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!

:)