not expensive – they are a lifetime of memories and they will promote your horse business!”
Hi and welcome to my website!
My specialty is Equine Photography, but I've been known to take pictures of everything from llamas to buffalo, dogs, kids, special events, graduating seniors, engagements, weddings…..well, you get the idea!
My interest in equine photography came about because of the necessity to take good pictures of our own horses for sales, advertising and promotion. Living in SD and standing several QH and Paint Stallions, raising colts, showing and promoting the stallions and their get, we had to have pictures that made the all important first good impressions. And so my journey began. I started with taking a photography class at the local college, reading books, studying other equine photographers work, and practice, practice, practice! For a number of years I would drag my camera and my horses to the shows.
In 1995, I became serious about becoming a professional equine photographer when I was asked to be the horse show photographer at the ND State Fair. I called my friend Larry Larson, a top equine photographer in Rapid City, SD and spent a weekend with him to learn everything I could in that short time. A month later I spent another weekend helping Larry with a QH Show. Then Larry started his Equine Photography Clinics, which I attended for the following 3 years. I knew that if I wanted to be successful, I had to learn from another top equine photographer, and Larry is one of the best! Larry taught me many of the fine points I needed to know to take the quality photos people wanted.
I gave up showing horses at the shows and became the photographer, which I enjoy so much! I love the people and the satisfaction I get from giving them a great photo that they will cherish for many years to come! Of course, Tony has been a super sport about helping me at the shows. I couldn't do it without him!
In October, 2004, I made the decision to go digital and it was a good one. Now I am even more excited about my photography! So are my customers! They love the fact they can view their photos at the show or on-line.
For the past 12 years, we have been at various breed shows (Paint, QH, Appaloosa) in ND, SD, MN; along with Open Shows, English, Dressage & Jumping, including the ND State Fair for 5 years. I traveled to farms & ranches around the state to take on-site portraits of the stallions, colts, mares, Also included were photo sessions for graduating seniors and their horses, dogs, family portraits, engagement pictures, and a few weddings.
Our winters are spent in Apache Junction, AZ. In January of 2004, I became acquainted with Kim Cook of “I Shoot Horses” out of Scottsdale, AZ. Kim is also an equine photographer who shoots many of the bigger shows in AZ, CA, & the western states. I have been with Kim for the past 2 winters traveling around AZ & CA, shooting the big Scottsdale Arabian Show, San Diego Arabian Show, Bakersfield QH Show, AZ Paint Horse Shows, Cutting events, Reining, Working Cow events, Dressage, Sport Horse, etc. We even shot a car race through the desert at Barstow, CA.
Yes, we still have horses…3 paint geldings. We trail ride, and our favorite place is in the Theodore Roosevelt Ntl Park in the historic ND Badlands. We have been trail riding throughout the ND Badlands for the past 20 years, and probably have several thousand hours of wonderful riding memories there: the buffalo, elk, wild horses, rattle snakes, near wrecks, thrills, spills, bogs, storms, prairie fires, companionship with fellow campers/riders, evening camp fires, etc.
Please stick around for awhile and browse through my website. I hope to have a picture gallery up soon with some of my past photos and my AZ and CA photo favorites posted.
If you would like to have portraits taken of your horses, or anything else you cherish, just give me a call or send me an e-mail.
Marge
