Good things come to those who.....

So... our Friday afternoon seniors have been in the unenviable position of having to (gasp) wait until TUESDAY to get their proofbooks... As our schedule dictates, I end up spending most weekends retouching like the devil all day Saturday.... Sunday... and most of Monday to just BARELY get caught up before it all begins again for the week.

Marissa here was our patient Friday afternoon senior this week...

Or was she?

"Are my pictures up on the blog yet"

"how about now?"

"what about now?"

Ok, maybe I embellish a bit about the emails and facebook questions. I do have to love the enthusiasm and excitement, though. It was not THAT long ago that seniors were waiting a full week or two for previews.... and instead of 120 previews.. they were looking at 20. Indeed times have changed... and all for the better for the client. Quicker turnaround... more images... and they've never looked better. Case and point.... Miss Marissa's images here. They rock!

Another history lesson

Ok... I was in denial for awhile, but it's happening almost every other session nowadays as I've gone from a know-nothing 22 year old, not much older than the seniors I was shooting, to a guy that's now photographing seniors that are children of my high school contemporaries.

Weird.

All it really means is that we've hung around for quite awhile now and Friday morning's most recent edition that made me feel old was Nick.

When Nick's mom wed his stepfather, Bruce, I was there to photograph it. And interestingly to those that know Mr. Nick now, they might find it shocking to know that back THEN... he was a terror on wheels.... The now quiet and unassuming young man used to be the exact opposite as I recall a little fella in a white tux that was a BLUR running from here to there in the Gilman UCC church on October 7, 1995.

So, here was Nick on Friday... probably not doing one of his most favorite things in having his picture taken, and Momma Cindy had kinda warned me that she wanted "dimples." Translation? He'd better be smiling! I was finding it to be tough sledding in that department... until little brother spun into action.

Little did I realize that all I really needed was fourth grade funny man Tristan to crack out the moves behind me to get Nick to bust out the smiles. I think the little fella may have a future in comedy if he so chooses... but on this day, he was just what the doctor ordered. The image below in the blue polo by the fence gives you an idea of what little bro was able to coax out of Nick... and, full disclosure.. the kid had me crackin' up, too.

Court is in session!

On June 21, 2002, Courtney walked into our studio for the first time... probably only 10 or 11 years old. She sat through her older sister Sarah's senior session...

Fast forward to June 29, 2006. Another 4 hour session.... this time with older sister Beth's senior pictures. Another 5 outfits to sit through....

Wednesday.... her patience paid off.

June 25, 2009 it was finally Courtney's turn to be a senior and was it worth the wait.

Court brought cousin Melia (Stewart Alum '08) and friend Staci along with Momma Jill. Who was missing? Well... I kinda think that maybe sisters Sarah and Beth perhaps owed little Court a visit... but, alas, it wasn't meant to be on this day. So we employed Staci to hold the fan in the studio... and Melia for moral support and Jill to... ummm... pay the bills... and we were off.

Perhaps what I'll remember Courtney most for was her new found interest in my light meter. Once this girl figured out WHAT it was... it became an interesting game of her trying to guess what my reading was going to be..... F4? F5.6? F8? F11? We had all of those, and she threw in a F7 and F1 on occasion which gave me a big laugh. Check out this girls' multi image shot in her dress..... love it!

Animals Attack

Ok... so, Marcus makes the roadie from Baxter on Tuesday morning and we got his session in despite the heat that had to be in the nineties by 10 a.m. He and I had a good time discussing our love for the Cubs... and about his sports... typical stuff.

What was atypical was some weird animal karma that Marcus brought with him on this day.

Early on in the session when we were down in the creek... he admitted his fear of snakes. I'm not gonna lie... I'm not a big fan either... and I have seen them from time to time in that area of town. But we didn't on this day. The snake topic came up again a few minutes later when in some high overgrown grass for his bow hunting image... again... no snakes.

That being said... we put the bow away and walked to a tree and a toad jumped in front of us... and you woulda thought it was a cobra judging by our senior's reaction. Then we nearly were swarmed by hornets followed by a bird of some kind that was none to happy that we ventured near her nest wedged into a shed. You get the picture... it was just an odd session with creatures of all kinds.

The only normal "creature" there on Tuesday was Momma Deanna who I'd like to thank for bringing child number two to me... sounds like we have about a decade to wait for number three... but God willing... i'll be ready. I hope Mom enjoyed watching Marcus and I dodge birds, hornets, frogs and a mosquito or two.

Oh... one other thing... loyal followers of our blog will remember that we had a perfect gray-card tossing session last week with Cole from West Branch. Well, it seems that people have stepped up their game as we were a perfect 10-for-10 on Tuesday.... until the LAST throw. Marcus perhaps sniffing the aroma of immortality got a little flippant with the last throw... and BAM.... it hits the tripod and I cannot make the grab. 10-for-11 ain't bad, my friend. Not bad at all. ;-)

An engaging session

Saturday brought back an old friend as Delana (senior 04) brought in the love of her life for an engagement session.

Since we no longer photograph weddings... a natural result is less engagement sessions (since most shooters will include them with their wedding packages). So the engagement sessions we get are from clients that REALLY want us to make their images.

So we were appreciative of Tyler and Delana insisting on us. While Delana and I got up to speed with what what she's been doing the past five years... it was Tyler that stole the show.

Normally, it's part of MY job to be entertaining... making folks laugh... getting them comfortable in front of the camera. In this case... it was Mr. Tyler that was doing the entertaining. Totally hilarious dude is all I have to say. I told Delana that she's in for a great life with a guy that will always keep her laughing.

I picked out a few of my favs... enjoy!

One more Favre comeback

Regardless of what you think about Brett Favre, one has to give the guy credit for longevity and his Ripken-esque streak while playing for the Green Bay Packers. The guy was consistent, if nothing else.

So, it's fitting then when our Friday morning senior wanted to show off a little consistency of his own.

Taylor here brought with him three Favre jerseys (yes... i did razz him about whether or not he was considering getting a Vikings version of #4.... he didn't laugh). The jerseys were of three different sizes and it all came together when Taylor explained to me that he had taken his school picture with a Favre jersey on...... EVERY YEAR.

From kindergarten thru eleventh grade... ol' #4 was on his back. So today was the day to complete the streak. And we did.

That wasn't the only cool thing we did Friday, however. I did have to break my religion and make a rockin' Iowa State collage.... what I won't do for money... but I digress.

Additionally, Taylor brought his little lady with him for moral support. Interestingly... her name? Well.... Taylor, of course. She was a great help in keeping the fellas in line on this day. I got a chuckle about how the two met... Long story short... Highway 330.... girl Taylor in one car... boy Taylor in another... on the way back from watching Marshalltown in the state basketball tourney... boy Taylor and buddy Brandon spot attractive blonde girl Taylor in the other lane... Brandon flashes boy Taylor's phone number out the window.... rest is history. :-)

Lastly... about an hour prior to Taylor's session Friday morning... nature released her wrath on Montour. We got a ton of rain and a lot of wind. There are a couple shots below that I don't see everyday, and I've been here over 15 years. Our babbling brook of a creek turned into a raging river and a very tall and mature tree was a casualty on the property of Ron and Alice Garrett (love those folks, btw).

Speck-tacular

Danielle ended our week of seniors Friday with a fun session that included mom and grandma along for the festivities...

I got the biggest kick out of grandma making mention early in the session that Danielle here needed to be smiling... which the insinuation is that a serious picture is clearly not a good picture. Of course, I would beg to differ, but grandma and I had a fun banter back and forth the rest of the session on the topic.

Mom insisted from the git-go that her daughter was a bit of a tom-boy, and since she was pumped about goin' four-wheelin after the session, I guess I'll have to believe her..... although, judging from the images... she pulls off the glam just as well.