Logan's slogan: A boy with lots of toys...

When you've got so many options, it's hard to decide.

And that's when push all your chips to the center of the table.

That's exactly what East Marshall senior Logan Ferneau decided to do.

His mother, Chris, had told me there might be a car... a truck... a crotch rocket... a dirt bike... maybe even the family business vehicle!

While his beloved truck was sold prior to the session... we still had plenty of other toys to play with... and play we did.

To say it was a CRISP October morning would be an understatement.   Nevertheless, we made our way to the Ferneau homestead south of Marshalltown to tackled all these vehicles.

Logan's Plymouth isn't completed as of yet... but that didn't stop us.  With a lot of help from dad... we shot from angles that only would show the good side.   And while the engine is still a work in progress... it too made the session from in what was as CLEAN of a shop as you'll ever find.   Look at that thing!  SPOTLESS!  :)

Logan is proud of being a Mopar man, but that doesn't stop him from finding time to do a little two wheel action as well.   We photographed all the toys individually and together of course... and a couple hours later... Mama Chris was beating Papa Ferneau back with a stick to keep him from working in yet ANOTHER car that just happened to be feeling neglected in the shed up on the hill.  Needless to say... the Ferneaus like their vehicles!  :)

Logan's father DID get the house moving truck worked in before we left, however... and I think that just may have made his day.   Although it didn't make the blog... Pops looks particularly proud in a few shots I took of him and his son with the HUGE house mover.

After completing our time at the Ferneau Ranch... we did some more urban images... and also pulled just off Highway 30 on the way back to the studio to pick up some of the remaining fall color.  

It was at that time that we captured the very last image on this blog.  Perhaps Logan's best "prop" to throw into the session... girlfriend Novana Brown got her shot in front of the lens.  She was a TROOPER all morning in giving us a hand with the making of the images.   It was the least I could do to include my favorite image of the couple as a thank you to her for all her help that Wednesday morning.

Thanks to Team Ferneau for another epic session.   If you ever need a WHOLE HOUSE moved... you

COVERED: T.J. hits the big time...

At first I thought it was all a joke.

You're not gonna pull one over on ME!  Not gonna find MY picture next to the definition of gullible in the dictionary.

Why's that you ask?

Let's go back a few weeks...

I'm looking at the upcoming schedule... normally I just try to take it one day at a time to avoid a total implosion of my cranial cavity.   But it was the end of one week... time to look ahead at the next one.

And there it was... staring at me like a gag joke to end all jokes.

On Tuesday... scheduled senior...  Taylor Johnson.

WAIT A MINUTE...

Those of you that faithfully follow my blogs know that I have a good friend and former senior in Taylor Johnson.   I took one glance and saw that name and my FIRST though was that #MackDaddyJohnson had pulled a fast one on my unsuspecting secretary and booked a faux session as a way to be a wise guy.

It's not a new concept... seems as though friends of mine have been targeting my poor secretary for years.  My college roommate particularly enjoys taking advantage of my secretary's lack of overall sports knowledge and then likes to call up... take a false name... and then let her come to me with the phone.

"Bryan... it's Roger Clemens on the line."

or

"Fran McCaffery would like to speak with you."

So with that backdrop in mind... I thought for SURE that THIS type of thing was happening again.

Alas, I was just a jaded skeptic because, not-so-surprisingly, there actually IS a few other Taylor Johnson's roaming the planet... and this one just happened to be from South Tama instead of a member of the East Marshall Class of 2010.

I shared this little coincidence with my senior guy a couple weeks back... and we got a good laugh out of it.  And while they clearly aren't the same guy, they did have something in common. 

A love for basketball.  More on that in a second.

The current incarnation of Taylor Johnson didn't have many requests.   His mother, Deanna, told us that she felt fortunate just to GET him here for the session.   I was kinda surprised by that after we got Taylor here because instead of perhaps carrying a chip on his shoulder or grouching through the session like guys that REALLY don't want to be here would tend to do, he actually had an easy goin' attitude and a smile to match.

Just the one regular outfit to tackle, I got that out of the way on this cold October day, and then it was time to fulfill that one request.

I asked Mr. Johnson if there was anything he wanted to have me do special with his South Tama basketball outfit... and surprisingly.. he perked up.

"Yeah... just wait a second... let me get my phone."

Taylor went and grabbed his smart phone and proceeded to call up the ONE image he HAD to have.

I was expecting him to perhaps find my website... or another senior image that he came across somewhere... for me to emulate.

What I was shown, was something far different.

Taylor turned his phone around and what I saw... was a video game.

A video game cover, to be exact.

For reference it was the NBA 2K12 cover that features none other than Michael Jordan.   I took one glance at the image that I'm sure SOMEONE at 2K Sports was paid handsome sums to come up with, and gave Taylor an honest answer.

"I've never done anything like that before."

Half of me thought it was beyond the scope of this session... and the other half thought it might be beyond my own capabilities.   Take a second to Google NBA 2K12... you'll understand my apprehension.

I had been eyeballing some digital downloads for several months now that I THOUGHT might get me somewhere in the stratosphere with this 2K Sports image.. and this was just my excuse to get me off the fence and back in the business of saying YES instead of NO to Taylor's question.

I didn't make any promises, but I told him I'd give it my best shot.

The result, I'm happy to report, is at the beginning of this blog.   To say I'm ecstatic about what Taylor and I created would be an understatement larger than saying that the presidential advertisements are getting old at his point.

I posted the image on our core website yesterday at around 12:30 p.m. and I don't think it was even five minutes before Taylor had discovered it was there... shot it with his cellphone and re-posted it to facebook with glowing remarks.

A) Taylor is really stalking my website.   B) Thanks man.. for pushing me out of the box.

I'd like to think that our sports stuff is as good as any in the area... but I smell new level of awesomeness coming on with this spark and infusion of photoshop wizardry now in our bag of tricks. 

I've got some learning and tweaking to do, for certain.   But in the meantime, Taylor Johnson is the beneficiary of not being afraid to ask for the impossible.   He might not have six NBA titles, but he does look like he's got his very own video game now... and for that, I bet he keeps on smiling that easy goin' smile.

The girl next door... literally.

I seriously cannot believe I'm writing this.

Blair is graduating.

I got the call back in 2004 from employee, Brooke Allison, asking about the house next door to where the author of this blog lives in LeGrand.

I asked why, and soon I had my answer.

Her Aunt Tara and Uncle Jarrod were looking at moving in.

And they did.

It was eight years ago...  And the Ulery's oldest offspring, Blair Elizabeth, was just in fourth grade.

To say that I've watched her grow up would be too cliche'... too much of an understatement.   I really have.

Miss Blair Bear called me back in June to ask me about this whole senior picture thing.  I was in denial then... and I'm in denial now.

This cannot be happening, can it?

The connections to this family and Stewart Photography stretch far and wide.  The aforementioned cousin Brooke worked for us for three summers... and her older sister Brittany... the three years prior to that.   Add in a multi-year stint by Blair's grandmother, Linda as our secretary... and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this senior is special to us.

I cannot tell you how many times I looked thru the lens on that Monday and had flashbacks of seeing Brittany and Brooke.  The trademark big curly hair... the infectious smile... the undeniable sass.

This hardly felt like a session to me.  It was more like hanging out with old friends... and, oh-by-the-way... we happened to take a few images in between stories and flickin' each other crap.   Just like any other time I hang out with Team Ulery... minus the Nikon D3.

The highlight of the day was making a return trip to Grandma Linda and Grandpa Jack's.   We went off roadin' in the H3.   Up and down some seriously steep inclines to get back into the timber... I assured Linda the H3 could handle it... and it did.  Perhaps I finally got my monies worth out of the Hummer's capabilities, and somehow that made me feel good.  ;)

I know the Ulery's felt like we may have just missed the fall season's very best offerings  for color, but a quick glance through this blog makes it clear to me that Jack and Linda's property was a virtual goldmine for us on this day.   Windy?  yes.   A lack of fall color?  No.

After killin' it at Casa de Rouse... we zipped up to Garwin and then went a step further and went to Gladbrook for some urban images to compliment our countryside style.  Anyone that knows Blair and Mama Tara will attest to the fact that there's never a dull moment when hangin' with 'em!

After our extended roadie, we zipped back to Montour to polish off the session.   And just like my disbelief when Blair Elizabeth first inquired about session options... when I took the last image on this day, I felt that same sense of denial... all over again.

I'm old... I get that... but somehow I still wanna believe that the little girl next door is still little. 

Truth is... she's all grown up... and I'm just glad I had the opportunity to make her senior images for her.  Blair has always had a style and a swag that is uniquely her own... and she isn't afraid to speak her mind and give her opinion... and in a world that is way overboard politically correct and a country of candycoaters, there' something refreshing about that.

Do we always agree?  Of course not... and that's okay... If we all agreed, the world would be a pretty boring place.

Thanks for not being boring, Miss Blair Bear.  :)

Oh... The Places We'll Go...

I was warned...

Repeatedly.

I had already worked with this family one other time.   Daughter Alexandra... East Marshall Class of 2011.

Sweet. Quiet.  Shy.  Unassuming.

And THEN there's Daughter Number Two.

Being a life long card carrying member of the East Marshall Community, I was vaguely familiar with Jay and Amy Wyatt's second baby girl.  That being said, I found out quickly I had a thing or two to learn.

Oh, I was told (in retrospect, I think it was actually threatened) about Samantha.

She's our wild one.

She's different.

She's a handful.

You just wait.

You have NO idea.

I thought... I seen and heard it all over the past two decades... Bring. It. On.

So the day finally arrived, and Mama Amy had asked in advance if we could go to some place special to Sami and the family.   Of course I said yes... and we were on the road... To Eldora.

Turns out that the WHOLE fam damily spends a good portion of their summer at Camp Quaker Heights.   A camp ground get away for members of the Friends Church from all around the area, Amy thought it would be a nice place to pick up some fall foilage... and document an area that holds a special place in Samantha's heart.

While it might not show in the photographs, it was a BRUTALLY cold morning.   How Sami tolerated it... I'll never know.   I'm bundled up... and there's Samantha... short sleeves... a PROM dress of all things!   BRRRRRRRRR!   Add in a stiff wind and we had our work cut out for us... but Sami was a champ.

It seems to be just a part of her personality that seemingly NOTHING will phase her.   I think the girl is in a perpetual state of giggling.   What a wonderful way to go through life, huh?

So we bounced all over the camp grounds on golf carts and a Gator ATV.   The colors were amazing... and certainly worth the trip.

But wait!  There's more!

I had suggested to Amy when she called that why we were up north, we should get some urban images of our crazy gal in Eldora, since I hadn't ever done that town before.  

Not surprisingly, they were game.

So there we were... in a hard-to-miss prom dress... in the center of town, making a spectacle with our purple princess.

Sure we got some garden variety what-the-heck-are-you-doing looks from the good folks of Eldora.   But we wouldn't have it any other way.

It was one laugh after another as Team Wyatt (it WAS a team... sister Alex and Papa Jay were with us as well!) bopped all over the town square getting some of my favorite images from the session.

I said SOME.

I'll reserve my FAVORITE images for the first and last pictures in this blog.

I had seen plenty of her outrageous side throughout the day, but when we returned to Montour for the indoor part... she certainly saved her best for last.

Samantha had brought in a Dr. Suess "Cat In the Hat" style lid for me to photograph.   And if there ever was a trademark image for a senior... it was this one.   Fittingly she had a "Sam I Am" shirt from the Green Eggs and Ham fame... and, of course... the Wyatt's know that they can count on this ornery hombre to take the ball and run with it.

Run with it I did then... as I did my own share of giggling last night as I prepped the Sam-I-Am collage, if you will.   It's priceless Samantha at her finest.   But if all of this wasn't enough... she did have one more surprise for me.

The girls left the camera room after i did the collage series... and told me they would be back with one more added twist...

I was told she was gonna change her hairstyle... and I was simply going to have to wait.

The girls returned... and the guilty grin on Sami's face told me I was in for it... but I still didn't know WHAT she was up to.

A video of the "unveiling" may be the only thing that could have done proper justice to what I saw as Samantha began to lift her tall hat.   But the final image of this blog will have to do.   The slow-mo lifting of her hat was just like the Energizer Bunny... it just kept going... and Going... and GOING!  

"WHAT THE HECK!!!!"

I've seen a lot of hairstyles over the years... but I can safely say that THAT one was NOT one of them.

Outrageous?  Yes.  

A fitting way to end a crazy session with amazing girl and a family I adore?

Absolutely.

Thank you.
Thank you.
Sam-I-am.

;)

Goin' gravel in Grundy with Geiter...

Over the years, I've often joked around about how much girls look forward to this thing we call senior pictures... and how much guys just don't.

Stereotyping?   For sure.   There's clearly exceptions both ways.   Girls that actually dread it... guys that cannot get enough.

Clay Geiter could not get enough.

It makes me smile looking back now at Clay's session and the original booking when Mama Kari THOUGHT she was gonna be able to get by with our three outfit basic session.   He's "just" a guy, right?

WRONG.

Most guys when I ask them if there's anything special they are wanting for their session, they'll just shrug and say, "naahh."   Instead, leaving the explaining part to mom.   Or... at MOST, we'll find out that their MIGHT be one thing they care a little about... their car... their sports... their dog.

Mr. Geiter, on the other hand... had a list.   A LONG list.

With no fewer than 25 "have-to's" on this half sheet of paper, Clay had it broken down by the outfit... what the location was... and the type of pose in some cases.

Dude wasn't messin' around!

So my marching orders were... well... in order... and Clay and I were off to try to and knock 'em all off.

Starting off at the studio was VERY interesting as you know how it is when someone talks and the sound that comes out doesn't match what you THINK it's gonna be?   Well... maybe I'm the only one, but he began to talk and I couldn't help but think... Scotty McCreary.  

Maybe, it's the fact I KNEW he was a country boy... maybe it was more stereotyping on my part... but that deep slow draw kept me entertained the entire day.

We jumped into the camera room and I, having some prior knowledge, thought I would surprise Mr. Geiter.   He had his suit on... and I used the moment to secretly drop in a line that I KNEW he liked to use.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he came up with it and uses it regularly.

You'll have to ask HIM what it is, but what I can say is that it's a useful line to describe how hot it is... and it has something to do with how warm people can be in airports... So... I casually mentioned this line in reference to how hot Clay must have felt while wearing his three-piece suit.

*silence*

I peered around from behind the softbox where I was adjusting a strobe and Clay was looking at me astonished.

I smiled.   "Your assistant baseball coach told me about that one."

He's been mentioned at least one other time in the spaces of this crazy blog this senior season... and once again, friend of Stewart Photography, Grundy Center assistant coach, and my partner in #twittercrime, Taylor Johnson, had given me the down-low.

Clay was SOOO relieved.  After realizing that I was merely stealing his zinger one liner and not merely reciting a old phrase that everyone uses, he said, "I was gonna SAY!   I thought I came up with THAT one!"

It didn't take Clay long to figure out that he was dealing with someone just as ornery as he was.  ;)

So we banged out the suit and then his snowmobile gear and tenor drums... and then it was time to head to the stompin' grounds.

Grundy Center.

Clay has aspirations of one day playing in the Iowa State University drum line... so I knew it was important to him.   That meant a trip to the football field where the Spartans do work on Friday nights.   After an hour there, we suddenly realized that it was no longer summer... the days were getting much shorter.. and our collective backs were up against the wall as we had maybe an hour and a half left before the sun was to set... and Clay's LIST was not NEARLY completed.

So we were off on gravel then to the Geiter farmstead where I finally got to meet Mama Kari.   She let the boys keep doin' their thang however as she knew we were pressed for time... so we were hittin' every barn, shed, outbuilding, grain bin, and tree stand and if that wasn't enough... we had to shoot his Chevy pickup from multiple angles.

After our last shot of the truck... and then his bow and tree stand... it was after 7 p.m.... and the sun had set at 6:50 p.m.   I asked if he had gotten all he wanted because the light was nearly gone.

His Spartan spirit wasn't quite ready to call it a day, however, and he asked... "can we still make it to the farm equipment?"

His dad was in the middle of harvest, and we had really ran out of time... but I figured... well... we can give it a shot.   So we both jumped into our vehicles and tore out of there.

What I didn't know was that the combine was at minimum five mile away on gravel... but I followed anyway... and drove out into the field... and there it was... Big Green Tractor... combine... semi... all resting from a long day of harvest.   The images probably don't accurately show how DARK it really was at that point (thank you very much Nikon D3 sensor!), but I knew Clay would have always regretted it if we didn't get those images.

With those shots in our hip pocket, the list was finally exhausted, and not surprisingly... I was too.   The long trip back to Montour in the dark left me smiling because I knew I made another client's day memorable... and that's what it's all about.