News flash... we've been having some hot days recently. I've mentioned that I've had some seniors making sacrifices of taking the normal way-to-early start time of 8 a.m. and moving it to 7 a.m.... in order to beat the heat.
So when life long friend, Sheila Bowers called last Wednesday to ask what their options for her son Austin were... I threw it out there....
"We've had alot coming early... I know it might be unrealistic to get him here any earlier than 7 a.m., even.... but honestly... we can shoot anytime after 6 a.m.... and I'll be here either way if you wanna come early.
I figured I'd see Austin and his mom at about 7:50 a.m.... per usual. :)
Then comes the text on Thursday... only hours before the session....
"Talked to Austin... we'll be there at 6 a.m."
Whoa.
I've been doing this for 19 years now... and I can unequivocally say that one thing I've NEVER seen, is a senior pulling up to my studio at 6 a.m.
Forgive me when I tell you that I thought that I would believe it when I saw it.
Well over 3,000 seniors into this career... and if you check my personal facebook site from last Friday... you'll see a photograph of Shelia pulling up to the front of the studio with Austin riding shotty at 5:58 a.m.
Double whoa.
I can't tell you how impressed I was with this kind of effort... and if THEY were this into the process... how in the world could I not return the favor?
All of the record setting alarm clock time aside... the session itself was equally as impressive as we got after it right out of the gate.
It was yet another East Marshall football player... with another trip to the field in LeGrand to capture something unique. I've admitted that I've been pushed to the wall with such a quantity of Mustangs in such a short amount of time. It didn't take long for Austin to take care of my little problem, however.
I got all my gear out on the track... took one more look at the the scoreboard on the south end of the facility and then the answers to prayer came.
"I can get up there."
WHAT?
"Just give me a boost... I can get up there."
Creative artistic block solved.
I gave Mr. Kingrey a shoulder to lean on and within a couple seconds, he was up on the platform that frames the scoreboard, and we had our second "first ever occurrence" in studio history, within about a half hour.
The result we got was pretty cool, I thought.
In addition, once I got him safely down from his perch... we got lots of other things accomplished at the field that I would normally not have been able to get if he woulda "slept in" and been there at the normal 8 a.m. time. The early bird gets the worm, indeed. :)
So we nailed the football thing... But it was after that, that we perhaps got his MOST unique images.
Austin has been the main man at East Marshall theatrical productions in recent years when it comes to making sure the crowd SEES and HEARS the stage stars properly. He wanted to find a way to highlight his running of the spotlights.... and the soundboard in the back of the old gym that has been there since the 1950s. It was a challenge to be sure to get what I had envisioned... and I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't accidentally fall into a couple amazing images... but overall... I was tickled and got goosebumps from some of the shots we got that morning in the old barn.
I think it's really cool with a senior guy that would normally take a real hands off I-don't-care approach to their session... and will turn it around to complete and total ownership of the moment. Austin did that... and you know what? That makes my job so much more exciting when it's a collaborative effort. :)
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my long-time connection to mom and step dad in this case. When i mentioned life-long friend... that doesn't mean a flippant few years.... It means... sharing preschool... kindergarten... elementary school... junior high... and high school... and for the most part... with just around 20 classmates that made up our class.... TWENTY?? that's right... if consolidation never happened... it woulda been just 22 of us walking across the stage in Gilman.
As it were... it ended up being around 75 of us in LeGrand walking across the stage for graduation... but you don't forget those you grew up with and shared every step of the way... Of those 22... I would count Sheila as one my very closest friends growing up.
To say that I am honored that she brought her son to me to capture these most important images for them, would be an understatement. Add in the fact that she's married to my life long buddy, Jason "Spud" Bowers... the layers of the onion just keep peeling back.
I don't take these things lightly.
I hope your images prove my thanks for your choice.
;)
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