I had watched Nick play some hoop for the Mustangs last year, so I was vaguely familiar with him... but that's the cool part of my senior sessions... getting to peel back the onion and see what's there.
What I found was... the 6-foot-4 tall drink of water cleans up pretty dang well... and was all about this photo shoot. Even more impressive were the distinct ideas that he had... This wasn't your normal, "mom is making me do this" type session.
My first clue was when Nick walked in the door caring a box with three snakes in it.
"You aren't afraid of snakes are ya?"
Who, me?
(hell yes i'm afraid of snakes)
I tried to play it cool.... "Uh... well... you know, Nick... I figure you guys know what you're doing... I tell ya what... I'll let you handle the snakes... I'll stick to taking the pictures."
It was a deal.
Nick's mom Karla was along, in addition to his girlfriend Tia. Only one of which is a fan of snakes.
Hint? It ain't mom.
Tia is the one that actually raises the snakes at her home in Montezuma... so she not only got to get in front of our camera with the young man she's head over heels for... but she also may have ensured I didn't get maimed by the Giant Ball Python. How Nick relaxed enough to allow Tia to put that thing up on his head... I'll never know... dang!
If that weren't enough... we also had to toss in a Pastel Ball Python and an Albino Ball Python for good measure... Truth is.. Nick seemed to be totally at ease with it the whole time. Mama Karla? Not so much. One knows that a woman means business when she wags a finger and says... "i'm serious" and, "don't come over here," when her son thought he'd get a little ornery and walk over towards mom with Bertha around his neck.
They asked me if I wanted to hold 'em... I respectfully declined as I didn't have any Depends Undergarments handy at that moment... but I did at least TOUCH Bertha's scaly skin. But that's as far as I was gonna go.
I gave the young couple the speech about having images taken together with a relatively new and short relationship... but it didn't deter them one bit... so for awhile there... our senior session seemed to get hijacked by a killer engagement session... and I did admit... sometimes.... it DOES work out... and I encouraged them both to come back and throw it in my face when, in fact, it did end happily ever after. :)
Have I mentioned that Nick is a dead ringer for Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects? No? Ok. Back to the blog.
Before we left the studio to make our way to Nick's home north of Marshalltown, I did catch a glimpse of perhaps my favorite t-shirt in Stewart Photography studio history. Clearly Nick has a sense of humor and if a cut up tee that say "McAwesome" on it doesn't scream #winning, I don't know what does.
So we did a few images in the studio of that, but after arriving at Casa de Nick and getting a few things done around the house... and with his beloved pup, Yogi... we saved the very best for last.
What better way to finish off your senior session than to don the McAwesome ensemble again... and take a dive into the pool? I can't think of any. You made a splash bro. Good job outta you.
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