Backlogged like we had never seen before... OUR way of doing things had left us sitting on a pile of seniors that measured no less than 14 in number. A daunting total that seemed nearly insurmountable to me at first... one after another, I began to chip away.
For the weeks leading up to this, my advanced apology refrain remained the same...
"Bear with me... it will take some time... but I won't cut corners... and you will be rewarded..."
"Eventually."
Fourteen turned into thirteen, into twelve... and so on.. and finally, on this fifth night of December... a day that I've been waiting for since the first of June has finally arrived.
The day in which NO seniors are waiting on me.
We've since had a few inquiries on our services that we've yet to photograph, but for now... the mountain has finally been climbed... the summit has been reached... and for the first time in over a half a year... my head will hit the pillow knowing there's not a single excited 17 or 18 year old that's DYING for me to get to them.
Truth is... I wouldn't have it any other way... or I would have abandoned this crazy way we do things a LONG time ago. Yes... we show nearly 4 or 5 times more speculative art than anyone else in the area... yes... we tell a personal story with each and every one of our seniors that we photograph... yes... it takes a lot more time to show the Stewart Photography experience is unlike one you can get anywhere else. Yes to all of those things.
What's the one question I'll say no to?
"Why don't you do a little less for these kids before you kill yourself?"
What began on June 1st when GMG's Cheyenne Wurr kicked off the Class of 2013 on a Friday afternoon, fittingly came to a busy-season-close on a Friday afternoon in November. Alma Pesina, armed with her stunning eyes, her excited mom, and her wonderful brothers came thru our doors ready to go pedal to the metal one more time.
I told Mama Garika that her kids held a special place in my heart after the session... And no... not because it was because I could finally manage to take a sniff of the proverbial finish line... but because of a similar dynamic in our families.
As it turns out... the Pesinas and the Stewarts both have three children that go, in order... girl... then boy, boy.
Even the personalities and characteristics were ironically similar. A stunning daughter with a flair for style... followed by a chill middle school fella that prefers XBox over photography any day of the week... and then finally... The THIRD child.
Why IS it that No. 3 is always the ornery one???
After our senior, Alma... and then Victor (I call him 'Big Vic')... there was the five year old ball-of-fire, Adair.
This kid would steal the show on any occasion. And even though it was clearly Alma's day, she gladly shared the spotlight with the Kindergarten Sensation.
I normally don't include sibling images on this crazy blog, but I felt a strong sense of connection to these three kids because of the similarities to my own. Over the past six months, my own kids, like they do every year, make a sacrifice as their Dad leaves the house at 4 a.m. daily to put his best foot forward for everyone else's kids. Eighteen hours days for days, weeks and months on end... with missed trips to the pool... volleyball games... church functions and kisses goodnight... all will come to an end tonight as I now shift into SuperDad/Mr. Mom mode until spring. I'd be lying if I said I haven't been looking forward to this day to get here so I could turn in my Psycho Small Business Owner Hat for the chance to get some normal sleep... do the dishes and laundry for my saint of a wife and just start being the father and husband that God calls me to be.
It's a great life that I've been blessed with... and while it's a grind that I often times have no one else to blame for the stress but myself due to self-inflicted scheduling and procedures. I thank my maker every day for giving me the opportunity to give of myself to others in the only way I know how... in a job that I love.
While I have no doubt that it won't be completely over for quite sometime... tonight I want to thank the Class of 2013 for what has been an amazing year. Your photographer needs some sleep... and tonight... I plan on getting it. ;)
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