New T-Shirt Coming Soon...With Smallish WINGS!!!???

Part of being a business owner is that you have to wear a lot of different hats or you will end up paying way too much money to farm out your everyday business work.  If a computer doesn't work, I fix it...if the taxes need to be paid, Steph does the necessary book work, if we need to update our marketing info, we both sit down and fight about design, content, ect.  (and Steph usually has the final say, and it is correct.)

My favorite part of the side hustle parts of this job is the marketing.  Social media, blog writing, public engagement and logo control.  Most people know that the LakeHaus brand is the one with the WINGS. 

When I made the original logo I had no idea just how brilliant the WINGS would be in developing a brand that people would recognize.  Honestly, I have even seen another recent start up photographer in South Dakota implement WINGS into their logo.  (I was a bit ticked and flattered at the same time, as I knew that they followed our work for quite a while and it wasn't a coincidence in branding.)

We have had many people tell us they love our marketing photos with the big WINGS on the images.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and this Blog help us keep our advertising costs very low and the WINGS and our amazing images set us apart from the rest of the pack.

That all being said, I designed a new t-shirt that will roll out in 2015....and the WINGS are kind of gone...Well, they aren't very prominent.  Steph made sure that I made an amendment to the final product to include the WINGS, but the new design is a nod to our family's love of music, and my musical roots.

One day while working on a new t-shirt design a song came up on shuffle that changed the design completely...the song was "King of Rock" by Run DMC.  My mind's eye instantly remembered the cover of the tape with that song on in back in 1980-something.  It was simple, white letters and 2 red rectangles.  This is my nod to the music that shaped my life, and hopefully will give LakeHaus Productions a bit more street cred!  HAHA.

Here is the design....coming soon to a t-shirt near you.

Red Bull Rampage

I used to do a bit of mountain biking when we lived in Sioux Falls...some buddies and I had a couple of local spots, and we would make a run out to the Black Hills every now and then.  I love watching guys on bikes pick apart things that look impossible and then back flip over the gap.  Amazing run.



Living With Bob.

Been a while, but I am back...sorry to my 4 faithful readers.

In retirement my dad kept one responsibility from his career in the banking industry...he writes an article for a locally-produced Chamber of Commerce magazine called Prairie Tracks.  His articles are quite popular in the region and while he was on his 17 day, 250 mile covered wagon journey he asked me to write his article for the month...here it is.

Living With Bob.

By: Tom Glanzer

(Tom Glanzer is guest columnist for his father Bob Glanzer who is currently driving a team of horses and a chuck wagon originally built in the 1880’s from Yankton, S.D. to Pierre, S.D. as a part of the 125^th Statehood Anniversary Wagon Train.)

I guess if you read my dad’s article in this publication enough you have read a few stories about me and my wife and kids, so I won’t bore you with who I am…I am Bob’s only son. (I have a sister, but she never caused a single parenting problem for my folks, so you won’t read any stories about her here.)

I believe the original agreement for Bob’s articles in Prairie Tracks was that he was to generate ag-based business stories.  He may have written a couple of those before he retired from American Bank & Trust, but shortly after that the article’s storyline morphed into the typical Midwest memory-type fodder that ends up being read by the great Jim Thompson or picked-off by DeSmet Farm Mutual.  Since I am the child that received my dad’s creative writing skills, he told me that I was writing his article this month while he “plays cowboy” on the wagon train.

Friday the 5^th of September, my son Brecken and I rode with dad on the wagon train from Tabor, to Scotland, S.D., and it was one more of those “things I have done that not many others have done.”  When you are Bob Glanzer’s kid you get multiple opportunities to do things that most other people in the world haven’t done.  

You see my dad lives life a little more full than most of us who prefer to be comfortable in our existence, and he taught Sally and me to push ourselves to live life to the fullest.  If there was an opportunity to try something new…you did it…and I still do.

As Brecken and I drove back to Huron after riding in a chuck wagon all day, we enjoyed the seat heaters in the Expedition and after a day like that you have to listen to country music.  Then the song came on…back in 2004, Tim McGraw had a country song called, “Live Like You Were Dying”.  A typical story-type country song about a guy diagnosed with a disease that would soon end his life, and when he found out he only had a short time to live…the hook of the song says this…

I went skydiving,

I went rocky mountain climbing,

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu

And I loved deeper

And I spoke sweeter

And I gave forgiveness I’d been denyin’

And he said, “Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.”

Well, with one of my earthly possessions sitting in the seat next to me I got a bit reflective about that song and I realized that I didn’t need to worry about trying to fit in all those things in before I die.  If God decides to give me a short time to live…I have already done all of the things in the song, and so much more…just living with Bob.

I have jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, I learned to rock climb at 12 years old in the Sierra Mountains of California, and back when I was riding bulls…I went 2.7 seconds on a number of bulls with really cool names. 

Dad has taught me to “live like you were dying” since I was like 5 years old….because of Bob I raced sprint cars, BMX bikes and know exactly how to power slide a rear wheel drive car on gravel or snow.  I have roped calves, rode bulls and broke horses to ride under the Alaskan sky. 

I have paddled a canoe down a pretty good stretch of the James River, rock climbed in 5 different states, played the drums for the late Kyle Evans, and also the guy who wrote Garth Brooks’ “Friends In Low Places”.  I love to surf, I live to wakeboard, I have been in a sail boat, and I was a passenger in a boat that sunk in the middle of a freak summer storm. 

My wife and I started a successful photography business 6 years ago with little more than $3,000.  When I worked in TV I interviewed and worked with some amazing and interesting people, Bishop Desmond Tutu, Kirby Puckett, Mr. Hockey - Gordie Howe, 1980 Olympic Hockey Coach Herb Brooks, former Gov. Bill Janklow, Randy Moss, Tom Kelly, Charles Barkley, and the list goes on.

Living with Bob basically prepared me for life…professionally, personally and spiritually.  So I guess the challenge, or the moral of my story is, don’t wait until you get that news from a doctor to “live like you were dying”.  Do it when you have your health, when your kids are young or when your parents are still alive.  You will never have enough money, enough time or the perfect day for it, you just have to do it.  If you wait for things like that you will be in the nursing home saying, “I wish I would have…”.

Finally and most importantly don’t forget the most important lines in that chorus, “I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter”.  Above all…those two things are the most important things I ever learned while “Living With Bob”.

LakeHaus Productions Offers "Life Moment" Video Product.

"Photos last a lifetime and pictures are worth a 1,000 words, right?"   I guarantee a newspaper photographer was the first one to ever say that phrase!  (You can probably google it!)

Well, I'm going out on a limb and saying video lasts forever and is worth 10,000 words.  That is why LakeHaus is a dual product studio.  Along with our amazing photography we also offer our video production services.

The video below is a sample of our work, this one is an engagement video, but that is not the only "life event" to make a video like this!  Get your family together, we will follow you to the golf course, grilling in the backyard, riding horses, fishing, snowmobiling, or just doing what your family does...then we put it all together with the perfect song and you have a video snap shot of your family BEING YOUR FAMILY!

You can send the link out as a Christmas Card, burn copies to send to family and friends....or in 10 years if we are still using Facebook you can post it as your Throw Back Thursday post!  #TBT

We shoot on HD professional production cameras, and have all the "toys" to make you and your family superstars!

Prices start at $500 and the videos take about 3 to 4 hours to shoot, so book your shoot today, surprise you parents with a super cool present from LakeHaus Productions.

Jenna R. & Tom G. Engagement Video www.lakehausproductions.com from LakeHaus Productions on Vimeo.

Class of 2015 Get Ready For Your Close-ups!

Move Your Body....DANCE...

We were asked to host a photo booth at the local high school's after prom party.  I wanted to do something different...so we made it a video, and slowed it down or sped it up...this is what happened.

Imagine in 20 years from now these kids watching this video at their reunion.


Huron High School Post Prom SLO MO from LakeHaus Productions on Vimeo.

Title Games.

I think everyone in Huron thought we would have 2 teams in the championship games of the AA and B State Boy's Basketball Tournaments...in fact, I kind of thought it was a given that both trophies were coming back to the 352.  BUT that is why you play the games.

The Tigers got knocked off in the first round by the #8 seeded SF Lincoln Patriots...undoubtedly the hottest team in South Dakota right now...as Lincoln will play for the title tonight.  The Vikings did make it to the title tilt tonight, and had a few struggles here and there to make it through their first 2 rounds.  They deserve a shot at the trophy again this year after a ill-timed bout of food poisoning kind of took some of their MOJO last year.

This community is super proud of both of our teams and what they have accomplished this season....if they bring home the 1st place trophy or not, we are behind you.

Fans if you are with Orange Nation, Yellow and Black Nation or Red Nation (Huron All Stars) be proud of the year the teams had, and the life lessons our players learned.

Players hold on to these moments...they will be some of your fondest memories, and the brothers you have in the locker room will be your friends...basically...for life.

Long Live Sports.

Looking Back.

Sometimes I look back on this blog to see what was going on in my life in 2008, or 2006 or whatever.  I mostly like the pictures or videos that I posted of the kids...like this classic.

It is funny to see how the kids have grown up over the past few years and there is a couple of photos that when I see them remind me why I love being a parent...and they both involve punching.

One is from a camping trip and the other is from Christmas break about 5 years ago...I'm not sure who got the last laugh, but for 2 boys that get along really well, these are great images of their youth.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Mending Knees and Broken Fingers

Our house is more like a doctor's / physical therapy office lately.  I was sick for about 2 weeks trying to battle Strep.  Brecken is getting over pink eye.  Kolby's nose is like Niagara Falls and I think the dog has a sleeping disorder.

Steph is still recovering from knee surgery and has various therapy contraptions around the house, and now Maxim is the latest to end up at the Dr. office.  He either severely sprained his left pinky or there is a bone chip in it...only an x-ray would tell the difference and the treatment is the same so I opted not to have him get x-rayed.  Beware if you play any form of dodge ball your left pinky is at risk of dislocation or bone damage.  (He and one other boy on the hockey team have left pinkys that are messed up from this.)

Steph is making good recovery, but it was a major surgery.  Turns out Olympic swimmer Dara Torres had the same surgery and is now the spokes model for this surgery.  Watch her short commercial here..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ0dDXrTDJ8

It has been a very eye opening experience to act as a "single parent" while Steph is laid up...SHE DOES AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF WORK OUTSIDE OF RUNNING LAKEHAUS!  Who knew the laundry doesn't put itself away?  Speaking of which we now have a "jeans get worn 3 days policy at our house".  Cleaning, schedules, picking up kids, etc.  If I didn't have Steph's mom and my mom I don't know how this would have worked.

That being said, any single parent has my utmost respect after this little session of my life.  I am pretty amazed that all of the Christmas presents are under the tree, the seasonal LakeHaus work is mostly caught up and the kids are not missing scheduled events because of my lack of experience with schedule juggling.

The one thing that did fall by the wayside...a family picture...a Christmas card and there are about 87 socks that have been sitting in a laundry basket for 2 weeks.  Other than that everyone is breathing and somewhat walking around normally, with crutches and a brace or without.

Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy your family time.

Remember When We Didn't Go?

Our daughter has an amazing memory of things that happened, and things that didn't happen.  Last year I promised Kolby that we would go to the Butterfly Ball...the father/daughter dance that our local Catholic school puts on each year. 

She was going to wear a fancy dress and I was going to wear "my coat that isn't for the winter" AKA a suit coat.  We planned and planned for that day, and practiced our dancing, Steph ordered her a flower corsage that looked like a butterfly.  Then came the day...it was snowing and windy as the day began, and the snow piled up and piled up.

About an hour before we needed to leave for town Steph and I thought it would be a bad idea to drive the 15 minutes to town, so I broke the news to Koko and she was OK with the choice.  She mentioned that we had to "cancel" the Butterfly Ball a couple times the next week, and then for the most part it was a non-issue.

UNTIL about a month ago.  Steph had left the corsage in the fridge on a top shelf that Kolby can't even see...but one day she found it and started wearing it around the house.  A couple days after that the guilt trips began.

One evening she snuggled up to me and said, "Daddy, do you remember when we DIDN'T go to the Butterfly Ball?" 

I was like, "yeah???"

She said, "I just remember that we didn't go cause we cancelled it."

That was the first reminder of the missed opportunity, and the rest of October the reminders piled up.  It seems like the only thing we could talk about was missing the Butterfly Ball.  Then yesterday to cap off the shame...she dressed Brecken up in a shirt, tie, and fancy boy vest with jeans and dress shoes and then she put on a fancy dress and her Butterfly Ball corsage and proceeded to tell me that SHE was taking Brecken to the ball this year and she was going to, "practice him on his dancing with a girl."

We got a good kick out of it, but deep down I couldn't help but feel a little bad that I didn't try to drive through the snow that day to dance with my daughter...WE WILL NOT MISS THE BUTTERFLY BALL this year...I will drive through anything to be there with her.

BUT I wonder if she will still be talking about it 6 months after the event if we actually go...sometimes the best memories are of the special events that didn't happen.

Black & White

Our oldest son Maxim sees things differently than most people...he sees the world in black and white.  No he is not color blind, I am talking the figurative black and white.  If I tell him it will be 5 minutes before we can do something, that means in 5 exact minutes I had better be doing what I promised him.  If I tell him that my head is foggy....he asks how the fog got into my head.  OK I am stretching that last one.

Just for the record Brecken and Kolby have very immense grey areas...5 minutes might mean 2 hours later to them, and clean up your room has a different meaning to them than it does to Maxim.

The cool thing is, with the black and white in the world you have to have the grey to make it work....and in photography that is true.

I LOVE to shoot in black and white...it is in my opinion the most true form of photography.  In a world of over-saturated, cross processed, grunge overlaid photoshop pictures, the essence of the human face in a black and white is like photographing the soul of a person...or nature...just ask Ansel Adams.

If you like to take pictures don't be afraid to flip that setting to B&W every now and then...get rid of the color and look for the soul of your subject.  Sometimes having no color at all is the most colorful picture you will ever take.

The Fear Isn't There Yet.

Do you ever wonder why you don't take chances?

One word...failure.  As adults most of us know what failure brings...pain, surgery, financial loss, embarrassment, etc.  Stepping out of our comfort zone gets harder the older we get.  Every day I try to push myself to new things, taking chances on opening a photography business 5 year ago was one of them.  We were nervous earlier this year when we took the steps toward opening the studio in town.

Would it work, would people continue to come to us.  Well, so far we have been blessed, BEYOND MEASURE!  Yes, we have made mistakes, screwed up orders, angered customers and each other, but the bottom line is we took the chance and have had a successful family business that has given my wife full time employment, and our parents full time custody of our children! (I joke, but they are a HUGE part of what we do at LakeHaus.)

Every time I get a person in front of the camera that isn't sure of what I am wanting them to do...I ask, "Do you trust me?"  The answer is usually "yes", and then I try to make the image work the way I envision it.  Don't tell them, but for the most part I don't know if the look I am going for is going to turn out or not, but 9 times out of 10 it works, really well.

Last night I was reminded of "taking chances" when Brecken was on his dirt bike.  The first 3 times he hit the big jump, he had the throttle pinned and he sailed, I MEAN LAUNCHED...I would guess his head was 10 feet off the ground a couple times.  People were stopping on the road to watch him jump his motorcycle...which added to his desire to fly.

Brecken has no idea what a crash at that height or speed would feel like...but I am sure it would stick with him.  He really has "No Fear".  YET.  I am sure at some point he will come crashing back to earth, in life and on a motorcycle, and I want that to happen.  I want my children to have to pick themselves back up of the ground, out of the water, out of a bad grade at school, or a bad job and put the pieces back together again to start over.  It makes us stronger.

So whatever fear is keeping you from taking chances don't be afraid to grow some "wings" and give it a shot...at some point you will succeed and it will look at beautiful as the picture below!

Skipper Is Waiting...

Yeah, the blog has suffered one of it's longest dry spells, but I have an excuse...several in fact.  I received a simple email from my Uncle Skipper today...something to the effect of, "you are behind on your blogging."

So I will try to keep Skip entertained a little more regularly now that summer is gone.

Our studio is up and running and we are busier than we have ever been...the move was a great one and I am so proud of the work Stephanie has done to grow a business from nothing to a successful family business.

We have progressed our brand in the past 6 years and I think the work speaks for itself.  Go to our Facebook  page www.facebook.com/lakehausproductions and you push the "like" button.  You will be entered into our Facebook feed and see all the great images we have been making.

On to family matters....the kids all started school on Monday, Maxim is in 5th grade, Brecken is in 2nd and Kolby is in Pre-K (3 days a week).  We celebrated the first day of school by going out on the lake after school was over.  Maxim and Brecken have been progressing with their skills behind the boat and I get less and less time on a rope!  I guess that is what I have been waiting for, so I will enjoy it!

There you go Skip, I completed my assignment, and will continue to blog more consistently again!

4th of July

The 4th of July around our house is a flurry of activity...completing projects, cleaning everything, fixing everything, cooking anything, eating nothing and then everything, trimming things down and then blowing them up.

This year has been way crazier, with the late start to summer and opening the new studio in town, the last few nights and mornings before the 4th have been packed.  It is amazing how much you can get done in 1.5 hours if you have some motivation.

I even did dishes last night at 1AM.  I sure hope the repair guy gets there today at some point to fix the dishwasher!

We have our typical Cowboy Bob breakfast on the 4th and then the water fun all day and I am sure the Fast boys will almost blow up the West Siiiiide of the lake with an arsenal of fireworks that evening.  A few photo shoots are scheduled and I am sure I will be editing, but for all practical purposes LakeHaus goes on vacation around 4 this afternoon.

So enjoy your 4th of July and stay safe.

11 Rotations Around The Sun.

Happy 11th Birthday to Maxim Thomas!

He got the eyes and lips from his mom, 

The Rock Chalk Jayhawk shirt if from my sister....

But those ears, he got those from me!!!

This boy is an amazing creation and every day he amazes us, makes us laugh.

he cares more than anyone, for everyone,

He loves to read, skate, swim, run and golf.

He can watch ants for hours.

He now beats me in video games, and knows every Transformer by name.

If something has a roof, he will climb on it.

And he can dance like a wild man, if nobody is watching!

Happy Birthday...we love you!

Kolby Capri And Me!

Kolby and I were messing around in the studio last Friday night and Steph got this shot...I love it for one little thing...she loves to stand on my feet like this and I love it when she does it.

Let's Open IT UP!

MAY I Blog Today???

May is almost over????  Yeah it has been a month like that!

We have some exciting news....LakeHaus Productions now has 2 different sites to serve our customer base.  We just finished up moving into our new studio space located in the oldest building in downtown Huron.  The old masonic temple building is over 100 years old and is going through a very extensive upgrade.  A friend of ours told us about the space and we did a little tour one night and about 2 months later we are now in a 2 suite space.

It is beautiful...old wood floor, super detailed wood work and 16' ceilings.  We will still work out of our home office at the lake and continue to photograph customers at our different spots around Byron, but this just made sense and the business has been blessed to the point where we out grew our current arrangements.

Please feel free to stop in and say "HI" but be sure to call Stephanie first, because we are not keeping set hours at the studio in the summer.

If you want to keep up on our specials and see who our latest "model" is then go to our Facebook page and click on the "Like" button...it is kind of like "Friending" a business.

YOU ALSO CAN SEE PICTURES OF THE STUDIO...IT IS MY WAY OF GETTING YOU TO OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!  (Even if you are not a Facebook user you can still go to the page)

www.facebook.com/lakehausproductions

She Tells That To ALLLLLL The Boys.

Last night after spending about an hour listening to both of the boys read to me Kolby wanted to cuddle on the couch for a while....so we made a little nest and she got one of her dolls and we all wrapped up to watch the news.

As we were laying there Kolby said, "Daddy, I love you more than the rest of the family...I love you more than mommy does, I love you more than Maxim does, I love you more than Brecken does and I love you more than Kia and Lilly do (our dogs)."

Of course I was smitten and thought, "Ohhh I have finally made it as the Dad Of The Year!  My daughter and I are really connecting!"  I had to say something back, so I took the politically correct route and told her that I loved her too, and that she is my favorite and most special daughter.  (That way in 10 years she can't rub it into the boys and say, "Daddy says I am the favorite!")

Within minutes she fell asleep and I dropped her in her own bed.

This morning I told/bragged that story to Steph about how much Kolby loved me compared to the rest of the family unit.  Steph laughed at me and said, "She says that to me all the time, that is her way of getting what she wants!"

Well, I am a sucker for her and I will pretend that I am the most loved, but it is pretty smart on her part too, to realize that you can use your words to get what you want!  Even if it is a little late night cuddle with your daddy when you should be in your own bed!

Autism Speaks.