The down low on Lowe...

You know me... I love a good story.

And... on occasion, I've been prone to embellish a bit... be the king of hyperbole... get caught up in the moment.

But then along comes a tale that if I hadn't seen it for myself... it might be hard to believe it.

This thing could have written itself even if I had never met the guy.... but it might be thrown in the fiction category by most of you.

Fortunately for me, I got my chance to prove it was indeed non-fiction a few weeks back.

After working with his family a few times in the past, I was aware of who he was... his back story... and the crazy awesome chapters he's authoring daily... and for those of you living under a rock in Central Iowa... I have someone you should get to know.

His name is Jerry Lowe.

Born in the African nation of Sierra Leone, Jerry was adopted by the Ron and Brenda Lowe family of Tama.   I had previously photographed the Lowe's older sons, Dylan (South Tama County, '07) and Austin (STC, '13).

About the time we did Austin's session three years ago, I was hearing stories about this young man that the Lowe's had been blessed with.... how much he could eat... how much muscle and strength he was putting on... and how many high school defensive coordinators he was making lose sleep.

I had never actually SEEN the guy... but his reputation was clearly already being built.

One doesn't win the state fair deadlifting competition two years in a row as a high schooler taking on grown MEN without turning heads...   And you can certainly put this photographer turned workout enthusiast in the category of dudes that were impressed.

Lifting 580 pounds plus on deads... 400+ on bench... rushing for over 1000 yards on a state playoff football team (even with an injury that cost him several games a year ago) and did I mention he lead the Trojans to a third place finish in soccer last year?

Dude's got skills.   And I know I'm probably embarrassing him, but I mean this in every complimentary way possible when I say this....

He's a freak.

And the best part is?   He's about as soft spoken as they come... polite... friendly... and you can tell he's thankful for everything he has been given.

Maybe that's why he works so hard in the weight room... as to not waste his God given gifts.   It's a hard lesson to learn when you're in your 40s and you suddenly realize how much time you've wasted and how you wish you could go back and do things all over again... So it makes me extremely happy to see a young man doing everything he can to reach his potential.

And while he makes things look easy that ordinary folks like me drop their jaw over... I know those things aren't given... they are earned.... with dedication, hard work and a burning desire to be better tomorrow than you were the day before.

So, it's clear that there's a full on bromance going on here... and I was the first to admit to Ron and Brenda the day of Jerry's session that I wasn't sure that I wasn't the one having the most fun.

It's supposed to be the other way around.

But as it turned out... picking the brain of Jerry on lifting... football... his native Africa... the future.   Make no mistake... I was getting an education... and loving every minute of it.

I kinda figured at some point we'd have to incorporate weight lifting into the equation.   Perhaps it was his humble nature, but no dumbbells, no trophies, no mentions of going to the weight room were brought up.

That simply was not going to do.

Awards were fetched, weights were included and then my favorite part... the accepted invite.

I asked Jerry if he wouldn't mind going to my home away from home... The PowerBarn Gym near Ferguson for some images.   For those of you unaware...  think Anytime Fitness crossed with your grandpa's old barn... and that's where I go daily to get better.

Jerry would undoubtedly tell you it was his treat to make the trip to the fabled barn nestled in the country west of Ferguson, but reality was, the honor was all mine. 

He promised he'd be back sometime to get in a REAL workout, and I'm looking forward to it.   In the meantime, he's enjoying life as a king candidate during Homecoming week... being the featured back on the state's third ranked Class 2A football team (5-0 and rolling), and most importantly living a Godly life he's thankful for.

And you know what?  I'm thankful I got a new friend out of the deal.

Tiger Strong...

Speed... power... strength... explosiveness.

All things that the football coaches look for when putting together their football squad every fall at Grinnell High School.

But what about the gal leading the cheers on the sideline?

Certainly not a prerequisite, but that's exactly what you'll find every Friday night when GHS goes into battle.

And before you go ahead and dismiss this blog as another attempt at legitimizing cheerleading as sport, this gal has the hardware to prove it.

Did I mention she's got the beautiful part down, too?

For the Tiger faithful that have seen Kailee Doty tumble down the track in front on the home stands on a Friday night in an impressive series of handsprings, none of this comes as any surprise.   Nor does it surprise any of the judges at the National Cheerleader Association who chose her as the Top Performer over 150 of the best of the best at this summer's Varsity National All-American camp in Ames.   She's performed at Disney's Christmas Day Parade as a result, and if she were more willing to fly (as in on a plane) she'd be headed to London, England for its New Year's Day Parade in 2016.

Long story short... the girl isn't just a cutie in a skirt.   She can get after it with all the power and grace of a collegiate gymnast.

And to prove my point that she's more than just a pretty face, Miss Doty is carving out her own niche athletically as well at Grinnell.   A conference and district champion in the 100 meter dash already in her hip pocket, Kailee and her 4x100 teammates have one of the top times in the state returning this year as the Class 3A fifth place finisher at the state meet... and not a senior in the bunch from a year ago..

It made for some interesting discussion during her session as an old trackster that used to come out of the blocks for sprint relays myself back in the day.   You won't be finding me doing handsprings anytime soon... but I could talk legitimately about getting out of the blocks with our lil' Tiger powder keg.

I photographed Kailee's big brother Mason a couple years back... and a couple decades back, her mom went to school with my wife and I at LDF-SEMCO (now East Marshall).  So... there was lots of catching up to do with Team Doty at Kailee's session... which is always good.

Mason is living it up at Iowa State now, and from the sounds of it, his sister will probably follow suit next fall.   Maybe in dietetics, I'm told.   Not sure if she wants to continue with cheerleading once she gets to college... but I have no doubt that ISU could do a whole lot worse than this gal when making their selections on who to cheer on the Cyclones.

Regardless, it was great to catch up with friends, and despite what was an excruciating wait, I hope that finally getting to see her images has her head over heels... just like on Friday nights.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Who's this Kloey Fairall?

I not only got one chance to find out...  but two.

Well, three, really.

East Marshall senior Kloey Fairall had her original session back in August, and it ended up being one of those days... you know... where it monsoons all over the day you had been looking forward to for a long time.

Part of the reason Kloey was so stoked for her shot at this thing we call senior pictures is that she had sat in on good friend Kallie Hala's mega session back in June.  We left no stone unturned on Kal's day... so I had my work cut out for me to show Klo something she hadn't already seen.

Fortunately I got a couple of shots at it.

And a big assist.

Turns out the day-saver on the second go around with Miss Fairall was her suggestion that we make a little trip to her aunt and uncle's place northeast of Marshalltown.

One never knows what you might be walking into when asked to go on location, but in this case, Rocky and Lisa Monk's property was just the ticket we needed.

The place was just brimming with uniqueness and a different look around every corner, and you can bet I exhausted every last option out there.

Add in the fact that our platinum blonde senior was willing to meet out there at 6 a.m. to get started as the sun came up, I was like a kid in a candy store on this day.

I had my doubts when the request came in to meet that early on whether she'd actually pull it off... but when Mama Kendra, Kloey and good friend Sadie Kavalier came rambling up Rocky's long drive at 6 to meet me... not gonna lie... I was impressed.   How many senior girls do you know that would WILLINGLY choose to get up and have to look their very best by 6 a.m.?   I'm guessing that's a short list.

So with a little chill in the air and dew on our feet Team Kloey and I finally got to her outdoor stuff, and it ended up being worth the wait because I couldn't have been happier with the stuff we got that morning.  A couple hour whirlwind around the Monk's and we ensured that Kloey would be back to school in time to participate for her beloved Mustang volleyball squad that afternoon.

Speaking of whirlwind... Kloey and her East Marshall classmates are currently enjoying Homecoming festivities this week.   Miss Fairall was selected by her peers to sit on the homecoming court as a queen candidate.   Stewart Photography would like to congratulate her and all the queen and king candidates as they look forward to the pep rally and coronation tomorrow evening in LeGrand.   Best wishes!

The eyes have it...

East Marshall's Pauli Anderson visited us recently and for the most part, her requests were few.

But that didn't mean she didn't have a few surprises up her sleeve.

Mama Sue had just one request to report when the session was book back in July.   If a crow flew in a straight line from our home in LeGrand to the studio in Montour, it would most likely fly right over the Anderson home.   And right next to their home southeast of LeGrand is an old bridge that crosses over the Union Pacific Railroad below.   Pauli's older sis had images done there... and it was the Anderson's hope to do that again.

But with potential rain bearing down on us right from the git-go of her session, I wondered if we were gonna even have the chance to make the short journey back to the "Anderson Bridge."

So when Pauli, Sue and surprise visitor and long time friend of Stewart Photography, Maci "Hollywood" Fritz showed up that morning, we put our heads together... formulated a plan... and went for it.

I told them worst case scenario, we'd have to make a mad dash to the Hummer if the skies opened up on us and it began to pour... but they were no surprisingly gamers... and we barreled forward with little fear.

A few times we felt some sprinkles and the wind picked up... but despite the radar showing otherwise, somehow we did not get rained on.   We had kinda hoped that we might be able to time it well and get a train passing underneath us while we were on the bridge taking images.   And if you've ever been through a session with us in Montour, you KNOW that happens nearly every 15 minutes or so.   But do you THINK the railroad powers that be would cooperate when we needed them to??   Of course not.  I bet we hung out for almost a half an hour on that bridge hoping to catch a train... no luck.

Frustrated, yet dry,  the three ladies and I did return to the studio for a bit... completed the red plaid shirt and shorts outfit... regrouped and exhaled with the bridge images now firmly in our hip pocket.

With the radar looking sketchy at best, we forged ahead towards an urban session in Marshalltown. 

Pauli rocked her high heels all over that town... bouncing from spot to spot.   Maci flippin' her crap the whole time and holding the reflector like the boss that she is.  We even managed to get Barney Fife'd by some guy that insisted that we not use a fire escape.   Fun haters.

Somewhere along the line, I noticed that while Miss Pauli was changing her OUTFITS... she was also changing her EYES right along with it.

Grey, Brown, Blue and Green... I saw it all during the session.   I guess I'm surprised I haven't seen that more often... but hats off to Pauli for having the guts to mix it up.  :)

On our way back to Montour, Team Anderson had just two more requests.

Evidently the trespassing theme needed to continue as now we had to get ON the tracks rather than OVER them.  :)   And finally, Pauli had an idea for her grand finale.

Sure, we did the standing in the creek thing, but that wasn't enough.   Our guest of honor wondered if she couldn't get down IN the water... ALL the way in... like up to her eye balls.

Who was I to argue?  

The last image on the blog is our proof that Pauli was willing to take chances... and while we spent the majority of the day trying to avoid getting wet, we ended it doing exactly the opposite.

Thanks for a fun morning gang!