Hawks... H3... Hubbard... and a heck of a good time...

Sometimes I can struggle to find an angle on what to blog about.

Not this time.

In a session that had a plethora of options for me to take from before, during and after the actual shoot, I decided that I'll try to cover 'em all.

First of all Jordan's mom and I go way back. Earlier this summer I had my first ever high school classmate bring me a senior to be photographed. Jordan is the second such instance as LDF-SEMCO Class of 1990 grad, Micah (Reece) Gorder, and I walked across the same stage to get our diplomas back in the day.

Small school... probably friends since we were knee high, right?

Well... not exactly.

That class was a conglomerate for sure as it was the first year of a sharing agreement that now is known as East Marshall. One look at our class photo and you'll see a mess of colors as LDF's red and black is juxaposed with SEMCO's black and gold.

And then there was one odd duck in a orange and black Hubbard letterjacket.

That woulda been Jordan's mother. :)

So we knew OF each other... I actually knew her ornery three brothers better as I played football with Josh.. and basketball with twins Jason and Jeremy.

Jordan's grandma, Sandi had her hands FULL with that many kids in high school at once... and after getting to meet HER at Jordan's session, I understand how she juggled it all...

By being half crazy! :)

We covered the Hubbard issue... what about the H3?

Most of you know that's what I drive... It still puts a smile on my face to see people's reaction when they sit in it for the first time.... Many will say.. "wow... never been in one of THESE before."

Then there was Grandma Sandi.

Mama Micah, Jordan and boyfriend Gavin piled in the back and that left Sandi to ride shotty.

I couldn't possibly do Sandi's reaction justice in words here... but it went something like this...

*short of breath* "YOU HAVE NO IDEA... THIS IS MY DREAM VEHICLE... I'VE ALWAYS WANTED ONE OF THESE."

I reminded her it was JUST an H3... hardly the vehicle that the H2 or the Humvee original were.... but no matter... Sandi's day was just offically MADE.

As I've discussed before, I often offer to "spread the wealth" by letting seniors drive the H3 on ocassion. So imagine the excitement that ensued when Jordan was offered... followed by a decline... and THEN.... there was only one thing left to do.

"I guess that means that Grandma gets to drive then!"

So, for the first time in studio history, a grandma got to chauffer in the Hummer... and you would think that she had just won the lottery! SO FUN! :)

Lastly... we have to touch on the Hawks.

Jordan is a big Hawkeye fan... and her last outfit was an Iowa shirt... which always put the client on my good side. As a season ticket holder... I thought I'd try to find a common thread to discuss during the session and asked Jordan if she made it to Kinnick very often for games.

"Oh... I've never been to a game there."

I felt kinda bad... because I, of all people, know how MUCH the Kinnick experience adds to being a Hawkeye. But that was the deal...

At least for one more week it was.

As it turns out, I missed my third home game in three tries this fall as the workload at the studio has been too great for me to justify the total tailgate, traffic and trip time that it takes to enjoy Kinnick properly. So I put up my seats for sale on facebook a couple days prior to last weeks game with Lousiana-Monroe.

Re-enter Mama Micah.

In a neat move by Jordan's mom, Micah scored my seats at face value and Jordan and Gavin scratched that "never been" off the their lists. :)

It was particularly rewarding for me to get texts and facebook messages from Jordan from my normal seat about how much fun she was having. If I couldn't be there... I'm glad that SHE was.

I reminded her that it was her MOTHER that really deserved all the credit... she ponied up the jack to make it happen... I just was too busy to go... but I enjoyed her appreciation nonetheless! :)

There's been plenty of excitement around this event. It was a reunion, a big life highlight, a football game and HUGE anticapation during the wait (see Micah's "countdown" on the facebook blog for the past five blog entries!)... and oh yeah... we did take some portraits... enjoy Team Jordan. :)

Lucky to get Lizzie...

It's been several years since I've photographed a senior on my birthday. It was 2007 to be exact. Anna Martin... BCLUW senior... Class of 2008, to be exact... just ask her... She USED to give me a hard time about why on EARTH I was working on my birthday... but NOW... as time has gone on... she wears it like a badge of HONOR!

Some of you may already know that as I author this blog... it IS my birthday today. I was 36 when I did AMart's senior session... so you do the math... today is a black day. :) And while I didn't PHOTOGRAPH anyone on this most special of days... I DID work. Ironically enough... it was on another BCLUW senior... and in a weird twist of fate... Anna had a hand in the action again.

If you go back a few blogs to Karlie Koonce... (see "All the Kolors of Karl... Aug. 13)... there's a detailed account of how her BFF, Lizzie had committed to another studio... and then, literally overnight... Lizzie's mom was calling and booking with us.

I immediately facebooked Karlie to thank her for WHATEVER it was that she did that had convinced Lizzie to turn a 180 and come our way. Karl assured me that she just "talked some sense into her." But a funny thing happened along the way to Karlie getting all the credit.

A competition ensued!

It seems that nearly everyone within spitting distance of Elisabeth Tonner was making SURE that I knew that indeed THEY were the ones that had steered Lizzie our direction. Not the LEAST of which was the aforementioned Miss Anna Martin.

Co-workers at the Conrad Family Aquatic Center, Anna insisted that it was SHE (along with Stewart Photography Alum, Haddie Vawter) that deserved the accolades for getting "Sliz" on the right path with a virtual full court press the night after Karlie's session.

Toss in a handful of other best friends and/or their mothers that had alraedy gotten their hard proof of the best senior experience around (with images to match) and we had ourselves a full blown free-for-all over who done it.

I'm sure if push came to shove... the truth is somewhere in the middle of all the Comet Crazies... but I do know one thing for SURE...

I feel blessed that she's now one of my seniors. :)

A highly anticipated day, Lizzie and I seemed to know each other before she even stepped in the front door for the first time as all the "chatter" around her decision and the ensuing friendship that was forged on facebook allowed me to pick her brain about what we wanted to get accomplished on her day nearly two weeks ago.

She was a trooper to be sure because the searing heat that we had a month ago had been replaced by a chill in the air that allowed us to see our breath for the first time this fall. That was all fine and dandy when Liz was ROCKIN the jacket and jeans... but take a look at the other two 'regular' outfits.... BRRRRR! :)

In the end... Anna still gets to carry her self-imposed award of being "worthy" of being the last to be photographed on my birthday... but if I had to work on a senior's images and get her blog posted on this most special of days?? I think she helped pick out a perfect gal to fill my time with today. I think I've told her 927 times in the past two months how appreciative I am of her and her choice.

Thanks to everyone who somehow directly or indirectly got Lizzie to my studio... it's stories like this that keep us afloat year after year... and thanks to everyone who's taken the time to wish me a happy birthday today... it's truly been overwhelming.

Here's to another 40 years that will be even greater than the first!

:)

We interrupt your regular programming to bring you... ABBEY!

When I last left you, we were at the beginning of a heavy run of BCLUW seniors...

And while the next senior in line isn't a Comet... she IS black-n-gold.

West Marshall black-n-gold.

Abbey told me she wanted to go to a studio that was different than where most of her friends were going... so it just so happened to work out well for her to go to the same studio her brother went to a couple years back. Not only did she want different... she want a LOT of it.

We only do a few of 'em a year, and Abbey jumped into our ROCKSTAR category. All day.. unlimited outfits... and somehow we take what is already the craziest experience in the area for senior images and get craziest-er. :)

You woulda thought I was indeed photographing a famous rockstar with all the heads that were turning in town when Abbz jumped in her little zebra striped number with her heels. Rural towns in these parts aren't used to seeing that kinda action on a regular basis, so it's hard to blame the rubberneckers!

The last I had seen Abbey was the fall after her brother's senior session. She'd be the first to admit that she was going through that "awkward" stage at that point... trying to find herself... the braces... you get the picture.

Fast forward a couple years, and there can be no mistaking she's found her stride. An accomplished cheerleader for the state's no.2 ranked football team, a long time dancer and most recently, a homecoming queen candidate... there's no doubt... the girl has mad game. Add in her trademark look of half wink/half sticking her tongue out (see cheer collage)... and you get the idea of what kinda playful gem I had to "endure" that Tuesday.

I'm just thankful she had homecoming last week to keep her distracted while I was trying to find time to finally get around to her images!

But the wait is now over and Abbey and Mama Theresa will have their work cut out for them as they plow through a scad-load of images. I think they got the picture about halfway through the session that perhaps they were digging themselves quite a proverbial hole... and I'm not gonna lie, they were right.

Congrats on making Homecoming Court, Abbey... here's a capper to a crazy week for ya! Enjoy!