A Wise Decision...

I guess I should have saved my breath...

I've been told before by senior mom's that on that FIRST phone call... when the OWNER answers, and said owner feels like a best foot needs to be put in a forwardly direction... most of the time it's appreciated.

Except for when the decision has already been made.

It's kinda like when a guy walks into the car dealership knowing he's gonna buy that Volkswagen, and yet the salesman talks his ear off anyway trying to convince them of something they were going to do ANYWAY.

Case and point?   I give you Exhibit A... Marti Wise.

Marti Wise's daughter, Julie, attends South Tama County High School just down the road from here.   I've bumped into Julie a few times when we've photographed Trojan track and softball pictures... so she was aware of my ugly mug.

Evidently her IMAGES that we created were enough for her to go to Mama Marti and inform her... THIS is where we're going, Mom.

Nevertheless, Marti did let me (or more accurately, TOLERATED me) as I walked her through our unique system of senior portraiture.  Oh she asked a few questions, had a few comments and queries.   And after 20 minutes of discussion and having the person on the other end of the line doing the selling let off the gas for just a second, she said... "You can send me the brochure and stuff, but my daughter has already informed me, we're coming to you."

*grins*

Now tell me that THAT doesn't make a guy feel good!

So as long as I didn't tell Marti Wise that she was going to have to take out a second mortgage to give her daughter what she wanted... they were on board.   Summer turned into fall and finally a week ago Monday, it was Miss Wise's opportunity to get what she wanted all along.

Close followers of this blog space may remember a young man by the name of Musgrave that we posted a couple of weeks back.   I mentioned that while he was done with HIS session, he wasn't done with me as of yet.   Why so, you ask?   Well the aforementioned young man just happens to DATE, our young lady that was our guest of honor on that Monday.

So meeting Team Wise at their family farm south of Chelsea that day was a reunion with my bro, Dylan.   He was back for more, and while we did take some images of the couple together... this day was for his girl... and he was along primarily for moral support and lending us a hand.

If not the main reason we trekked to the Wise home, it was one of them... and that was that we needed to photograph with Julie's beloved horse, Princess.   I've mentioned before in the annals of our blog that getting a horse in POSITION isn't difficult... it's getting those darn EARS to perk up and rotate forward.    The good news here is, that Princess, just like her owner, was very cooperative and photogenic on this day.

So the session was off to a great start... we got Princess whupped in surprisingly quick fashion... we worked in Mr. Dylan for a few, and then the rest of the day was all Jules... all the time.

We stomped all over the farm to take advantage of every nook and cranny and even visited the neighbor's property for a few before returning to the studio.   

While Julie had been lured in by our team STC team pictures the past couple of years, it was our hallmark collage work that she was after on this day.  She stopped by the high school on her route from Chelsea to Montour to grab a track hurdle and we were all set to showcase our pint-sized Trojan performer.

After taking hours' worth of images where I could barely justify making her take a picture with a serious face, we were left no choice to trade in that gorgeous grin for a look of determination... if only for an hour.

If we were going to do this all-conference shuttle hurdle girl justice, it had to show that she means business when she laces on those spikes... and the same had to be true when she dons her softball cleats.

Don't let her fool you... she's about as nice and polite as a young lady will ever be, but I did admire her intensity when we crossed over to do justice to her efforts in the STC Columbia blue and black.

So in the end, whether mom was on board at first or not (I think she was), Julie got what she wanted.   She's had to wait nearly a couple of weeks to finally SEE the result, but I hope after all of it, she feels it was worth it.