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I think it takes a ton of guts to let two journalists into your home for any length of time. Not only do we ask a lot of questions, we take pictures, too. And sometimes as journalists it’s difficult to ask those questions and take those pictures.

Reporter Baylie Evans came to me a few weeks ago and reminded me of the impending deployment of Wyoming troops to Kuwait. Baylie and I covered National Guard training at Camp Guernsey earlier this year where she met Heather Saul of Lingle, the focus of one of our family deployment stories in the WTE.

Heather said she had no problem with us visiting her and meeting her family before she deployed. In addition, Baylie got ambitious and contacted Cheyenne resident Maj. Joe Gallagher, and he, too, agreed to let us document his family during his last days before deployment.

We met the Gallagher family first and then traveled to Lingle for a visit with the Saul family. Later we traveled with the Gallaghers as they dropped off their kids at school and said goodbye. We then went over to the Wyoming Air National Guard to catch up with Heather as she said her goodbyes.

I can’t begin to express the range of emotions that swept over me while I witnessed the events of that morning unfold. Both families allowed us to record some very intimate moments at a very difficult time. As a photojournalist, it’s an opportunity to make compelling and meaningful images, but as a human being you can’t help but feel affected.

I also wanted to mention that producing the deployment stories involved a group effort in the newsroom. Managing editor Brian Martin, page design guru Kiah Staley, and a last-minute adjustment by executive head honcho Reed Eckhardt really helped pull the story together.