fall picnic by the train tracks: ross kids

i think i've found my photo stage master.

dina's husband had asked me during mother's day

to do photos of the kids.

however, when the 100 degrees started in may,

i said, "no photos til fall". 

i'm glad we waited.

dina grew up in garden plain and had a favorite

childhood spot all picked out for this shoot.

old train tracks that are never used make the perfect spot for photos. :)

dina had it in her head that it would be okay for me to bring my kids along.  i'm sure by the first 3 minutes, she realized that was a bad idea.  it was nice to have my child helping porter down the rocky hill, though. :) that was pretty much the only help i received from them, though.  at one point, aiden was running in front of me as i was snapping.  ugh.
my husband owes me big for not making him take aiden with him for military trainings. ; )

dina set up a picnic next to the tracks.  in order to get her kids to cooperate, she may or may not have had them skip lunch that day....

this was the ONLY time my kids sat still. 
seriously.

though she didn't want "family" photos, we had to do one with dina and the kids.

and i had to include an awesome blooper shot.

just like that, everyone was in play mode.
so that's just what we did.

do you see the colorful arrangement in the background??  dina had all of that prepared for this shoot.  this is why we're friends. :) we decided at the last minute to swing by my house and grab my chairs, too.  glad we did.  love all of the colors!

thanks, ross kids for the fun!

birthday party: comic book style

this weekend, i had the honor of

photographing a 7 yr old's birthday

party.

not just a random kid, but one that my

kids have become good friends with.

and he happens to be one of my best friend's kids, as well.

about this time last fall,

i was shooting this baby shower at her house.

this party definitely did not fall

short of her last one.

dina is a woman who is not afraid to

include detail work in her parties.

this year's theme:

comic books.

dina's son, tucker, has been sucked

into the world of comics.

his dad, a collector of batman comics,

introduced tucker to his childhood collection,

thus starting tucker's new obsession. :)

so it was no surprise to hear that tuck

wanted a super hero birthday party.

dina made everything by hand.
even the cupcakes.

seriously.

for the crafts, you need to understand that she is a woman with a printer...and she knows how to use it!

each of her 3 kids has a birthday tablecloth that they put their handprints on every year.

a "T" for tucker, again made by dina.

the party favors included various pieces of candy, some with x-men packaging, of course.

oh, and my son's favorite...

a glow-in-the-dark bracelet,

which he took to school on monday for

show-n-tell.

dina just recently painted her hutch,

as well.

it looked so great for the party!

the crazy birthday boy.

he always makes the weirdest faces at my camera.

beyond the comic book covers displayed on the window you get a glimpse into dina's craft room where she creates all of her cute hair accessories and jewelry for 'brag bling & bows'.  we have started quite a collection of her stuff at our house. :)


one of tuck's friends donned her halloween costume for the party.  so awesome.

the games were made by dina's dad last year for the school fun night.
seriously amazing.

there were like 25 kids at this party.

kids.

alone.

it's a good thing dina's backyard is big.

cake time became "break time" for everyone.
it was much needed.

the guy kneeling down is who i bought

my camera from.

i'm very thankful for him.

tuck opened every card, reading each one, and opened every present with careful thought.
needless to say, present time took a long time.
haha.

 typically i wouldn't share what i gave someone for their birthday, but since i made it, i can share. :)
my brother grew up reading & drawing comics. being that he was 4 years older than me, i wanted to be included in what he was into.  so i read comics, too.  i was excited to get to make this for tucker.  i did a batman one, too, but this is my favorite.  it took a while to draw it out free hand and then i ended up not using the drawing and just painting it free hand. i don't think i've ever been this stressed about an art project in my life.  i'm pretty proud of it. i may have to steal it back someday.

hahaha.

to miss dina---
holy awesome birthday party, batman!

thanks to the ross family for making me feel like i'd run a marathon that day & the next day...and sugaring up my kids before they came home! :)

katie: senior session--st. joseph, mo

this past weekend,

we made our annual trip to st. joseph, mo.

we had a great time with family as we

took the kids fishing, had a "campfire",

did some vintage shopping...and pierced my ears at the mall.

part of the reason for the trip was for

family time, the other for a senior

session that i had scheduled last fall

during a college senior's shoot.

the client's sister was graduating high school

the following year and i was asked to come back out.

i happily said "yes".

this was a free session.

i find that i enjoy doing those so much

more than i do when i charge.

this is katie.

she'll be attending missouri western,

just as her brother did,

and majoring in special ed.

good luck to you, katie!

andrew and his dad were in a photo at the end of andrew's session last year,

so it was only fitting to get one of katie and her mom this year. :)

ideas for painless family photos.

with the small preview of fall last week,

i started thinking about christmas photos.

i mean,

we did ours this summer on vacation,

so we're done.

(smartest thing i've ever done!)

however, most people do their photos for

their christmas cards in the fall.

ah, photos.

to the mom, photos mean stress.

buying new outfits.

buying more new outfits 'cause you 

changed your mind about your outfit

(that might only be me, though. :)) 

non-cooperating weather.

haircuts.

finding a photographer.

to the dad, photos mean, well, an unhappy mom.

fighting with the kids to stay still.

spending money you were saving.

(a photographer costs how much?!)

having to pose when you'd rather be

watching a game.

for the kids, photos mean yelling.

yelling at the kids.

parents yelling at each other.

racing around the house to get ready

and yelling for everyone to hurry up.

what's fun about that??

no one said photos had to be done the same

way EVERY YEAR.

or by a professional photographer.

it's okay to do things differently.

i have found a TON of ideas on pinterest over

the last few months,

some i've tried myself.

here are some ideas, new and old, for everyone:

1. for the newly married couple.

you just took a TON of wedding photos that were sure to be expensive.

use those!

saves your cheeks from all of that smiling.

get with your photographer and order some prints. or if you bought a cd of your photos,

print them. (i'll cover where to print at further down)

2. for the non-photogenic/i hate smiling.

try something fun.

this could work for the newlywed, too.

(via pinterest)

the hands have it.

(heart hands via pinterest)

as much as your grandma would love to

see your happy face,

sometimes the simple intimate photo is better.

to me the body language says,

"we love each other a lot".

more importantly, if you're on a very tight budget that doesn't leave room for a photographer,

this one could be easily done by a friend.

(whidbey island session w/mikaela ruth photography)

3. only child? focus on just them.  

(via pinterest)

there's all of this talk about how mom's should be in the photos, too...

but honestly, what tired mom wants to display the bags under her eyes??

i sure don't.

this photo shows that there are parents

(we tend to forget about the parents when there's a new little one around anyway),

but puts the main focus on the child.

4. let them be kids.

no one said kids have to look at the camera.

candids are a big part of my life.

let the kids play or do something that represents them.

we just took this shot yesterday.

my kids are best friends.

seriously.

they want to do everything together.

including running away from their mom.

(and yes, there was yelling on my part. :))

i adore candids.

get on the floor with your sons as they play with their star wars toys.

shoot through the window of your girl's

dollhouse as she's holding her princess doll.

capture the everyday.

(via pinterest)

i saw this posted on facebook today

for ashley ann's new site.

these photos of her kids capture her everyday moments perfectly.

5. family fun.

what's not fun about dressing up

together??

nothing says togetherness better than that.

ashley ann's star wars family

the last photo on this link would have

made a very fitting family photo for their

christmas card. :)

seriously fun.

i can only imagine how

much fun this had to have been to shoot, 

both for the family and for the photographer.  

(be sure to check out the link at the bottom of the photo to see the rest of their shoot)

(via pinterest)

 (via pinterest)

this last shot is from a post for those of us who are always behind the camera and how we should join in on the photos.
i love this photo because it is something that you could do in your christmas jammies, reading 'twas the night before christmas'.  it's simple, festive, cheap(both clothes and not having to have a photographer present) and candid.  it's something i will personally be doing with my kids while my husband is deployed.

(via pinterest)

now for the second part of this post:

printing.

everyone wants to print on a budget.

however, remember that you get what you pay for.

i found this photo on (again) pinterest and i

thought it was absolutely perfect.

the post gives you a better description of everything, so you can read that here.  i encourage you to take what's written to heart.
we made the mistake of doing photos cheaply last year through wal-mart and got a walgreens result.  i was so upset.  lesson learned.

i recommend mpix to everyone i know and use it myself(it's a kansas based business).  i love how the photos come out and how quickly they make it to my house.  if you've never looked into them before, please do so!  if it intimidates you trying to put photos together online, let me know...i'd be happy to help you out!  or try a locally owned shop to do your printing.  i'm sure they'd appreciate your business.


PHOTOGRAPHERS:

lastly, if you're wanting to do photos with a professional, book a session immediately.   booking in the summer is typically the best time, but some will still have slots open now.

if you need a photographer recommendation, 
there is a list of local photographers on the top right hand side of this blog.  click on the name and it'll take you to their site. 


i hope that this post has been helpful to you! if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me in my comments section or email me at jeaswhyte(at)yahoo(dot)com.  

free time.

school starting has meant free time for mama!

i'm a big fan of this.

this week, i took a walk BY MYSELF through my

favorite local park and did a 'nature photo shoot'.

here are a few of my favorite shots of the park.

back to school.

recently, i found a photo on pinterest that had a child holding 

a printed sign with her grade and teacher's name on it for a first day of school photo.

super cute idea.

a lot of people are doing them now.

 my friend did one for her first grader, kindergartener,

and even one for her 2 yr old that says

"first day of being an only child...finally!"

 haha.

so great.

well, not to be left out, we did our own.

my oldest left for her first day of kindergarten today.

instead of typing and printing a sign

(since i don't have a printer),

we used a chalkboard i had picked up in st. joe,

a chalkboard marker and my daughter's writing skills.

she loves to write and copy letters,

so i let her do this all by herself.

i love the idea of having them write their own

and being able to see how they've grown each year,

both in height and writing skills.

we will definitely continue this tradition.