Black Studios - Sioux Falls area photography for wedding, senior & family pictures » Black Family

Clear cold morning – what an improvement over yesterday!

Mike — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:27:58 +0000

What a difference a day makes! Last night is was COLD and windy. This morning wasn’t too bad with temps around 20 below and no wind. The van complained when I started it and it made various noises. The steering wheel did not want to turn. After warming up for 20 minutes at the Rambler Stop while I had coffee, it was nice and toasty warm. I know I’m lazy for driving two blocks, but it’s cold out there!

I don’t think that we will be working on Dacey’s tractor until it warms up. We need to split the tractor and send the engine out for repair. Until then we use it as a prop.

You could see across the field this morning. Yesterday everything was white.

Day 4-Snowed in Again

ElizaBeth — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:23:43 +0000

Yep, we are definitely beginning to get cabin fever, after another day of blizzard conditions. School was let out yesterday at 11:00 am. Temperatures dropped from a balmy 8 degrees at noon to somewhere in the teens below zero last night. Winds picked up to 20-30 mph, and temperatures continue to drop tonight into record temps below zero. We all get a little antsy being cooped up, even too cold to send the kids out into the snow or Mike out to shovel. Once again, our neighbors came to our rescue and cleared out our parking areas, but the sidewalk will have to wait until I can be outside for more than five minutes.

The beef stew was yummy last night, so I was a little more health-conscience today and made chicken breasts, wild rice, and asparagus, today. The asparagus made me at least feel a little springy.

For exercise, no luck getting out to the community center, so I finished cleaning closets in my bedroom. Gentlemen, did you know housecleaning is an aerobic exercise? I guarantee Mike felt it as he had to haul the up-teen bags of garbage out yesterday that I had stored for way too long. For an extra workout, make sure you do the floors on your hands and knees, works the abs and does a better job in the corners. And, I am sure we all have those boxes we have put away until a day when we have nothing better to do. All that lifting and stretching must count for something. Now, I have a clean bedroom and a brand new bedspread set, thanks to Mom and Charlie for Christmas.

Dr. Phil says when you lose weight make sure you get rid of your old sizes so you can’t go backwards. I’ve really tried to do that, if for no other reason than I don’t really have the closet space to keep clothes I’m not wearing. It was kind of fun to get rid of the last of the clothes from my heavier days today, even some from when I first started losing weight. Of course, I also don’t see any point in saving or, for that matter, buying clothes that I might get into some day. The one thing I have noticed is that even when I lose the weight, that “some-day, might-fit” outfit never really fits right. I have been known to buy clothes and especially shoes that I think fit great in the store and when I get home wonder what in the world I was thinking.

Just in time for the blizzard, netflix sent me the “Biggest Loser” Workout. I’m not one to buy workout videos, because I get bored with the same workout over and over. But I figured netflix was a great way to try it out. Then I can trade it in for a different video when I’m bored with it. Rachel and I moved out the couch in the studio, and played the dvd on the projection screen. I didn’t mess around with the extras too much but it has a six-week workout plan, with half hour episodes, and also a customizable option. If you’re a “Biggest Loser” fan, it has a lot of familiar faces on it, and the work out group are old contestants, so they are not in such perfect shape that you mind making mistakes with them. I was able to complete most of the workout, even though my “glutes” were killing me, thanks to Lisa yesterday. Mike wouldn’t join me because he was still whining about yesterday’s workout.

Suggestion for the day: Use the stairs. I don’t really have great stairs to use at home, but I make sure I use the ones at the CC, and other places when I find them. Do them double time and get your heart rate up. If you’re walking or, heaven forbid, running the track, take a set of stairs every time you make a lap. You can use the main stairs or the emergency exit stairs next to the aerobics room. If you have stairs in your house, take the clothes and kid’s stuff up every time you have something that needs to go up, instead off stacking everything until later. No, it’s not more efficient, but think of all those extra calories you burn if you take a few extra trips up those stairs. You will definitely notice the extra work on the hip flexors and glutes.

Rachel is playing in the Pep Band

Mike — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:53:45 +0000

Well at least for one night… Rachel was very excited to play along with the older kids in the Pep Band for the ORR/Elkton game held in Rutland on Tuesday night.

South Dakota Sports Photography: Rachel’s season is over!

Mike — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 02:05:16 +0000

We never knew that basketball could be such a rough and tumble sport at such a young age. Girls are much more agressive than the boys at the elementary school level.

Our family pictures

Mike — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 01:49:38 +0000

Photographers are the worst at taking time to have their own family portraits taken.

We’ve been so blessed to have our good friends, the Melby’s in Brookings, take our pictures again this winter.

What is this you say? A photographer bragging up a competitors work!?!?

The photography world is really very small. We may be competitors in business, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends. Most of the established studios have good social relationships with their peers. Besides the obvious comraderie that is shared, we can count on each other in times of need or emergency. That is great peace of mind when you are your own boss.

Many of us refer work back and forth, especially when we are already booked for a wedding.

Now anytime is a great time to get your family picture taken. So many people put it off until they lose that weight or get that perfect haircut. Years and years can go by without any visual record of your family. Kids grow up and parents grow old and die. So before too many more grey hairs populate your head and your kids graduate and move out, consider making an appointment with the photographer of your choice for your family pictures.

Today we are celebrating 31 straight days of daily entries in our blog. One of our New Year’s resolutions was to blog every day. It isn’t always easy to take the time to share a few images along with a few thoughts. We are also in the midst of another New Year’s resolution that we all make: to get in shape. We are now regular patrons of the Community Center in Madison. Michael is at the mercy of a personal trainer named Justin while ElizaBeth so far prefers to work out without “encouragement.” Ibuprofen is wonderful stuff. So far, it seems to be working and there is less of us than 3 weeks ago. Everyone says that you get used to it after while…They lied. Personal trainers push you harder than you would ever push yourself. The thought does run through your mind: “I am paying someone to push me so hard that I can’t lift my arms at the end of the session. This is not logical.” Not only do they get you stronger, they vary the routine to find your weaknesses. They have found them.