ICT photog gathering: march 2011

last night i had the opportunity to be a part of

another photographer get together with my photog

friends jackie, sarah & was able to finally meet a facebook

photog friend, heidi.

we did a little photo walk

with about 15 people(or so)

all armed with cameras,

shooting in the falling snow.

this is my favorite shot from the night.

my new friend suzy(great name, right?)

did a little modeling for us. :)

we did a q&a afterwards, talking about things that we liked to do, didn't like, lenses, experiences, etc.  there were some things that were helpful, but other things geared towards those girls wanting to go big time.  while we were talking, heidi mentioned OpLove.

she said it was for military, but i didn't have a clue what she was talking about at all.

OpLove is short for 'Operation Love ReUnited'.
there is an online list of photographers in the area that military families have to use for when they want to do photos of their loved ones deployment/return.  i checked the list for our area.  within a 50 mile radius, there are only 2 photographers registered.  2.  and i guess that wouldn't be such a blow to me, but we have mcconnell afb so close by... to me 2 is a sad number.

even more so since i know my own husband will be deploying and we're going to be one of those families wanting photos done.


that being said, i want to encourage any photographers out there reading this, no matter where your home is, to register and give back to these families.  you have no idea what these families go through.  heck, i have no idea the bulk of what they go through, but i am slowly finding out first hand.  i know they will appreciate you!

open weekend.

the sailor has a clear weekend(finally)!!!

instead of staying home with him and celebrating, i'm opening the weekend for photos! 



 i will be available:

saturday, april 9th from 3pm-4:30pm(i have a shoot at 5)

sunday, april 10th from 1pm-6pm.

all shoots will be 1 hour and you will receive a cd of your images.  session cost is $60.  

e-mail me at jeaswhyte(at)yahoo(dot)com to reserve your spot.

shoots & spring cleaning.

i'm looking into opening some time up for photos
saturday, april 9th. 
i have a family member that wanted senior photos at 5pm, which i am planning on renting a lens for, so i want to get as much use out of the lens rental as i can! :) i should have a post up by april 1st pertaining to that weekend, so keep your eyes open for times.



 i've been bitten with the spring cleaning bug.  i will admit that i absolutely love to clean the house and remove unused items.  my sister always says that i like to give everything away.  not true.  i just don't like things to sit and collect dust.  so here are my latest items to add to my 'for sale' list.

my sigma 50-200mm 4-5.6 lens(CANON mount).

i purchased it from adorama last spring.  i thought i'd use it a ton. 

apparently i was wrong.  my 50mm stays on my camera 24-7, so i think it's time to say farewell.  i got it for $180 and i'm selling it for $90...with it goes my kit lens(canon 18-55mm w/out image stabilization).  i will send the two to a new home for $90.  i just want someone who could really use them.  i hate for them to be here when someone may be needing them, but not able to afford them at full price.

out go the lenses, so out goes the heavy duty bag.

this is a tamrac velocity 9 bag.  it has some serious lens room in it.  and padding.  a lot of padding.  i've enjoyed it.  it's protected my equipment from kids, rain, kids...it's been great.

this bag was going for $90-$100 on ebay last year.  i got it brand new for $65.  it was my awesome purchase of the year.
since i've had it for about a year, i'm selling it for $45.  it's in almost new condition.
in the main carrying area i've held the kit lens, my 50mm, the telephoto and a 24-70mm, along w the body, all at the same time.
it has a sling strap that goes across your body, too.  there are bags on ebay right now, the new ones have photos of the insides.  i wanted to link it, but i was afraid that once i did, the bag that i linked it to would be sold on ebay.

if these are still at my house come april 2nd, they will be going into my garage sale.  you can email me if you're interested in making an offer.  jeaswhyte(at)yahoo(dot)com.

flat.

kansas scenery in march.

oh, my flatness.

photographing kids.

every year i try to do photos of the kids for their

birthday invites.

aiden's b-day is the first week of may,

invitations take a bit of time to print,

then you add in the mailing time...

and you get photos in march. :)

i really hate march.

nothing has bloomed yet.

trees are dead.

grass is gross.

the only thing we have is water.

unfortunately, it looks gross 365 days of the year.

i decided to take him down to the keeper of the plains bridge

and shoot there.

this is what i got.

i always shoot him with his sunglasses on(well, not always cause i LOVE his pretty eyes, but when it's sunny i do.) today was a terrible photo day for him.  we rushed after dinner to get down to the bridge during sunset.  the kid's face was super dried out and i forgot to re-apply lotion this afternoon, he'd just eaten dinner and had food on his teeth, and had food on his collar.  all that added to the fact that he couldn't find his sunglasses in the truck, killed my photo mood.  we were there a whole 2.5 minutes and i said, "that's it.  let's go home".

of course that was hardly a crowd pleaser.  we'd been talking about going down to "captain hook's bridge" all day.


so to make it up to them, despite how i felt physically, we stopped by sedgwick co. park for a while.

this is the joy a photographer who tries to capture kids has to look forward to.

one likes the camera.  one has adhd.

no matter where you go, there is always something they feel is more important to be looking at.

four eyes never want to look directly at your camera.

oh, and let's not forget the hair.  there's always hair blowing, especially in kansas.

for me, there's always that blasted boy.  he stuck his tongue out at me!  haha.

so i rolled with it. 

"show each other your silly faces."

"emily, show your brother your face."

"okay now, aiden, show your sister your face."

that's my favorite photo of the day.

all of those were shot in a 3 minute time frame.

i don't mess around when it comes to photographing my kids.

especially at the park, since all they wanna do is go play!

photographer lesson of the day:

acting ridiculous is the only thing that ever saves

photo shoots. 

remember that.

it may just save your sanity.

the swing photos aren't really crisp and clear(at least not on super zoom in lightroom), but i loved them too much not to include them.  looking at them is actually making me feel peaceful.
well, that and the fact that i have 'sleeping at last' playing in my ears.  they really calm my nerves. :)

know what else calms my nerves??  sleeping kids. 

ahhhhhhh.

thank you dear playground for wearing them out. :)

first awards ceremony.

this morning i was up and out of the house by 6:15am. 

that in itself was a miracle. 

however, i had a very important place to be.

on base.

today was his drill day,

but more importantly his awards ceremony.

he was awarded junior sailor of the year for the area reserves.

this is the first time that i've been to

a military ceremony of any kind,

so it was a big moment for me.

i was able to spend the morning with him,

tagging along as he went from office to office to have things signed off on for his next trip,

short sit down conversations with different chiefs,

as well as getting his evals signed.

i stood a lot today. :)

it was well worth it, though.

congrats, babe!