the journal
Some wedding days feel like a celebration that’s been waiting to happen for a long time.Colten and Alyssa’s wedding at Diamond Spur Events Center felt exactly like that—full of warmth, deep joy, and the kind of love that shows up in laughter just as much as it does in quiet glances. Set just outside Rapid […]
And where I am hoping you will come along too. Lately, I’ve been feeling a shift. Not a dramatic pivot. Not a rebrand with confetti and declarations.More like a gentle but insistent tug, one that keeps showing up in the quiet moments when I’m editing, or watching my own kids move through an ordinary evening, […]
An intimate wedding in the Black Hills I first met Michaela in a film photography college class. There aren’t a lot of us Michaela’s around and we instantly hit it off. Years later, when she reached about photographing an intimate wedding to her fiancé, Morgan, I was excited to incorporate 35mm film again. I helped […]
For weeks, the Black Hills were drenched in golden sunshine and heat. Then came July 11th, with a forecast full of nothing but rain. I checked the radar over and over, hoping for a break, but the skies just opened and poured. Reese and David’s outdoor ceremony was quickly moved inside the State Game Lodge […]
I'm Michaela mader Tully
The Michaela you'll find making beautiful images of your family.
I’m a storytelling photographer based in the Black Hills of South Dakota, specializing in family connections, intimate weddings, and elopements.
My style? Think warm evening light, authentic moments, and a dash of Mary Oliver poetry—because life’s best stories are a little wild, a little soft, and always real.
When I’m not behind the camera, I’m probably chasing my kids, hiking trails that smell of Ponderosa pine, or sipping coffee that’s gone lukewarm because, well, #momlife.
Let's create something beautiful and real together.
The kind of photos that feel like home, like belly laughs and evening light, like the fleeting moments you never want to forget. Ready to tell your story? Let’s do this.
