Lights, Camera... Aaron!

It was two days before Christmas and what was I doing? Well... senior pictures, of course!

Aaron came our way by way of South Carolina and was back visiting family for just a week and it just so happened that we could squeeze him into our Christmas preparation!

We had photographed Aaron's sister, Elisha (MHS-'06) a few years ago, and Mama Kim insisted on having us once again. Only difference is, instead of a beautiful fall session... we were bustin' it out in deep snow this time around.

It proved to be quite a culture shock for Aaron as he told me he had been wearing shorts around in nearly 60-degree temps a day or two before. He was a trooper while we were trudging around in the snow (he wasn't wearing socks, gang)... but, man... I could tell dude was COLD.

In my process of getting to know Aaron... I found out that he had a deep interest in photography. He's taken 3 or 4 semesters of photography back home and so we got some cool angles with a camera in his hand... even more impressive is the fact that Aaron's a NIKON guy. Kudos, my friend. ;-)

Even though he enjoys the still format of photography, it sounded like to me that he is ultimately interested in studying motion pictures in college, perhaps. So... don't kid yourself... I'll be name droppin' when Aaron becomes the next Spielberg.

This looks like it'll be the last blog entry for 2009. It's been a fantastic year for Stewart Photography. Thank you to all of our wonderful clients and fans of our blog. Merry Christmas and we're looking forward to an awesome New Year in 2010!

I'll take a Miltenberger with a side of guitar to go...

Just when I thought that perhaps we had seen the last Class of 2010 senior for the calendar year 2009, in comes Matt.

It's early December, but it's never too late to get rockin' images and that's just what we did Thursday afternoon just before our first dusting of snow caused a slew of rides in the ditch in the area. ;-)

My relationship with Matt and his family goes way back to 1996 when I photographed the Miltenbergers family portrait on a warm August day. A few years later I shot Matt's sister, Bethany as part of East Marshall's class of 2002... which interestingly, became part of the last senior class to ever be photographed with film at Stewart Photography. A year later, we went digital and have never looked back.

If Miltenberger sounds familiar to those in the area... it could be because many have visited Matt's father, Mike, at Mike's Bike and Fitness in Marshalltown. I would be remiss if I didn't give another area small business a shameless plug! Need a last minute Christmas idea? How about a bike? www.marshalltownmainstreet.com/members/mikesbikes/ The Stewart family picked up three new Trek bikes a year ago... and just like the way I despise the flood of people running to the "photographer" at the department store, people would be wise to support a local guy that really knows bikes instead. (End of infomercial)

So, it had been 13 years or since the last time Matt was on the other end of my lens... and what I discovered Thursday was that they guy plays a mean guitar. He mentioned that he is inspired by listening to some really old school punk bands... and he has a Fall Out Boy sticker emblazoned on his sweet Washburn axe, but I also noticed a Bible verse that was hand written on the facing of the guitar as well. I took the liberty to look up the verse and blend it in on the first image you see here. I like it.

Finally, I wanted to just take a minute to ask for prayer for Matt's mother, Pat. She was recently diagnosed with a form of lung cancer and could use a boost this Christmas season. Keep up the fight, Pat. God bless.