I met Ryleigh Schultz in June of 2012... she was a sidekick... the moral support... the comic relief, for her BFF, Mackenzie.
We had ourselves a session for the ages that day. Lots of laughs, a boatload of razzing and a friendship was born with the three of us.
I was assured that day that Miss Schultz would be returning in a calendar year for HER turn at this thing we call senior pictures. I told Mackenzie Sue that, even though she'd be in college, she would have to return the favor the following year and make her presence felt at Ryleigh's session.
The Class of 2013 was put to rest after a year where I seemingly was constantly bumping into this inseparable duo. No matter where I went... football games... basketball games... That Place Steakhouse... Conrad Caseys... there they were, always connected at the hip it seems...
I'd turn my head and there they'd be.... "BSTEW!!!!"
To whatever degree this job affords me a public persona, these girls would take it to another level... and I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me smile... inside and out.
So Mackenzie graduated... and left the nest for the University of Northern Iowa. The Class of 2014 started rolling in and I waited.... and waited... and waited some more.
Occasionally I'd get a tweet... a text... a facebook post... reminding me that indeed Ryleigh was coming. It was getting late in the productive outdoor season and I began to wonder... maybe she WASN'T coming. Maybe she went elsewhere? Was she waiting for her braces to come off? What WAS the deal!??!
Finally the call came in late September with just a scant few weeks until the inevitable hard freeze robbed us of the beautiful fall color... Ryleigh was finally on the books. Mid October it was. Twitter blew up with the proverbial choir of angels singing hallelujah as the wait was nearly over.
Or was it?
News came down that something that has been a big part of both girls' lives recently was gonna get in the way.
State Cheer.
The Comets of BCLUW take their cheerleading as serious as anyone around, and the fact that two-a-day practices kick in at mid-October was going to prevent Ryleigh from keeping her first scheduled date.
"Can I reschedule for November 6?"
NOVEMBER SIXTH!!??!?
My heart dropped. Experience told me that a hard freeze would have come and gone and the cold raw winds and rains of late fall will have most certainly taken most of our Iowa beauty from us by then.
Ryles assured me that we'd make the best of it, and sure enough... on November 6th... we were left with little choice.
A blustery cold and damp day blew in along with Miss Ryleigh and her mother Andrea. Much to her folks' chagrin, Mackenzie kept her promise and skipped classes at UNI to hang with her pal.
The girls knew from the friendship that we had forged that I would do anything to make sure the images turned out, despite the raw hand Mother Nature dealt us. While I have my doubts as to the willingness of her partner in crime to tough it out if the shoe were on the other foot, Ryleigh was game for anything and wasn't about to let the weather stop her. (you're a wuss, Mackenzie... admit it)
:)
As I will often do when the season gives us little other choice, we were off to town to get Ryleigh a primarily urban session. Her killer boots, heels and Rocks in tow, she dressed the part and I'm gonna have to give Schultz the Most Durable Hair of the Year award for maintaining a fab look throughout several hours of not-so-fab conditions.
Before we returned to the studio, naturally we had to squeeze in some buddy shots of the Dynamic Duo. In and of itself... that's not that unusual. We get that request regularly. Sometimes it's a longer friendship... sometimes it's the flavor of the month. But this one? It goes WAY back.
Like kindergarten and first grade back.
Mackenzie's family had just moved from California when she was just a six year old little turd to be closer to some of her father's relation. In a strange new world and far from the California sun, in the house behind her lived a just-as-ornery five year old Ryleigh Schultz. And just like June 26, 2012 when I met Mackenzie and Ryleigh... a new friendship was born. Over a dozen years have passed and I have little doubt that these two have done and seen it all together... and if they didn't... they told each other about it (or tweeted it immediately).
What polishes off this blog is a collection of images that I've captured of the girls over the past year... and I even stole one from when the girls were headed off to the first day of school back in 2001.
Armed with braided hair, flipflops and a whole slew of kleenex... I hope this trip down memory lane has them in need of a tissue or two again. Friendships like this one are rare... and indeed special... I'm thankful for them letting me be in on it during this landmark moment in their lives.
Speaking of landmark moments... Let me be the first one to wish Ryleigh the most special of birthday wishes as our senior of the moment turns 18 TOMORROW!! I could have waited till tomorrow to post this... but I'm guessing you're perfectly ok with me not making you wait even one more minute! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, girl!
One can tell me that these are "just pictures" and they'll "just end up in a drawer" all you want. I'll never subscribe to that theory as long as I'm here. This job is much more than that to me. It's about relationships... capturing them... and making them as well.
I only hope our friendship lasts as long as the one that already exists between these two crazies. Thanks for the memories, ladies.
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