Meeting Molly and friends, both old and new...

It was a rainy Thursday morning when Molly walked in.   The forecast was not good.

Not good at all.

The night before the weather man had told me it would rain all morning.  Mother of Molly, Amy Pieper, had talked to me the day before, as nervous moms will do, and we planned on getting the indoor images done FOR SURE... and then crossing the rescheduling bridge, if we had to on the outdoor portion.

Somehow, I hadn't put 2 and 2 together, but when Team Pieper walked in on the wet and gloomy day at 8 a.m...  I instantly remembered.

I KNOW Molly's mom!

Turns out that Mrs. Pieper and I both worked under the same roof twenty years ago at the Marshalltown Times-Republican.   Amy in the advertising/design department, while I was over in sports.

It was certainly a nice surprise to get to catch up with Amy.   A lot happens in two decades time, so we hit the highlights on both sides of the fence... but one thing that hasn't changed is that Amy is still one of the nicest people you'll ever bump into.   One thing I did learn was that there were two other Pieper offspring... and UNFORTUNATELY, the other two have ALREADY graduated.

Translation:  they went somewhere ELSE for senior portraits.

While she didn't need to, Amy felt compelled to explain... and she said that they let each girl choose where they wanted to go... and honestly... it probably SHOULD be that way, anyway.  And regardless, I got to catch up with a old friend on the third go-around.

Fortunately for me in the end, Molly chose Stewart Photography.

And that's where the NEW friend comes in.

I have little doubt that one of Molly's very best friends had a big hand in helping her make her final decision on where to go for senior pictures.

I was pleasantly surprised that along with Molly and her mother, a fellow BCLUW senior and now Stewart Photography "alum"  Mackenzie Schleisman came in the door that Thursday morning.   Probably against her folks' wishes, getting out of school to hang with her BFF for HER senior session became a priority for Miss Schleisman, and at least early on when Molly was trying to shake out the morning cobwebs... I wasn't so sure that Mackenzie wasn't MORE excited to be there than her buddy!

Mack made it clear that SHE was the driving force behind making this session happen, so I'll have to take her word for it that without her, I may have went 0-for-3 with the Pieper daughters!

Regardless, Molly & Co. were in the house... and just when we were starting to look ahead a bit at the schedule on when we might bring the gang back, a wonderful thing happened.

It stopped raining.

I was informed that Molly's 18th birthday would be the very next day, and just went my wheels were churning as to how cool it would be to start her session as a 17 year old and then finish it the next day with a new minted 18 year old... the skies dried up.

In the end, I think everyone was ok with that... although I'm not entirely sure that the girls didn't have a SMALL part of them that weren't at least a little bit intrigued with the idea of skipping school two days in a row!  :)

So we were off and running and the session was so fun... a TON of outfits... a road trip... my entire life story... it was good times.

Mackenzie was razzing Molly about her smile being fake (take a look gang... it's a BIG smile... it's just one step short of showing as much teeth at Haddie Vawter... but toothy to be sure!)  ;)   How did Mack get her friend to bust out a genuine grin then?   Well... I'm gonna find out next Saturday when I photograph the Schleisman family portraits, but evidently both girls are keenly aware of Mack's little sister Sydney being, well.... umm.... let just say she's an ornery eight-year old girl.

Those are my words.

Mack's words?  "Mol... Think of what a bad kid my sister is."  

Bingo.

A great smile every time.

Now why Mr. and Mrs. Schleisman may not appreciate their eldest daughter's approach, and perhaps my trumpeting it to the world wide web, either... sometimes you do whatcha gotta do! 

Mack's help didn't end there.. as I received some creative guidance on the lead image of the blog here.  Molly's trademark sweet kicks place in the shape of an "M" and the high angle approach was my idea... but the placement of Molly and her feet were indeed Miss Mackenzie's... so credit where credit is due.   In addition, perhaps my favorite image can be found at the very bottom of this blog.  

Being the senior picture veteran that she was, Molly's BFF stepped in one more time when I found the perfect set of stairs on our roadtrip to use for a pose that is similar to one that now hangs as a 16x20 at Mack's home.

I was trying, probably in pathetic fashion, to show Molly what it should look like... and of course, the gal that had already been through the process decided to step and and show her (and me)  how it's done.

The result is the priceless image you see at the bottom here.   I found an appropriate quotation to adorn the image with... and ironically... it's something that not only Mackenzie did by talking Molly into coming to me... and by helping her smile and pose... but it's something I try to do every day...

In a nutshell, if you are blessed with riches in any form... share them with others so that their best may be revealed to them as well.  We would all be better served to never forget that.

Thanks Team Molly... it was an amazing day... and somehow, it felt like so much more than just senior pictures.

I hope you felt the same.

Tightening up our Beltz

I guess I'm gonna have to blame Maddy Baier for this one, too.

After the Class of 2012 South Tama grad played a huge hand in getting Stewart Photography's proverbial foot in the door a year ago with the girls basketball team (which led to wrestling cheerleading pictures, which lead to basketball cheerleading pictures, which led to girls track pictures, which led to volleyball pictures) it seems that the 6-foot-4 tower of power got me some more work as well.

Miss Baier has moved on to Iowa State University, but her influence has continued as I was informed by Wyatt Beltz's mother, Linda... that after seeing cousin Madison's pictures a year ago... the ball began rolling down hill towards our little studio in Montour.

After several calls and even stopping by to check things out, Linda was finally convinced and a session was booked.

Refreshingly self-deprecating, Wyatt is the first to tell you he's an odd one... and he's ok with that.   I found him to be very conversational and easy to talk to, actually.   Ironically, I am happy to report that Wyatt is a Hawkeye fan...  I guess that balances things out in the family, huh?

An easy goin' guy, Wyatt brought in a couple things for me to capture.   A member of the Trojan bands, we needed to get his trombone featured, and we did that.

In addition, Mr. Beltz is on the STC soccer team and we nailed a few futbol images for No. 15.

Finally it was mentioned that Wyatt has lived in two other states besides the Hawkeye State, and Linda mentioned that it might be cool if we could depict that in some fashion.   Colorado and California got their props in picture form here, too... check that out.  ;)

Thank you Beltz family for your decision, and hats off to Miss Baier for another assist... I'll have to break down and come to Hilton at least once this winter as a thank you.  :)

The Man of Stihl...

Ah... boys and their toys...

Not unlike most guys, Noah Vajgrt had a couple of things that were important to him... things he was passionate about... that he wanted to work into his senior session.

The first one... and probably most important, was his 2005 convertible Ford Mustang.

This thing shines like a sapphire, and Noah had picked out the spot he wanted me to shoot it at... so we were off to Marshalltown to do so.

Armed with his white Oakleys and a whole lotta swag, Mama Laura and I prepped the area under the Center Street viaduct and we were off and running.

Noah's mom had already served as my right-hand-gal a couple years back when brother Adam (EM-Class of '11) paid us a visit with some toys of his own... so she was used to holding strobes, umbrellas, reflectors and the like... More importantly... she was ALSO used to gabbing it up about all things East Marshall and small business ownership as well!  :)

Speaking of small business...  Noah's folks own and operate Home Rental Center and Sales Company in Marshalltown.  Basically... if you have a job to do, and need some piece of equipment to get it done?  Roger and Laura will get it for ya...

Soooo... partly for fun... partly for sheer awesomeness, Noah wanted to show off the world's largest chainsaw.  (Roger and Laura argued over the validity of that bold largest-in-the-world statement... but what we DO know is that Home Rental is a Stihl Chainsaw Dealer... and THIS saw is the BIGGEST one they make).

How big you ask?   How about FIVE FEET in length!   Noah would be lying to you if he told you it was easy to control this thing.   Paul Bunyan would be best served giving up that axe and just using this thing!

So, with Roger's help and shamelessly adorned in bright orange Stihl suspenders and headband,  Noah and I had some fun with the saw to end all saws... I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we did trespass on the Vajgrt's neighbor's property... also known as the Phil and Mary Anderson residence.  Seems as though Mr. Anderson is dragging his proverbial feet in getting a tree cleaned up that fell a YEAR ago in JULY!!!  But that's a topic for another day.   Phil's inaction resulted in the perfect spot to show off the 60-inch Stihl-inator! 

Oh there was plenty of regular images in the studio.... uptown in Mtown... and around Noah's home, but once again... the toys were the highlight of the day with Team Vajgrt.   It's only a couple years away from their baby girl, Sarah trying her turn at this thing we call senior pictures... I could be wrong.. but I'm guessing that THAT session may go a LITTLE differently.  Time will tell.

Thanks Vajgrt family... for your business... and, more importantly, for your friendship.  ;)

In what has been a record setting year for the total number of ROCKSTAR sessions at the studio, barring a late addition, North Mahaska's Hayley LaRue looks like she may be the final epic all-day session of the Class of 2013 campaign.

The plans had been, well... planned for weeks as Papa Jason and I had set up a trip to a town I used to visit as an competitor a couple decades ago... New Sharon... home of the Warhawks.

I grossly underestimated the time it took to make the trip down to Mahaska Land...  Add in a little road construction and I rolled into town about 10 minutes late.  Knowing how much I despise that myself, I apologized profusely as I met Mama Tammy and our blond sensation, Hayley... and we were off...

The main reason for the trip to New Sharon was photograph at the Warhawk softball and basketball faciilites.   Stop number one was the softball diamond where we were RUDELY interrupted by Denise Fleener, who between HER and perhaps more importantly, her DAUGHTER... this happened in the first place.

After photographing Denise's daughter, Morgan, as a part of the Class of 2010, we've had a steady stream of Warhawks coming our way... including 3 members of last years epic they'll-be-talking-about-that-team-years-from-now...  unblemished... undefeated... undisputed... 28-0 THE Class 1A State Champions... more on that later.

Evidently, Morgan's images made an impression, because we've been reaping the benefits ever since from the Red-and-White folks that expect the very best... So to land a gal like Hayley... we knew that, per usual, no punches would be pullled.

So... after tearing Tammy away from Denise, it was softball time... followed by interrupting the Warhawk P.E. class for shots in the gym... and needless to say... when you have state title hardware at your side... it doesn't get any more legit than that.

We then left Warhawk country and headed north towards the studio and took a stop in Grinnell to get Miss LaRue some urban looks in the land of Ridiculous Days.   She turned plenty of heads as we scoured the town and then headed back to the studio.

Once back to the friendly confines of Montour, we continued to bang out image after stunning image of our blond haired, blue-eyed bombshell.... I got to the end of the session and realized that we had enough images to overfill TWO of our normally over-stuffed preview books.   With a mountain of work already ahead of Hayley, I knew my work was cut out for me trying to get these done in the two weeks that I had promised her and Tammy as they left the studio that day... but I'm happy to report that after a full day's work of cranking on her artwork... they ARE indeed ready to go... and it's been right at two weeks as we speak...

Just like Hayley knows after making two trips to the state tournament in hoops the past two seasons, she knows that excellence like that isn't just handed to you...  It would be easy to just put in your minimal amount of time and hoping for the best... but in New Sharon they know that it takes much more than just going through the motions and moving on to the next sport if you want to be remembered forever.  

I believe in the same concept... and I hope you think your images were worth waiting a little longer for.

Way to ROCK it, Hayley!