Laura Rhoades Photography & Design bio picture
  • Welcome!

    My name is Laura, and I'm a 27-year-old Wichita-based photographer focused on the female portrait. While I enjoy photographing a variety of subjects, my passion is to help other women see the loveliness they possess and find ways to share it meaningfully with others.

    In late August, my husband and I are relocating to the beautiful metropolis of Daegu, South Korea. By day, we'll teach English in the public schools, and by evening and weekend, we'll explore Korea and as much of Southeast Asia as we can over the next year, cameras in hand. Curious about our choice? Read more about it!

    I'd love for you to follow our adventures (with lots of photos, I promise!) by subscribing to this blog through RSS or email.

    Please also feel free to look at my portrait work through the Portfolio link above and the blog archives. If you're interested in booking a session when we get back, you can look at my rates and FAQs, read about my philosophy on the female portrait, then get in touch!

    Thanks for joining us on this journey. I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Keumsan Temple | 2010 EPIK Orientation

Yesterday afternoon, we visited Keumsan Temple on the outskirts of Jeonju in Moak Mountain. It was used in the eighth century AD as the main Korean temple for practicing Maitreya Buddhism during the Unified Shilla Dynasty. Unless otherwise captioned, I don’t know much about what I shot (sorry) except that I thought it looked lovely...

View the entire post »

Jeonju Hanok Village | 2010 EPIK Orientation

This morning we visited the Hanok Village in Jeonju to get a traditional Korean experience. Like any such place anymore, it was a bit of a tourist trap, but we had a great time. These red peppers were just lying out on round stone “stumps.” Our exploring buddies for much of the morning. This is...

View the entire post »

Korean food so far | 2010 EPIK Orientation

Josh and I already loved Korean food before we got here, and the more dishes we try, the more we like. Below is my (quite large) breakfast from Saturday. Other than the roll, coffee, and a small piece of rye bread (with whipped cream on top!) hidden behind the bowl, it’s not very breakfast-y. Koreans...

View the entire post »

Opening ceremony | 2010 EPIK Orientation

There were some amazing traditional Korean performances for us at yesterday afternoon’s opening ceremony, starting with these drummers. I don’t have much from the Taekwondo demonstrations, because Josh used the camera to take video most of the time. If you’re friends with him on Facebook, be sure to look for that video to be posted....

View the entire post »

Jeonju University | 2010 EPIK Orientation

We are in South Korea! More specifically, we are at Jeonju University for our 8-day orientation to be English teachers through the EPIK program. If you haven’t read about our decision to take this adventure over the next year, feel free to do so here. After a brief flight to Chicago on Tuesday morning, a...

View the entire post »

show hide 1 comment

Tori | Day 2 | Class of 2011 | Wichita senior photography

I’m back again with the second round of my cousin-in-law Tori’s senior pictures. We captured these while Josh and I were on a whirlwind trip down the East Coast to visit family before leaving for South Korea (tomorrow, by the way). Our Maryland locales included the Baltimore Inner Harbor, downtown Rockville and then Tori’s home...

View the entire post »

Jen and Ryan | Wichita maternity photography

Jen and I were in the same freshman small group at Tabor College. It was wonderful to spend this time with her and her husband almost exactly 10 years (yikes!) after she and I first met. Congratulations, you two. I’m so happy for you!

View the entire post »

Toni, Seth and Brinkley | Wichita portrait photography

For only having known her for about a year as coworkers at NIAR/WSU, Toni is one of my favorite people. So I was obviously pleased to capture her sweet beauty and joy as she hangs out with her two boys, Seth (her hubby) and Brinkley (her dog). She could be a model, don’t you think?...

View the entire post »

Cooper, Jen, Bryan and Howard | Wichita family photography

Cooper is the son of Jen, one of my best friends from high school, and her husband, Bryan. Howard is their adorable dog. This is their session, in my longest blog post to date. I know you’ll enjoy Cooper as much as we all did!

View the entire post »

Hannah | Class of 2011 | Wichita senior photography

This beautiful young woman and I go way back, when I babysat her and her younger siblings during my teenage years. It’s hard to believe she’s that age now, though I’m not at all surprised at how lovely she is, both inside and out. I’m so proud of you, Hannah. Thanks for enduring such yucky...

View the entire post »