Bank on it.
Lock it down.
Sure as shinola.
What am I talking about? It's the near certainty that when I ask a senior guy what they want to do for their session, it's almost ALWAYS followed with a shrug and some enlightenment like...
"Ummm... I dunno."
I mean, normally there's something pretty obvious were about to tackle... like their pickup truck just outside the studio door... or the rifle, guitar or golden retriever they brought in when they entered. But I'm talking about the "regular" stuff.
Clearly we try to make regular irregular around here, but regardless, most guys once they get past the have-to thingee that they brought with them to highlight... the rest is usually left up to me.
That works for me. It's why they hired me after all. So, you get the idea... It's usually the one or two things they HAD to work in to the session... and then from THERE... it's wingin' it time.
But then there's Jake Dixon.
Perhaps he's just more organized than most guys... or maybe he just has a passion for photography, composition and angles... but I know one thing...
Dude was invested.
No fewer than three quarters of the images you see here were images that HE envisioned. Whether it was something he saw on the internet or he had scouted out in advance through stalking my work or just good ol' homework about spots in the area, Jake had a plan... and he wasn't afraid to ask for it to be executed.
Time after time we'd be in the middle of shooting a set and he'd ask if we could try it THIS way or THAT way. Standing on top of his Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale? His plan. Go to the football field in LeGrand and shoot with the new scoreboard? His request. Can I have one under the bleachers? How about sitting in the middle of the field? I'd like one in the middle of the highway... On the old rusty bridge... Is there a way to work in the 12th Man with my Seahawks jersey?
Make no mistake. Mr. Dixon took ownership of this day. And you know what? There was something kinda refreshing about it. Most fellas take the Mom-Is-Makin-Me-Do-This approach when they walk in our door. It's my job to make them leave with the thought that maybe making pictures wasn't such a bad thing. In this case... Jake needed no convincing. He was ready.
So it ended up being more of a collaborative effort than it usually is with most senior guys, and that's ok. There's a long line of trust between Jake's family and I as our history of making images together stretches longer than anyone else I've ever photographed. It was mentioned a couple years ago when we photographed Jake's older brother, Nate for his senior images... but it's worth mentioning again for those of you who might of missed it.
My very first job as a photographer occurred on September 4, 1993 as I assisted my predecessor, John Foley, at the wedding of Jake's parents, Mike and Tana Dixon.
Almost twenty-two years later... we're still working on this thing together... God willing... we'll be here for another 22.
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