Blair photographer offers affordable sessions through Rockin D’s Photography

Published 2:06 pm Monday, October 12, 2026

Maddie Dyas of Blair started Rockin D’s Photography a little over a year ago.

Her family owns a horse stable, and she has always taken pictures of the horses and the property. She got her first camera for Christmas and started doing free sessions last summer to build her portfolio. She later started charging.

“I don’t do it for the money,” Dyas said. “I’m a stay-at-home mom. It gives me something to do.”

She said multiple clients have told her they appreciated her pricing because they had not been able to afford pictures before.

Recently, she offered pay-what-you-can sessions for a short time. Clients received a normal family, couples or engagement session and paid what they could afford, whether that was $10 or $15. They still received a full edited album with no limit on the number of pictures.

Her fall mini sessions are about 30 minutes and usually cost $65 to $85. Clients receive every edited photo, which ranges from 35 to 100 pictures depending on the session.

“I don’t want to pick which photos they receive and which ones they have to pay for, because what I like, they may not,” Dyas said. “They pay one price, and they get the photos, because I don’t need them. They do.”

Families, seniors and couples are what people book her for most. She has photographed seniors from Blair, Fort Calhoun and Fremont. The largest family she has photographed was 19 people.

She also does horse portraits. Dyas grew up riding horses, and her family has always been in the horse industry. Her grandmother died in December, and the family took over her barn. Dyas has done horse-and-rider fall mini sessions. She recently photographed a client with her late mother’s horse.

Dyas mostly shoots outdoors. She has done sessions at Fremont Lakes and at state parks in Scribner and Woodbine. Her goal is to eventually have her own studio.

Pretty much every weekend in October is booked. She will also shoot her first wedding that month, for a family friend. The couple had been considering having a family member take photos on a phone because other photographers they looked at charged $4,000 to $5,000.

“I told them multiple times, ‘This will be my first wedding,'” Dyas said. “She said, ‘But that’s how you learn.'”

“I know what it’s like to be nervous in front of a camera,” she said. “That’s my job as the photographer, to make it fun and relaxed.”

She is finishing a website where clients will be able to book sessions, sign contracts and pay. Until then, people can message her through the Rockin D’s Photography Facebook page, which also lists her phone number. She asks for 24 to 48 hours to reply.