Hey everybody! Each year, I reflect, either publicly or privately, about the year. Typically, it’s to celebrate some successes, give thanks, and then make some goals for the upcoming year. 2020: One of My Favorite Years Ever This year was one of the best of my entire life. Yeah, you read that right. I am…

Fall Baby Photos might be my new favorite. Showing up an hour early to a photo shoot has its advantages. Tyler, Scout, and I decided to make the most of our time during a recent senior portrait session. Our senior portrait client, who lives in Oklahoma, wanted to shoot at Sassafras Springs Vineyard in Northwest…

Today my baby girl turns 16 years old. I’ve told myself that at least a hundred times today, because I heard once that if you hear something enough you start to believe it. Well, I can’t believe it. Have you ever had someone look up to you and love you unconditionally? Like, truly unconditionally? I…

And Introducing Tyler Lucille: the most amazing woman in the world If there is one thing the birth of Scout Lucille taught me, it’s that’s I married a mighty, incredible woman. She is strong in EVERY way. Let me back up. She wrote in her birth plan that she wanted to be as natural as…

As a former newspaper journalist, I’ve grown to have real disgust at trite expressions. That being said, what a difference a year can make. This time last year was rough… This time last year I was unmarried, had just lost a huge account (which was 1/2 of my photography income) and wasn’t going to church.…

Hey everybody! We’ve been rockin and rollin over here at the Benfield household getting the gender neutral nursery ready for “Dilly.” If you are wondering if “Dilly” is the baby’s name, it’s not. We don’t have a name! Actually, we don’t even know the gender. We just started calling our baby Dilly after the first…

Hi everyone, this is Tyler! I’ve taken over Dale’s blog today to talk about … myself. Or rather, my last maternity shoot. A boudoir maternity shoot. First, though, let’s talk about boudoir in general. If you would have told me two years ago that I’d do a boudoir shoot at all, let alone a boudoir…

I’m probably not the person you need to be reading. Tyler is by far the better writer in this marriage. She has a way with words that can make you cry and then laugh in the same sentence. I’m not joking… it literally happened this morning when I was reading Tyler’s pregnancy announcement post on…

I had the UNIQUE privilege of photographing my own wife’s bridal portraits. Pretty cool right? Tyler has always wanted me to shoot her wedding and bridal portraits, and since I couldn’t do the wedding (LOL), it was important to both of us that I be able to photograph the bridal portraits of her in her…

It’s been a month now since we returned from our honeymoon… and we finally finished the laundry! Hahaha, just kidding (but no judgement for those who take an extended amount of time to unpack after vacation)! As I was thinking back about our time in Mexico, I am so thankful we took a honeymoon right…

A year ago yesterday, I walked in to SnackLab in Bentonville for what would turn out to be my last non-vegan meal. Ironically, I’m sitting in the same restaurant typing this on my one-year vegan anniversary as I pound an Earthgrain bowl (filled with quinoa, rice, sweet potatoes, spicy tofu) thinking back on a year…

Hi friends! Sneak peeks are so fun, amiright? I love surprising my clients with favorites from our session or our wedding. I finally got to experience that from a client’s perspective when Susie (our wedding photographer) sent us a teaser on Tuesday. I thought I’d take a minute and share 5 of my favorite moments…