Heatin' it up...

So part of my sales pitch that I give to prospective seniors and their parents about our earlybird special is that not only are you getting a HUGE bonus, and everything looks great and you can check something off the to-do list early on, but it SHOULD be cooler in June than July or August.

Oops.

Monday started a sizzlin' week that was a full-fledged outdoor sauna. Fortunately for me, I had a couple boys comin' in with short hair and no makeup issues anywhere to be found!

Logan was first up, and fortunately, he found that while he had to get up early for his 8 a.m. session... it ended up being the most comfortable part of the day. We ran around and got most of his outdoor done as early as possible and he and his mom, Jennifer and I kept the deodorant testing to a minimum. :)

I enjoyed the wonderful mother/son dynamic once again as Jennifer was incessant on Logan about his smile needing to be "real." I thought I was gonna have to step in and separate the two on a couple of occasions. ;)

The session was nearly over and it was approaching midday when the heat must have gotten the best of me because I suggested that we needed to LENGTHEN the session.

Just when Logan thought he was out of the woods and about done!

I made the suggestion that perhaps I follow the Simpsons home to Conrad and get some images at the home of the Comets to give some authenticity to Logan's football images.

I got no argument, so off we were... and we rolled into the David Lee/Les Penick athletic complex (ok... maybe it's not named that... ) right at about the noon hour.

Anyone that knows anything about photography knows that shooting at high noon on a sunny day is about equivalent to trying to catch a greased pig... it ain't easy folks.

With the help of my trusty assistant, Jennifer, and some serious strength to NOT squint, we got some awesome stuff I thought. Logan and I have the same barber, evidently, so the sweat was rolling off our domes by the time we were done, but I thought it was well worth the trip.

W is for Winning

It never gets any easier...

Not that every session isn't mental gymnastics for me to wrack my brain into coming up with something different... but when your employee of 3 years has HER turn for senior pictures, the bar has to get raised even further.

Then throw in our top-of-the-line "Rockstar" session into the Friday fray... and it was game ON.

For those of you that are unfamiliar, my part-time helper, Kristin Wacha, has battled with type one diabetes since she was eight years old. Taking her blood sugar counts... dealing with insulin... and trips to Iowa City to the children's hospital there at the University of Iowa every four months to track her progress.

It's not like a cold that she's gonna get over... it's daily... it's persistent... it's her reality. So when I was asked about finding a way to pay homage to this part of her life somehow in pictures... I knew what we needed to do.

Roadtrip.

So K-Dub (as I affectionately tabbed her shortly after hiring her in December of 2009) and I, along with her always bubbly mother, Cherie, were off in the H3 to the 319.

It was a winding drive down there on Highway 6... that found a detour in Marengo that found us on gravel and in the budding metropolis of Conroy (population... well... ummm... think Montour-esque)... and eventually back to the interstate where we shoulda probably been all along. We did find a totally appropriate W-Wall along the way... (you'll have to ask her if you wanna know) and we go what may go down as her signature image. WINNING!

I probably shoulda ordered a better day for weather for the worker-turned-client for her special day. Heat indices in the upper 90s, with sustained strong WINDS and a bright high sky wasn't ideal... but Kristin and Co. would not be stopped.

A year ago, I got kicked out of a mall during a crazy senior session, and we did our best to try to get kicked out of the U of I hospitals on Friday, too... We were sternly questioned about our presence there, but being the schmoozer that I am... I calmly explained Kristin was treated there at the hospital regularly and wanted to have some images taken there for her senior session.

Back off lady... K-Dub comin through! Luckily for this female Barney Fife, I didn't have to resort to sicking Cherie on her. It wouldn't have been pretty. :)

So we got our images around Kristin's battleground... of course we had to throw in some images from across the street at the hallowed ground that is Kinnick Stadium (GO HAWKS!) and then it was off to a place that holds many special memories to me.... The Vine!

No pictures for an hour... we chowed down at the restaurant at the end of the Coralville Strip that I've spent many-a-postgame Hawkeye celebration at... and some pre-games, too.

Our tummies full, we returned to Montour and polished off what was an awesome day with 3 more outfits including her prom dress and for anyone that really knows Kristin, you won't be surprised to know that we had to finish with her paying tribute to her favorite rocker, Bret Michaels.

She's met the former Poison frontman and we wrapped things up with her in autographed Bret Michaels' t-shirt... cowboy hat... and "Every Rose has its Thorn" on the studio's sound system. A fitting end to a rockstar session, indeed.

So, Miss Wacha, I want you to know... that I didn't sleep well in putting pressure on myself times 10 compared to normal... and that's in addition to the midnight hitting of the pillow and the 4 a.m. wakeup call. Sure I've made you wait a whole 48 hours to see your blog... but I think you'll agree... it Was Worth the Wait.

K.O.'ed!!!

So, on occasion, we get called on to get things right.

Not gonna name names... but every once in awhile we get the request from someone who's already made the nearly-unforgivable-mistake of going somewhere else and suddenly realizing.... oh crud... we didn't go to the right place.

:)

Stewart Photography to the rescue.

With all due respect to everyone else trying to make a living out there doing this... beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder... and in this case... the person cutting the checks was Krista Marie.

So... even though it's early in the ballgame for the Class of 2012... it was time to get things right for Miss Krista... and I took one look at this little firecracker and thought... I've got bigger problems than making this gal look good. :)

The highlight of the session had to be our trip to rural Gilman's "Lighthouse Opry" at the home of Harley and Janice Everts. This Eclectic Barn turned concert hall was my studio for an hour and we turned this dusty Iowa landmark into our photographic playground. I probably pushed Krista further than she was prepared to go for this budding traditional country music artist. She was way more Patsy Cline than she's Taylor Swift... but I interjected as much rock-n-roll to the image as i could get away with... and i'm not gonna lie... i LOVE what we came up with. If fans of the Lighthouse wanna push Krista to show off these kinda moves next time... let me tell ya, she's MORE than capable! :)

Special thanks go out to "mom-for-the-day" Marsha Patterson, who i met a couple years back during her son Jacob's now infamous "chicken" session. Don't worry, Jacob... still the ONLY senior in 18 years to have a chicken in his senior pics. LOL.

So... if I remember right... we had a grand total of ZERO Grinnell seniors a year ago and, as fortune would have it... we have not one but TWO Grinnell Tigers this year... IN A ROW... and to start the season, no less? Sometimes I think God is playing games with me. :)

Thanks for deciding that you wanted to get what you really wanted and weren't gonna just settle, Krista Oliver.

Off with a BANG!

The calendar turned to June yesterday and with that, historically my "normal" life as I knew it comes to an end until November or so.

Why's that you ask?

Senior season!

Whitney took the first-of-out-the-gate honors yesterday, and what a way to start!

Whit and her mom, Tricia had been in a couple weeks back to scope things out, so I knew we were in for a good time on day 1 - v.2012.

I got a little education with this session, as I often do with seniors and their obsessions. I'm not sure where I missed the memo on this, but it had come to my attention a few weeks ago that there was an actual trap shooting competition for high schools across the state of Iowa. A friend had alerted me and I thought they were joking... The next thing you know, I see an article in the local paper about two local high schools locking horns in the shooting fields... and if that wasn't enough... my first senior of the year wanted this emphasized.

I must have been living under a rock.

In fact, I'm hustling to get these images to present to Whitney and her family because she has state trap shooting on Friday and Saturday. (under promise... over deliver... I got your back, Whit!)

Anyway... basically her only request was to make sure her images with her gun were "B.A."

Mission Accomplished.

All-in-all... an awesome way to kick off the season. Cute gal... awesome weather... wide variety in outfits and style... I learned something... and I managed to not get shot. :)

Good luck this weekend Miss Whitney! Bring home state!