Lions Club Ladies' Night Out!

Vendors, food, drinks, door prizes, a guest speaker, and a prom dress review were all packed into the Queen City Lion's Ladies Night Out at the Spearfish Holiday Inn on Thursday night!  Guest speaker Michelle Kane, from Black Hills PR spoke about "Social Media for Power Women", which was followed by a review of stunning prom dresses from Kathleen's Unique Boutique in downtown Spearfish, and modeled by several beautiful young ladies from Spearfish High School!

Donated door prizes!

 Beautiful center pieces!

 A wide variety of vendor booths!

 And beautiful dresses and models!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this fundraiser a success for the Queen City Lions! If you missed this night out, don't fret...another Ladies night is in the works for this fall!!! All of the proceeds go to local charities!

Spring in the Black Hills!

Well, although spring is officially here, it sure feels like winter! With the temperature hovering around 35 degrees F and a foggy drizzle in the air, I thought I would pack up my camera and see if I could find a bald eagle or a hawk out looking for some lunch.  After making the loop around Hwy. 14 and Crook Mountain Rd., to no avail, I decided to drive toward St. Onge, which always seems to be a photography jackpot! A deep fog had settled in, along with a light "slush" falling from the sky, not ideal photography conditions, but I wasn't one to give up easily!  And I was glad I didn't, because after testing out the 4WD in my 4Runner on a couple of very muddy, "not maintained" roads, I finally found what I was looking for!

Okay, so they aren't raptors, but it was still a very peaceful and beautiful scene!

Then, back out on the highway and heading home, I stopped and got a picture of this old house...

I have driven past this house at least 100 times thinking there has to be a picture there, but no matter how many times I stopped, I just didn't like it...the light was wrong, the surroundings were wrong, etc.  FINALLY, this was it! I'm not sure what has more mud on it, the 4Runner, me, or my camera...but it was all worth it for a great morning of photography!

All of these images can be purchased as matted and framed prints. View more images at Thompson Photography ~ The Black Hills of South Dakota .  All custom matting and framing is done locally in Spearfish by Focus West Gallery.

Spring School Portraits!

Are you tired of those same old boring school portraits? How about a 20-minute mini session for only $35.00! All images are professionally retouched and uploaded to a password-protected gallery for ordering...you are not obligated to buy packages full of unneeded prints!

 Call 605-641-2335 or email Jana at jmthompson@spe.midco.net for details!

Sharp-Tailed Grouse

It has been a lot of fun watching some new visitors to the neighborhood recently...several sharp-tailed grouse have been foraging through the trees looking for berries, spending quite a bit of time in my crabapple tree right outside my office window.

Once a sharpie sets up a territory, they are usually a permanent resident, so it will be interesting to see if these beautiful birds stick around for a while!  Several more game bird images can be viewed at Thompson Photography ~ Game Birds.  All of these images are available as fine art prints in a variety of sizes and can be ordered with mats only or matted and framed.  All custom framing and matting is done locally by Les Voorhis of Focus West Gallery, using a variety of American hardwoods, so you can be assured you are receiving a high-quality product handmade by South Dakota artists!

A Couple of Black Hills Raptors!

It was so beautiful out this afternoon, I had to get out of the house and go for a short drive!  Every morning, my husband is seeing at least 10-15 ferruginous hawks near St. Onge and Whitewood, so I headed that direction to see if I could get some good pictures.  I had only gone a couple miles when I found my first hawk, but he didn't stick around long as soon as I started to slow down!

Just around the corner, there was a kestrel having some lunch!

I got some great photos of him enjoying his lunch, and then headed towards Whitewood to see what else I could find.  Although I saw at least 10 more hawks, they were all busy hunting and most of them were too far from the road for photos.  That's okay though...it was a wonderful afternoon to get out of the house and go for a short drive!

A Visit from a Flock of Bohemian Waxwings

Every year, I get a visit from some of my favorite birds, a huge flock of Bohemian waxwings!  Although everything I read says they are rare in the Black Hills, they are a yearly visitor to my crabapple tree...usually stripping it bare within about 15-20 minutes and then traveling on.  But during their brief visit yesterday, I was fortunate to be at my desk with my camera ready, and I was able to take more pictures of waxwings than I will ever need!

These birds are so much fun to watch as they frantically eat every berry in sight, taking flight as every car drives by, then flying back in as a flock minutes later.  They had my tree stripped in no time and then were gone...leaving me with a memory card full of the antics of these colorful, entertaining birds!

Basketball Season is Upon Us!

Winter is here, and that means BASKETBALL season!!!  I started out the season with an 8th grade girl's game Thursday night at Spearfish Middle School between the Spearfish Spartans and the Douglas Patriots.  Some game highlights are below, but all of the images can be viewed and purchased on my website at Thompson Photography.