LOVE Wichita.

 today i had the opportunity to accompany my husband to work.  as a community policing officer, he has attended LOVE Wichita projects for the past 3 years.  i asked him if i could come out and take photos this year.  we visited his 5 project houses throughout the morning.  projects were completed by Eastminster(3 of the 5 houses), Maranatha and Westlink, where we attend.  there was a lot of painting, yard work, rebuilding and even some critters at the houses.

early morning before shots.

this homeowner had siding replaced, yard work done and a new fence put up by the westlink crew.  her pup needed to come out and inspect the progress(that and he didn't like the banging!).

an eastminster group found this guy when they moved out an old couch. :)

when their first garage door plan fell through,

they made a new plan.

maranatha replaced rotted boards, did lots of painting...

on some super high ladders, too.

one of our very close friends had his house worked on today, too.

he's been battling his kidneys this year, as they've

decided to fail his body and even had pneumonia today.

the young married group from eastminster rebuilt two porches for him, painted, did yard work, all to keep from future oci write ups. 

on behalf of justin and myself, we thank you guys for all of your efforts today!!

the house project with westlink brought out two other police officers, both friends of justin's.

i thought it was hilarious that they stand the same way

whether they're in uniform or not. :)

you can find more photos from the day

on whyte house photography's facebook page.

clarification.

first off, i want to thank everyone for their kind & encouraging words on my facebook page.  i really enjoyed the photo weekend last week and hearing that you all enjoyed the images as much as i enjoyed taking them is a big plus!  getting that much attention kinda made me sick to my stomach, though.  it was slightly overwhelming.   i'm a behind the scenes kind of girl...i run away from the spotlight...but i thank you, anyway. :)


i seem to have caused a stir with photo weekend...added some confusion about my availability as a photographer.  


i am so sorry for that. 


to those of you whom i have already turned down for shoots, i really did not mean to tease you with photos and then tell you i'm not able to do yours when you asked.  that being said, i wanted to take the time to apologize to those people & others like them, with two reasons as to why i'm not available.


reason #1: i'm married to a navy reservist.

not just any reservist, either.  one that is encountering deployment readiness.  in this case, it calls for special courses, extra training, mandatory inspections.   he's gone a lot.  to give you a better idea of "a lot", there will be a month where he will only work 8 days at his civilian job, the rest will be reserved for military.  and since the arkansas river isn't big enough for his ship to dock at, it means he's traveling. 


reason #2: these two.

yes, i could easily find a babysitter.

yes, i could pawn them onto their grandparents.

or my sister.

or my friends.

however, i don't believe that they are someone else's responsibility.

more importantly, they need stability.

they need some routine in their lives.

they need to know that their mom is going

to be there when they wake up from nap.

they don't need to be shocked that someone else is

there filling my position, even if it is just for an hour.

they need to know that they're my first priority,

not my computer.

my little guy has become very confused by this change in routine. when his dad is gone, he asks if he's at work

or with the navy guys.

when daddy's traveling,

i get asked several times a day if we're going that day to the airport to get daddy.

there will be times when i am able to set up a special

weekend to do photos,

just like i did last weekend.

i don't mind doing several in one weekend.

i think it works better for the kids if they're

hanging out with family for a few hours one day,

as opposed to many random days.

i do want to do another weekend shoot.

i just don't know when yet.

in the meantime, you will see photos.

they'll be free work.

you will see photos from

a baby shoot.

you'll see shots from LOVE Wichita.

more than likely there will be photos posted from our

vacation and my sister's new baby.

also, i can tell you right now that i will not be doing photo shoots this summer.

i loathe the summer.

seriously.

i'm a big baby when i'm hot.

the heat gives me panic attacks. 

it's not pretty.

i'm sorry if anyone had their hearts set on a summer shoot. 

really i am.

i'm a people pleaser, so saying "no" hurts me more than

it hurts you!! :)

i do happen to know some amazing photographers in the

area that have free time, love to take photos(even in the

summer), and do an amazing job at it.

i would be more than willing to brag to you about

those people!

don't hesitate to ask. 

i'm definitely not too busy to answer e-mails! :)

thank you all in advance for understanding my situation!

family: the west's.

when another photographer asks you to take their photos,

it's kinda nerve-wracking.

that's exactly how this shoot was.

fun.

but scary.

this is my niece famie. 

yes, i said niece.

she's two years younger than me.

her dad is my brother---and he's a lot of years older than me. :)

she started her photo business about a year before i did.

we shoot differently, so it's always neat to see her work.

this last year has been a very trying year for this family. 

famie's health issues have been a huge trial for all of them and being able to document the four of them, with them happily interacting with each other, kinda hit my emotions. 

okay, not kinda.  i was a wreck while i was editing.

leave me alone. :)

i adore this photo of famie and jeromy.  i'll be printing it for myself soon. :)

if you have a 2 and 4 year old, you know exactly how

challenging it is to have everyone looking AT the camera.

thankfully, i like to do more documenting than i do posing.

i hate posing.

with a passion.

i am no good at it.

my great niece and great nephew are the funniest little people ever.

hands down.

thanks to my great niece and great nephew for making me work for my paycheck! :)

kaitlynn: just 3.

this is our neighbor, kaitlynn.

my kids love to talk to her through our chain-link fence.

she yells for the kids when they're out and always

yells, "new friends!"

her mom wanted 3 year photos,

so we went over to sedgwick co. park.

again, the wind followed. :)

we played peek-a-boo around the tree and with my camera.  she'd look for me through the lens, i'd pop my head up and she'd laugh hysterically.  so cute.

we had some extra company show up, as well.

kaitlynn's mom is expecting her 4th child in june.
we had to take a shot with her soon-to-be baby brother, nathan.

thanks for being so fun, kaitlynn!!

senior session: kayla

i realized i needed to post more shots from last weekend's shoots.

so here goes.

senior: kayla

kayla's mom is engaged to my brother-in-law.

kayla is great fun to be around and laugh with.

she and i chat on facebook and text each other.

such a funny girl.

she's actually a junior, but is cramming her junior AND senior year together to graduate early.

crazy girl.

for her shoot, we hit delano.  the crazy kansas wind

accompanied us, as well.

as did her best friend.
her friend told me she hated photos.

what the what??

serious oddball.  she is such a photogenic girl!!

i learned during that session that if a 30 year old says "bust it out" in front of teens, it makes the teenagers laugh.  apparently i'm too old to say that now.  ugh. :)

thanks for hanging out with me girls!

photo weekend peeks.

photo weekend has come and gone, leaving behind some great(and windy) memories.  here are some of my favorite shots.

a big thank you to everyone who participated!!  if you haven't already, you can check out more photos from the weekend on my facebook photo page.

spring 2011: antonio

yesterday i had the opportunity to hang out

with mr. antonio again.

i last saw him at his first birthday party last summer.

he's quite the little man now.

we took advantage of the greenery and water around oak park

and riverside park.

he gave me some adorable faces, despite the fact

that he was feeling a little crummy.

thanks for sharing your little man with me, krista!

open.

i have an open afternoon/evening tomorrow (friday, april 8th) if anyone wants to take photos.  it's suppose to be beautiful out!!
let me know!