Hello! My name is Amber Christians and animals, nature, and families are what I am most passionate about. I have always loved animals of all shapes and sizes as well as the beautiful scenery I am lucky enough to live in. I have also always loved photography, there is rarely a time when I’m not happier with a camera in my hand. I love capturing those special moments when our pets and/or kids are doing the wonderful things they do that make them so unique and helping to capture that moment and personality forever. I also love to help you get those memories onto beautiful high quality wall art or fun albums so you can cherish them forever!

I am very fortunate to live in very beautiful and scenic western South Dakota, so we have lovely areas to photograph in and lovely landscape to photograph. My specialties include outdoor pet and livestock photography,  studio pet photography, owners with their pets both in studio and outdoors, family and child photography and landscape photography. I do have prints for sale, if you would like to check them out you can see the photographs available at my store. I am a western South Dakota Photographer serving all of the Black Hills and surround areas.

Book a Session

Announcements!

My Etsy Store

Prints, Canvases, & Metal Prints

I’m very excited to announce the launch of my new Etsy store! If you are in the market for wall art including prints, Canvases, and Metal Prints, check out my store by selecting the picture above!

The photos to the right are some examples of prints available.

Thank you so much for your support and consideration!

 

Photos from 2023 Horse Shows and Clinics

In the interest of getting them up as quickly as I could they are only very lightly edited. Any photos you purchase whether they be digital or prints will be fully edited before delivery. This includes color correcting, straightening and cropping as needed. You can purchase straight from the website or you can let me know what you want to order and I can take care of it for you. Either way works great.

Fine Art Editing and Themed Sessions

Now offering fine art editing! The photo to the right is an example of this. These types of edits take many hours to do a good job on and make for an amazing piece of art to hang on your wall. I can work a photo you took or any of the photos I take. If you want me to work another photographer’s photo I would need written permission from that photographer or proof that you own the copyright to that photo. The cost for one of these types of edits is $100 per image. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions.

I am also now offering themed photo sessions and I do have a unicorn we can use if you don’t have a unicorn of your own. You can see an example with my unicorn on the right. These can include elves and unicorns like you see here, vikings, pirates, or anything you can think of. I have some costumes and accessories but am always looking to add to my collection so let me know what you have in a mind and I’ll help you get costumed.

Testimonials

“Amber is so creative and I love that she has so much experience with horses and animals. She is always supportive of trying new things, even my critters love her! She is quick to respond to messages and gets her photos edited and out to her clients really quickly. She really puts her heart and soul into her photos, I would highly recommend her and Prairie Thunder Photography” 

Amanda Cordell

“I was very happy with the quality prints of my horse events. I can’t believe how Amber gets some of those action shots what with dodging cattle etc. And my last order she hand delivered. She is so very easy to work with.”

Julee Steinman

“My son’s senior photo session was so fun! We wanted evening photos and Amber timed them just right. The session was very relaxed and easy. Amber did such a great job making my son’s session personal to him by including his car in the photos and she did a great job focusing on all the details. She also helped me pick out our favorites and order them, which was a huge relief with all the options she gave us! Thank you Amber, for capturing Zaiden’s personality in his pics!

Jen Hansen

“Amber has taken beautiful photos of me riding! But she stole my heart when she did a photo shoot with us and our old dogs. It was beautiful, and I have timeless memories. It felt like she wasn’t even there and then the magic. Highly recommend!”

Laurel Austin

“Amber is the most accommodating, easy going, animal loving photographer I’ve ever worked with. She is super patient and very creative. Not to mention a trooper hiking in to get the best pictures. In addition, incredibly talented and artistic backdrops etc.”

Gretchen Burgess

“Amber’s unique perspective and uncanny ability to capture the moment are the reasons we call her for our equine and personal photo shoots.”

Bob Quickstad Sr.

“Amber Christians of Prairie Thunder Photography is awesome to work with.  She has the patience of a saint when it came to me making changes for our page in a magazine.  Her photos are top of the line and she gets fantastic shots.  Absolutely love her work.  Thanks so much for everything.”

Sherry Sidle , SDVRHA

“Amber was such a pleasure to work with. The background changes she did were spectacular! The quality and attention to detail is amazing. They are something I will treasure for a lifetime!”

Shelly Graff

“I contracted with Prairie Thunder Photography to get professional, artistic photographs of my five horses. I wanted a number of color memorial pieces as well as black background portraits. Amber worked with my crazy schedule, found the perfect locations on my own ranch and worked thru a number of tack changes! Once I chose the ones I wanted and she had edited them fully, she even added some effects to make a couple of them truly spectacular! She can even add mane where your silly mare ripped it out a week before the shoot! I believe that as a horse owner herself, Amber has a beautiful eye and is remarkably talented. I also gave her a project photo where she completely replaced the messy, distracting (and kinda ugly) arena background with a rainstorm! It was remarkable. I highly highly recommend Amber and Prairie Thunder Photography! I have three more horses, so I will call on her again for sure.”

Paula Pederson, Black Hills Friesians

“I have really enjoyed working with Amber. I’ve purchased three different packages from her this year alone. I definitely plan on using her in the future and highly recommend.”

Elizabeth Strand

Prairie Thunder Photography made my senior picture experience amazing! Amber was patient with me, as I decided to include all six of my horses, and she made me feel great about myself!

Nicole Kraft, Your Content Goes Here

Below you’ll find some of my favorite images.