W and L-ing the schedule...

I do it every year.

We look at the upcoming class of seniors at East Marshall and think... that senior's a good bet to come to us... there's another... ummm... probably not on that one. It's like looking at a football teams schedule and taking your best guess as to wins and losses. W-ing and L-ing the schedule, if you will. So we figure in lots of factors, for instance... "Oh... we did that one's older sister's images, probably gonna get him." Or vice versa.

Monday was a vice versa.

Typically, when the older sibling goes somewhere else for their senior images, it's safe to assume that we're probably not gonna get the business the next go-around.

Katie was an exception.

I was sitting at a high school softball game back in June... just chillin... and out of nowhere, I got the best surprise of my summer.

Katie was crouching by my lawn chair and looks up at me and starts asking me about our availability for senior sessions, etc.

I had HOPED we might get Katie, but if I'm being honest, I had her in the "L" column because her sister went elsewhere just the year prior.

It just goes to show that this guessing game is never an exact science... and every year there's some we were counting on that jump ship... and one's we are pleasantly surprised to get.

So, for right or wrong, I ratcheted up the pressure on myself to meet or exceed the families' expectations... prove our worth, so-to-speak. Just wanting to thank Katie and her family for their decision in the only way I know how...

By working my hind-quarters off.

So we went the extra mile once again to blow the roof off on Katie's session, and I'll have to admit that I couldn't be happier with the results.

As you can see in some of the images below... there was plenty of fun going on... and TONS of laughter. Whatever Katie, her HILARIOUS mom, Wendy and the aforementioned sister, Samantha, were taking... I need to get me some of that because the laughing was uncontrollable at times and infectious at others. It was nearly an impossible task to get Katie to do a serious expression... I was trying once... and Mama Wendy thought it would "help" to tell Katie to think of her boyfriend.... The result? The black and white image below of Miss Katie bustin' a gut. HAHAHAHAH!

So, whether it was Katie squeezin' pizza sauce on her lovely shirt during a brief break... or a second later, mom skillfully flipping her fork in the air and having it land perfectly on her plate (random, i know)... or being asked by mall security to vacate the premises... or feeling like we were gonna fry in the skywalk system, or getting approached by random freaks telling us their life stories, or splatter painting our subject at the end of the session, we were TOTALLY out of control Monday, and we liked it that way.

Thanks for the great time, ladies... I'll never forget it. Even if you are Yankee fans... you are forgiven. :)

Come heat or high water...

Some dread it... some look forward to it.

There's no DOUBT which side of the fence Lexi sits on.

A camera enthusiast in her own right, Miss Alexis had looked forward to her senior session for a LONG time. I'm flattered that she chose me to uniquely show off her passion for taking pictures... in addition to her love for cheerleading and show choir as well.

There was just one problem... and then another.

Lexi had been counting down the days on her facebook updates for the past couple of weeks... 10 days... now just 6 days... only THREE more days. Tomorrow is the DAY! SO EXCITED!

Then her Friday finally rolls around... and guess what? I know you'll find this shocking.... It was raining. Who knew?

She pleaded to the weather gods to cut her some slack and make the rain stop by 1 p.m. for her session... and her prayers were answered.

One problem out.... in comes problem No. 2.

SUFFOCATING HEAT.

Most of you know that yesterday was tropical... and that's putting it lightly. Truth is... the heat was more of a problem for the fat old photographer than it was for our 4-foot-10, 105 pound ball of excitement. :)

I did notice her wearing down near the end, but I'm not sure much could kill the anticipation that this girl is having waiting to see her images. She was a breath of fresh air on an otherwise stifling day outside. Add in lil' sis Sabrina and Mama Jill and I just had to let the girls have fun. Jill kept telling me that this was "Lexi's day" and I hoping I lived up to expectations.

Nick wanted me to be quick...

I had been warned...

Nick's mom had said that they may have difficulty coming up with three outfits... and that I may have my work cut out for me.

I just wrote it off as typical senior guy stuff... not exactly looking forward to it... Mom making him do it... the usual fun banter.

And then in walks Nick.

I greet he and his fun mom, Teresa, and I say.. "Hey, Nick... how's it goin?"

Pause...

Deep breath.

Exhale...

I knew all I needed to know.

Dude REALLY was not looking forward to it.

So, I had a challenge on my hands. I'm always up for that.

Teresa told me he was into metal. So... went to the XM radio... and it was all Hair Nation and Boneyard. We talked Black Sabbath... we discussed Slipknot's tough month. Disturbed, Iron Maiden and others were brought up....

I admitted to Nick that my lid would look exactly like his if I didn't shave it every two weeks. Insane crazy curly can be tough to manage... so... by my way of thinking.... you either A) shave it... or B) just let 'er rip. Nick prefers the latter. ;-) In fact... I was told that it's usually been LONGER than what we see here.

Nick clearly marches to the beat of his own drum, and there's nothing wrong with that. I told him that I would try to minimize his pain and if I could get him to tell his mom on the way home that it wasn't as bad as he anticipated it being... then I had done my job.

I'm not sure if that happened or not... I am sure that he's happier to be home bustin' out some of Sabbath's Paranoid. Thanks for letting me torture ya for a few hours, my man.

On the road with McWilly...

Some days just get off to a slow start.

Such was the case Wednesday morning as I got a call at about five minutes to our 8 a.m. session from our senior's mother.

She informed us that her son was nearly here and then realized he had forgotten the check that would pay us for our services, so he turned around and drove all the way home to north of Green Mountain to make sure we were paid on time. While I later told him it was completely unnecessary and that we could've gotten it the next day when he came back to get his portfolio, I nevertheless appreciated his efforts.

So, while Brandon (tabbed McWilly by his friends at GMG) went the extra mile for us... I decided to return the favor. So, we were back on the road again Thursday morning... in search of the really cool and different. And we found it. I wanted the urban look again (or as urban as rural Iowa gets, anyway) and we found our spots.

Funny story... we were outside a local hairstyllist's shop setting up for this shot and the owner pokes her head out. She was inquisitive of what was going on because she had never seen me before (and how could she? I'd never been there before). So she asks... "what's goin on here? are you with KCRG-TV or somethin?" Evidently someone was a big fan of Channel 9. But I politely answered, "No, ma'am, just takin' some senior pictures."

"Want any help getting him to smile?"

Ahhh... small town livin'.

So, I'm not sure whether Brandon enjoyed his 15 seconds of fame, but we got a good laugh over it. More importantly we got some solid stuff. So after our slow start, we finished strong. Excellent work, McWilly.

Off the chain in Ames with Alaina

Rest assured gang... no one puts more pressure on me... than myself.

So what to do then when one of our all-time favorite seniors has a sister visit a few years later?

Crankin' out more of the same is completely unacceptable... so there was only one solution.

Roadtrip.

Alaina's sister Emily may be recognized by many of the Class of 2009 around these parts as she was our 09 brochure covergirl. A member of Marshalltown High School's '08 senior class, Emily was instrumental in getting us hooked up with the volleyball and soccer posters that year... and I'm not so sure that she didn't do some arm twisting behind the scenes to get many of her friends to come our way (not too mention making some that didn't come quite envious). ;-)

The girls' uncle and I go way back to running track together in high school.... so you get the point. I'm a big fan of the Seversons... and there was simply no way I was gonna let Alaina down here.

Incidently, I found it refreshing that despite my demands to get out of town and try something different, Alaina and her mom, Brenda, were about the LEAST demanding senior clients I've had all year thus far. Four outfits... no requests.

So I broke down... swallowed my Jihadic Wing of the Hawkeye Nation pride, and took the Black-n-Gold clad H3 right into the heart of the enemy in Ames, Iowa yesterday.

I had photographed a wedding there a LONG time ago, so I was kinda familiar with the surroundings... but looking at things with my senior picture hat on instead of my bridal photographer hat... I seemed to find SO many opportunities to take advantage of.

We did have to dodge some raindrops, but it was a rewarding day for me artistically, and I know the girls are gonna be glad we made the extra effort. The gals were a load of fun for me and it's my hope that it's now Alaina's turn to make others envious. While Alaina would be the last one to toot her own horn... I'll do it for her... your images ROCK... good job outta you!