This girl is on fiyah!!!

Mama Donna told me, but I still couldn't put my finger on it.

Her daughter Paige had just booked her senior session for July 2013.   As I will often do, I asked, "how did you track us down here in Montour, Iowa?"

Donna said, "we were down there... oh... I dunno... 10 years ago?"

My first thought was... a senior ten years ago?  I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibilities that she had seniors a decade apart, but I needed to know more.

Step 1?  Add Paige on facebook.

Usually a visual will do the trick for Mr. Photographic Memory, but in this case... I was still at a loss.

Our computer said it was some sort of portrait session that the Mayers had been in for in the fall of 2002, but I still wasn't placing it.

Step 2?  Scroll thru some images on facebook.

Bingo.

As I'm looking through Paige's pre-prom images from last spring, there it was.

She and some friends were stylin' and profilin' in their prom dresses in the Mayer living room... and directly behind them... up high on the wall, above the fireplace was all I needed to see.

A 20x24 portrait of Paige and her two tow-headed sisters that we shot in our very first year of the digital era hung above the mantel and suddenly I felt very old.

The girls were about 3, 5, and 7 at that point.   All three as blonde and as adorable as they could be.   The five year old?   Now ready for senior pictures.

That 30 year old shooter has added a few more pounds and lost a few more hairs (ok... maybe a LOT of both) but, fortunately for Miss Mayer, digital has gotten even more amazing and solidified over the past decade... and it was time to show her exactly that.

Donna and Paige made their triumphant return in early July and all I was told in advance was that we had to knock it out of the park with her Melbourne Fire Department gear.

Paige (along with her folks) are volunteers in the life-saving department there in the home of the Mousehole Days.  Naturally we saved the best for last and it was time to highlight Paige's three summer outfits before really turning up the heat with her fire gear.

During the session, I had asked Paige what her middle initial was (presumably so I could take a guess at her middle name).

Paige played right along...

"It's 'B'."

I thought for just a split second before Donna blurted out... "Bailey!"

Paige turned and looked at her mother like she had three heads.

"Ummm... Mom... I think Bryan is aware that YOU know what your daughter's middle name is!"

Maybe you had to be there... but it was a funny moment.... even if I didn't get to take a stab at her full name!

Finally we rolled around to the fire fighter portion of the session, and we held back nothing at that point.   Dirt... sweat... smoke and a couple of borrowed axes from former Stewart Photography employee Alice Garrett (and her helpful husband, Ron) and we were SET for some epic images.   The filthy axe wielding Paige made for some rare images... especially for a senior girl!   But I couldn't be more happy with the results.  

It mighta been over a decade between visits for Miss Paige... but if Mama Donna wants to hang another 20x24 print now... I'll be more than happy to let her hang another.  Thanks for comin' back, Team Mayer!   Great to catch up with you!