Fourth time is a charm...

Someone was conspiring to keep me from finishing this session!

Nick was in on October 2 for his senior session. We ended up not trying to fight the light rain that we had... did the indoor... put it in our hip pocket... and rescheduled for the outdoor.

Then came the call from mama Bev.

"Umm, yeah.. that reschedule? He has band pictures that day."

And to some, band pictures might be ok to miss... but not when your the drum major. So, we bumped back again.

Take 3...

Not so much.

It was raining cats and dogs the next scheduled attempt last Friday... so we bumped back one more time... to Friday, Oct. 30.

And while the forecast was NOT promising and we were staring down the barrel of a FIFTH go around... but fortunately we never got there because the rain quit in the very early morning hours yesterday and Nick and I were reunited at last.

Clearly music is important in Nick's life as is his faith... both have been depicted in cool ways here. Some may say he's a wizard on the sax... and if you look at his images below, there can be NO DOUBT about that! ;-)

Nick is the third of three siblings that I've photographed from this family. A special shout out to brother Neil and sister Brooke! Additionally, thanks are in order to Nick's mother, Bev, who I've always enjoyed. I could pick that gal's brain all day.

Thanks for your patience, Nick... here's the payoff.

A band of brothers... another musical Mullikin

Wednesday brought me the third senior installment from family Mullikin in the past four years. Brothers Trent ('07) and Bryce (don't call me Bryan) just last year were in previously, and there's been a common thread with all three.

Music.

Trent toted in his entire drum set and set the studio record for LOUDEST opening to a session ever. Bryce busted out the trombone a year ago... Tyler here kept the trend going with a couple options. He rocked out the acoustic guitar and also brought his lightning rods to depict some drumming of his own.

The music doesn't die there, however, as I was informed that Tyler is singing a TON in the upcoming East Marshall performance of Guys and Dolls. One trip to his Facebook also shows me that he's deft on the piano as well.

I've gotten to know Tyler's mom, Sheryl pretty well after three sessions and numerous trips to the middle school in Gilman where Mrs. Mullikin does a fine job with our 5th thru 8th grade bands. In addition, Tyler's papa is quite visible in our community as well as he serves as pastor at the LeGrand Friends Church and moonlights as the P.A. man at many East Marshall athletic events.

All in all, it was another fun session with loyal folks that I've grown to really appreciate, not only for their business... but also for their friendship and likemindedness.

Thanks guys.

Losing My Religion...

Typically this space is used for high school seniors, however, if someone brings me food, they get special privileges.

Case and point... The Wieland family from Marshalltown.

The mother of the two children pictured below is Caleen Wieland, and she won a special place in Stewart Photography's owners mind as she made what is typically a long night, just a bit shorter last spring.

For those of you who are not aware, one of our biggest jobs of the year takes place each spring when we photograph Carolyn Hoffman's Main Street Dance Academy's pictures a few weeks prior to their annual spring concert.

Tutu after tutu after tights all night... it's a grind... both Friday night and all day Saturday. The Friday portion gets particularly difficult because we're shooting non-stop from 4 p.m. until after 11 p.m. Like most guys... that time is going to overlap at the usual time that my stomach taps me on the shoulder and says, "hey buddy... how about throwin' me a sammich or somethin'?"

There has been times when I've been nearly ready to start gnawing on my arm during that Friday shoot.

Then came Caleen.

Like she was sent from above, Mrs. Wieland trots in last spring on that Friday evening with perhaps my favorite sandwich on the planet... Sub City's #25 on white with mayo and mustard. Can I get an amen, folks? Needless to say... I am indebted forever! ;-)

Through this same job over the years, I've gotten the opportunity to photograph the charismatic young lady in these photographs that you see... Alicia! I think when I first met her I had asked Caleen on the side how old her daughter was... thinking that she may be almost ready to be one of our seniors at Stewart Photography. "Is your daughter, what? a junior?" Caleen: "Umm.. no... she's an eighth grader." Oops.

Well, guess what? Alicia IS a junior at MHS now, and next year we WILL do her senior session and we look forward to that event.

So, all that being said... I hadn't gotten the chance to meet the fellas until Tuesday. It was a pleasure getting meet young Daniel and to work with a dad that genuinely looked forward to this experience. (or at least Mark was good at faking it for an hour!) Mark mentioned... "I just want a nice outdoor family photograph, and if you can get my hunting dogs in there..."

Well... it was a particular challenge getting the pups to cooperate... but we did get ONE... and in the end... that's all that counts, right? Darn that Chiggers... she was just not gonna look at the camera!

Finally, I did have yet ONE more request from the Wielands before they left. We got the fall looks and the water image that Caleen had been envisioning for a long time. But, nothing could prepare me for their final request.

"We've got Iowa State gear to change into, too."

Uggh!

Those of you that know me are aware that I'm an official card-carrying member of the Jihadic Wing of Hawkeye Nation. That being said... I am a professional. And sometimes, you do whatcha gotta do. I KNOW that Mark, Caleen and the kids were taking particular joy in making Hawkeye Bryan stomach this.

I will say that despite walking on the clouds during this magical run that my Hawkeyes have been on... I cannot deny that I've been impressed with what first year coach Paul Rhoads has been able to get done in Ames. This last Saturday was a epic day in our state, to be sure, as the Hawks nearly gave us all a coronary at East Lansing... and long suffering Cyclone fans got a rare day in the sun over at Lincoln, Nebraska with it's first victory at the home of the Huskers since I was a snot-nosed 6-year old. For those of you who haven't seen it already... take 2 minutes and watch this scene from the ISU locker room in the postgame... I don't care who you are... goosebumps.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAcKiMy0Gp4

So, despite having to break my religious stance by photographing the Wielands in their Cardinal and Gold, it came a little easier to me this week as I have a newfound respect for Coach Rhoads and the Cyclones. (it also doesn't hurt that the HAWKS need ISU to keep winning to help Iowa's strength of schedule status with the BCS!) ;-)

35-3. Out.

Big Ben Brings It...

OK, so, credit where credit is due. Ben became just the third senior in Stewart Photography history to throw a perfect grey card game during his senior session. Immortality! He joins Cole Kelly and Kacie Mathern in studio lore. What talent, right, Ben?

That being said, when I have athletes in, I'll usually bust out a few questions as the probing reporter that I am. What position? What's your record? Who do you play this week? Can you make the playoffs? What's your coach like?

Why did you choose the number you chose?

Especially with football players... it seems like there's usually a story behind it. Not always... but sometimes it's because of their favorite NFL player... sometimes it's just their lucky number... And sometimes, it really has meaning.

Ben, here, just wrapped up his senior season of football for GMG's Wolverines. And while they didn't win as many games as they would have liked... sometimes teams are products of their schedule. And when a team plays 5 ranked foes during a 9-game campaign, sometimes victories are hard to come by, even for solid outfits.

So, the Wolverine linebacker/fullback got asked why #24?

"Well... all my brothers have worn that number."

Wow... cool. So... with your oldest brother, why did HE choose 24?

"Well, my dad wore it in high school, too."

Even cooler.

How neat would it be to get all the Krull fellas together in the old jerseys for a photograph? (just an idea, Mama Cindy!)

That being said... even if that pipedream could become reality, it would always be just short of completeness.

For you see, Ben had just one special request for his session.

He wanted to be photographed in his #24 with an image of his brother Bob, in the background.

Bob left us a few years ago, just short of his 21st birthday. No doubt, Ben misses his brother. He and all his brothers have a bond. A bond that Ben wanted to depict in a photograph. He asked, "can I have you put some text on that image with my brother and I?"

Absolutely...

Scroll down and check out Ben's image with Bob. I love it.

Faith, Family and Football. #24's for life. Awesome.

I never met Bob, but I'm guessing that while he and his little bro used to go around and round... he's somewhere smiling down at his brother Ben for this idea.

Can't stop the King...

This time... he wasn't going to be stopped.

Joel here was originally scheduled to be photographed back on September 30. The last of 5 siblings at the Conrad household over by Albion (we photographed four), Joel wanted to have his senior portraits done out at the family farm like Emily '03, Erin '04 and Kristin '08 all did before.

But a funny thing happened along the way.

Joel was blessed by being chosen as a king candidate for Marshalltown's Homecoming festivities that last week of September... and as a result... his coronation rehearsal overlapped with his original session date. We fielded the last-minute phone call from Mama Carol... and decided to bump it back just one day to Oct. 1 to avoid the conflict.

Then came the rain.

Postponement #2.

And as it turns out... it may have been a good deal anyway... as Joel was tabbed by his peers as the 2009 MHS Homecoming King. A pleasant surprise to be sure... but I'm guessing Wednesday night was a long one... maybe with little sleep from the rush... and a Thursday morning 8 a.m. spot may have been a bit rough. ;-)

So... it got bumped until Thursday... Oct. 22. And guess what?

More rain.

After collaborating for awhile, the Conrads determined that they were all in for this go around... outdoor or not. So we made the best of it... even using a somewhat "outdoor" spot as we took advantage of the roof over Rube's Steakhouse beer garden and shot some really cool stuff with Joel's electric and acoustic bass.

In the end, Joel proved that we can take pouring rain and low 40-degree temps and make lemonade from lemons.