Schuler wanted to be sure...

Diana Schuler made the call...  and then the compliment.

She was calling to set up a senior session for her daughter, Jauna.

I began by going into an explanation about our services... what Stewart Photography had offer, and how we are different than some other places.

That's when Diana stopped me.

"I appreciate you telling me all this, but our mind is made up... we're coming to you no matter what."

High praise to be sure, but then she took it a step further.

"You're the only one who gets it right."

That could mean lots of things, but the message was clear to me.   The Schulers hail from Haverhill, Iowa, but Jauna was born far far away in Calcutta, India.   Evidently frustration over images of Jauna being too dark over the years left Diana with the impression that only one place consistently made her daughter look... well.... like Jauna should, and we take that as high praise.

Anyone who's been through a session with me knows I take my lighting as seriously as anyone.   I would trust that all of our seniors will never forget what a grey card is... have seen my neurolizer (also known as a light meter for those blog followers who haven't seen Men In Black)... and are well versed in my "five points of light" theory for indoor portrait lighting.

All this results in perhaps a maddening over-anal perfectionism that would threaten to drive some clients to the brink of wanting to steal the H3 and drive it off of a cliff, but I'd like to think that THAT's one of the reasons we get paid the big bucks!

In this case, Mama Diana was only going to trust one studio to make her daughter look natural.... but my task went beyond lighting... way beyond.

Jauna would be the first to admit she was extremely anxious about her session.   I'm not sure that there isn't a little bit in all of us that worry about "looking good."   Especially with something like senior pictures, where you're trying to make a statement about who and what you are... to your peers and your loved ones.

I told Jauna to put those worries and tension aside and assured her she was in good hands.   Most people that have had the privilege of getting to see me and my 250 pounds demonstrate how a 110 pound female should stand will tell you that after the reality of having nightmares from seeing Bryan Stewart "get his girl on" subsides, they sure are glad that we insist on getting the pose correct, too.

So while Jauna's nervousness manifested itself into getting her left and right mixed up a few times (don't YOU laugh out there... 3/4ths of all-ya'all get it wrong, too!) in the end she looked like a posing pro.  

We were trusted to get the lighting and the pose correct... so the only thing left to do was to bring out that natural expression.   Part of the job is to take even the most anxious of seniors and after a few images, make THAT person feel at ease and just like they were hangin' out with an old friend.

Judging from Jauna's smiles, I think we succeeded there, too.   Jauna was pretty quiet for most of the session, so it was difficult for me to tell what she thought of things because she didn't wear her excitement on her sleeve like some gals will.

But when I got home my daughter, who attends school with Jauna, said she received a snap chat her that told me all I needed to know.

It was Jauna... still at the studio... with a super excited expression and it merely said... "your Dad is the best!"

If that's not #winning... I don't know what is.

Thanks for your trust in me Team Schuler!