Lance's chance...

In my previous blog post I talked about a young lady that waited three years for her turn after sitting in on her older sister's senior session.

Take that times three... and then some.

A full decade has passed since Lance Steward was in last.

George W. was President... The War on Terror began that year... It was the first year of the new Millennium.

I looked that all up on Wikipedia... which coincidentally was launched that year on the internet. :)

Laine Steward was photographed that year, and it was a day with some spotty showers and my trusty sidekick on that day was an energetic seven year old Lance Steward.

Right there to do anything he could to help... Lil' Lance was holding umbrellas, reflectors... you name it... he wanted to be where the action was.

I've watched Lance grow into the young man he is today through seeing him at our church in Ferguson and at East Marshall events. He's someone that his mama Kim can be very proud of.

He helps his dad farm, and I also learned that dude ain't no dummy either... They don't let slackers into the aerospace engineering program at state universities... just sayin'.

All that being said what I was most familiar with Lance was his ability to run.

He's been to state cross country with the team and as an individual qualifier, and this past spring he qualified in the Class 2A 1600 meter run. So when Lance came to me with an idea for his sports image... I figured it would have to do something with running.

It did.

If you look at the bottom of the first image you'll see where the real work was put in. No less than 14 individual images of Lance "running" from sport to sport as he does all year long... Cross Country-into-basketball-into track-into baseball. They are all represented with over 18 layers blended all together to get your finished result. Good idea my friend.

So Lance was the end of a busy week at the end of July. He, like many of my clients, have waited patiently this past week... Neither he nor I had any idea of what the next week was about to hold. As we found out in just a couple short days after his session, it was gonna be a week full of heartache, coming together to support one another, grieving our losses and ultimately, celebrating life.

Being further behind that I've ever been is gonna make me feel like I'm living through it all again in the blogs to come. I will be emotional to be sure.

Stay tuned.

BOWLED OVER by D.J.K.

No, not THAT DJK. :)

The Marshalltown, one. The one that bowls... the one that drives a Ford Mustang... the one that plays drums... and the fan of the World Champion Packers.

I had photographed D.J. Koger's sister, Whitney for her senior pictures a few years back as a member of Marshalltown's Class of 2005. So Mama Mandy and her son had decided on going back to the scene of the crime for round two.

But the photographer had other ideas.

It was mentioned that D.J. was an accomplished Bobcat bowler, and that he'd like to incorporate drums, piano and his car. So, while Mandy was wondering aloud how we could get all this stuff to Montour... I suggested that perhaps I come to the stuff... rather than the stuff coming to me.

The first order of business was convincing D.J. that senior pictures was a worthwhile endeavor at 8 a.m. on a Friday morning. Once that was accomplished... we had to convince Totem Bowl manager Roger Taylor, Sr. of the same. :)

While the early start didn't exactly appeal to either guy... I'm tickled with what we came up with. Special thanks to Roger for letting us have the run of the place for 90 minutes off regular hours. I had a blast.

And a bruise.

Let me explain...

Take one look at the first image on this blog and take one second to figure out where the dummy photographer was for that angle.

That's right... laying in the middle of the lane.

D.J. was like... "are you SURE!?!?... just... umm.... roll it like I would normally? THAT hard?"

I assured D.J. that that's EXACTLY what I wanted him to do... and that I would get the image and then roll myself out of harms way.

As you can see by D.J.'s full extension, he held nothing back... and that sixteen pound sphere was sliding toward me at a high rate of speed.

No problem, of course... I'd like to think I'm a fairly nimble cat. I'll just roll over to the gutter quickly and being the outstanding bowler that D.J. is... he'll be right down the middle-ish and driving home another strike, right?

Wrong.

What the photographer failed to realize, is that unlike himself, who couldn't throw a hook to save his life, D.J. is actually a GOOD bowler and doesn't just throw a straight ball right down the middle like the owner of Stewart Photography does... and that ball indeed was gonna hook out towards the gutter I was rolling towards before curving back in.

Ruh roh.

Ball meet elbow.

Not gonna lie... it left a mark... and I felt pretty stupid. But, lesson learned... and the remainder of his frames that we shot... i deftly rolled to my RIGHT, instead of LEFT... and it was smooth sailin!

After saying goodbye to Roger and Totem... we went to D.J.'s home to get his drum set and piano knocked off... and while that was a challenge in tight quarters... we got some sweet stuff. Finally as we got back to the studio, I realized... dang... we're about 3 1/2 hours in and we have no "regular" stuff yet. So, after shooting his sweet Mustang, we did finally get some poses that could hang on the wall for the next 50 years. :)

There WAS one more item of business to take care of however...

The Green Bay Packers issue.

D.J. brought in his Aaron Rodgers #12 jersey... and he doesn't know it yet... but I held back.

Oh, I didn't pull any punches with what I shot or designed for our Packer-backer senior. His, green and gold collage is pretty sweet, if I may say so.

What I DIDN'T tell D.J.... or his mom... was who I rooted for.

:)

In order to avoid ridicule and public taunting and further embarrassment... I withheld the fact that I'm a HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Most of you are aware that the Packers defeated the Steelers 31-26 last February... so I decided, until now, to just fly under the radar on this topic... because when dude's got scoreboard.... dude's got scoreboard. And while it PAINED ME to have to add that "2010" to the list of 13 world titles the Packers have... no one can doubt my professionalism (or perhaps doing nearly ANYTHING for a buck). :)

So either they were aware I'm a fan of the team from the Steel City and were just gracious... or they weren't and I dodged the smack talk... either way, to the victor goes the spoils... I'm just glad my Packer Fanatic secretary Allie Wills, wasn't around in the morning to blow my cover.

Maggie May's Day...

Three years can be a LONG time when you're excited!

I met Miss Maggie May on September 17, 2008 when we were photographing big sis Sid for HER senior session. And while Sidney kept me hoppin' as a member of the Class of 2009, I knew right then her little firecracker of a sibling was gonna be a handful in a few short years. :)

The good news for me is that I didn't have to wait the full three years to see Mags again. Full disclosure here, even though Maggie May is a Marshalltown Bobcat... she'll be the first to admit that she's a closet Mustang.

With a ton of East Marshall friends, it's not uncommon to see Maggie at an East Marshall event. Perhaps my favorite memory of her in the interim between her session and her sisters was when she had the (perhaps unenviable) honor of escorting fellow Stewart Photography "alums" Ryan Valline and Tom Schaefer (dressed to the nines in replica "Dumb and Dumber" tuxes complete with top hats, canes and Valline's BRIGHT orange ensemble).

Now THAT's a girl who isn't afraid to have fun! (and not just anyone would be patient enough to wait while her dates have a "sword fight" with their canes during promenade.... ahem.)

So, last Thursday was finally her turn to have the spotlight on her alone... and boy did she shine.

With a smile that's wider that that HUGE lollipop that she brought in (how was i not surprised by that?), Maggie just lit up my lens for hours. Her energy is infectious and it was Mama Cindy and I's job to try to keep up. From her collection of shoes, to her boxes and boxes of pottery, to her leaping over flowers, and trying to avoid falling in the water... this ball of fire kept me on my toes. I wasn't even the least bit surprised then when she aggressively took the wheel of the H3 after her last outfit.

A true student (or stalker?) of our blog, it seems sometimes I have really no idea how closely some follow my day to day babbling. Maggie, however, needed no explanation on anything that we had done recently and I KNOW she's been on pins and needles all week (along with about 5 or 6 other seniors) waiting for me to get to HER day in the sun.

Well, we're here, finally, Miss Halverson. I hope I did you justice. Thanks for all the smiles as I edited your images this week... we needed them around these parts in the last few days. But I'm sure you knew that... because truth is... you're really one of us.

Can't beat the HEAT...

Oh believe me... if it woulda been possible... Ida done it.

It what has turned out to be the hottest and most humid summer I recall in my 18 years in business, last Tuesday afternoon was just another in a long string of days that have been like trying to photograph on the surface of the Sun.

The week prior we were fortunate enough to have all morning sessions except for one... and THAT one called and asked to bump up to the morning slot to avoid the scorching afternoon.

Smart move.

So when Chris Kulhavy called last week and wondered if, on a whim, the morning spot might be available... she and her daughter, Abigail, would be glad to take it instead of fighting 115 degree heat indexes.

No such luck this time. Morning session was already full.

So the battle was on... Abby versus the Outdoor Furnace.

I'm happy to report, that Abigail won.

Now that she's had a week to hopefully cool off... the only thing sizzlin' now is her images. Oh it was a struggle to be sure... especially when she had to slip into her little jacket number in the heat of the afternoon, but ultimately, looking at her images... you'd never know that it wasn't a mild 70-degree day. :)

It was great to catch up with Chris and what is now Kulhavy No.3 to visit our studio. I'm sure Abby would say that we saved the best for last... but she might get some argument from Derek or Leslie..

I learned a few things about Abbz in the midst of our struggle with the weather... She informed me of her future plans to go to the University of Iowa to major in "x-rays and stuff." I learned she's a four-sport athlete... She's also bff's with three other Wolverines that I've already seen this summer (shout out to Madi, Madelyn and Em! Holla!)... She also has the perfect summer job... which is nothing. (it's a great gig while you can hang on to it... much to the chagrin of Mama and Papa Kulhavy's pocketbook) :)

Once again, thanks for your business, Team Kulhavy. Tuesday's session meant alot to me for two reasons. One families' loyalty... and the fact that despite three of her closest friends coming our way... there was never any doubt of where Ab wanted to go.

Can you smell what Tanner's got cookin'?

Some guys are just my brutha from anotha mutha.

Exhibit A.... Tanner Purvis.

If dude ain't the class clown of Gladbrook-Reinbeck's class of 2012... I feel for the mother of the fella that is... because this guy was hilarious and ornery as all git-out.

Normally I should be the one responsible for the entertainment during the session, but last Tuesday found the roles reversed.

The teacher becomes the student... :)

I had met Tanner a couple weeks back when we saw Team Purvis for an extended family portrait... Evidently the confines of a family session kept Mount Saint Tanner from erupting, because I saw very little of the personality that I saw bubble to the surface a week ago.

We did our fair share of B.A. poses with Mr. Purvis... mostly when he got his Rebel football gear out... but somehow, I'm not sure it REALLY fit him as I think he's more of a big teddy bear that is enjoyed by all who know him.

My favorite moment of the session was when I asked him, "hey... can you do 'eyebrow'"?

For those of you familiar with former WWE star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, you know what I'm talkin' about.

Should I mention that Tanner's mom, Vicki, called Dwayne Johnson 'eye candy?'

Moving on, I informed Tanner and his appropriately hilarious and awesome mom that the REAL inventor of 'The Eyebrow' isn't The Rock. It's actually the character John Black from the NBC Soap, Days of Our Lives... Can I get an amen?... I digress) I'll ask this question on occasion with seniors, because full disclosure... I just love the look... because it's never NOT funny... and... it just so happens that the photographer can do one mean John Black impersonation. About one-third of our senior clientele base can pull it off (i've kept track)... the other 2/3rds just look confused. :)

Somehow I just KNEW that Tanner was gonna be in the third of seniors that COULD do it... and dude nailed it. Seemed to be fitting of his personality... and I decided to make it his trademark image.

Overall, it was a breath of fresh air to see a guy not taking himself too seriously. Between Tanner's antics and Vicki's non-stop love of everything I suggested... it was just an great way to start my Tuesday. As faithful followers of my blog may have noticed... it's been a few days since there's been a post. I just wanted to take a second to thank all of last week's seniors for their patience as our schedule has blow UP and quite simply, there's just not enough of me to go around here sometimes. That being said... I refuse to cut corners on anyone. Just because you're photographed in what traditionally is always our busiest time of the year... doesn't mean you get less...

Thanks for your patience everyone... Hang in there... I'll get to ya all eventually.