Tricia | Miller Class of 2023 | Central South Dakota Senior Photographer

If I wait until the last possible moment (10 days before we are set to take her to college), it’s not real, right????? It sounds so cliche saying “it goes so fast” but, seriously. I should not have an 18-year-old daughter.

Originally, I thought I didn’t need to schedule my own daughter. I mean, we lived together, it shouldn’t be that hard to find time to take some pictures. 😂😂😂 Her first official senior picture was when she tagged along while I shot one of her best friend’s images. We got a real start on her photos when we made it a point to take some “outfits” along when the kids and I snuck up for a few days last July to visit my family on a lake in northern Minnesota.

The sunflower sessions were some of my favorites. The shots in the field of sunflowers were taken in a quick 30-minute window of sunset. I was working late at the newspaper when she called exclaiming, “We’re doing this tonight; I’ll be ready when you get home.” A few nights later, she broke Gyro free from his stall rest for his first exercise outside since he suffered a potentially life-threatening cut and subsequent infection just six weeks prior.

Tricia was on a roll then. We had a marathon day planned. The morning was set aside for two of her Miller Rustler teammates and her in the school gym for the sports portion of each of their senior sessions.

Followed by a trip to my parents that afternoon to take a few in our old family barn and at one of the prettiest spots there is along the Missouri River.

Next up….college visits to Wyoming (which were successful!) Along the route, we made it a priority to build time in our travel schedule for a few shots in the mountains. The air was thick with smoke from Canadian wildfires, but she made the best of it.

The final session: horses. Beginning with the golden child, MJ. Words cannot describe how special this horse is to the entire family. He was born on our family ranch, out of my mother-in-law’s favorite mare, just two months after Patricia so they have grown up side by side. My father-in-law trained him and rode him for a number of years until he offered him to Tricia to use when an injury the day before a rodeo necessitated a substitute. She was scared to death to ride Grandpa’s horse. It didn’t take long for Grandpa to lose his horse. Since then, he’s been used by all three of our kids in darn near every ranch and rodeo event and always, always takes care of whoever is on top of him. And, yes, he will be heading to college this fall right beside her.

Then we added in the whole posse…it takes a herd to raise a rodeo kid. This photo represents every horse she has competed on: Oakie, MJ, Beau, Gyro, Monk, Nickle, Frosty, Peppy, and Cricket.

We finished inside our practice barn and included some of her rodeo awards along with her three main rodeo horses with special attention to the pony that started it all. Oakie the wonder pony was all three of my kids’ first rodeo horse and has since moved on to be loved by my four- and two-year-old nephews.