Time for.... Junior Pictures?

Crystal called a couple weeks back with kind of an odd request...

Senior pictures.... for her junior.

She explained that her daughter, Lexus was a member of the junior class at South Tama County High School.... but as it turns out... it seems that she just found out that she'll graduate a year early.

So, why not be proactive and just go ahead and get this done?

And since our typical senior "busy season" is starting to wind down... we had the ability to get Lex in to our studio in short order.

So we had her in a week and a half ago on a Wednesday afternoon...

And much like the session the day before... 40 to 50 mph winds foiled any chance we had to get outdoor done. So, with a little patience, Lex came back to see us at the end of this last week, and it was BEAUTIFUL this go around.

Crystal had originally signed her girl up for a smaller session but after some arm twisting from her grandmother, Lexus was convinced to wear her grand mama's native American regalia.

We were appreciative to get this late session, from an unexpected source, no less... but after talking with Lexus' mother... it sounds like there were a couple of connections from way back

Evidently, Mama Crystal senior negatives are in our possession as she had former studio owner, John Foley do HER senior portraits back in the day (I won't tell 'em what year that was, mom, ok?) ;-)

In addition, it came up that in the early 1990s, Crystal and my wife, Tara took dental assisting courses from Marshalltown Community College. My wife finished and followed that career path for a few years until we had kids. Crystal on the other hand.... had a "visitor" named Lexus put her into a change of plans. ;-)

Funny how things come full circle sometimes! ;-) Thanks ladies!

The long road to Levi's castle...

Sometimes it's best to not rush things...

Especially when 50 mile per hour winds are involved.

Levi was our senior last Tuesday and due to the insane low pressure that we were subjected to last week in the midwest... I decided to pull executive rank and just bump back the outdoor portion of our session... so we moved it to the FOLLOWING Tuesday.

Mr. Castle had arranged in advance to have me come to his home just outside of Melbourne, but it wasn't in the cards on that day...

So LAST Tuesday we focused on indoor only... and I think I got one of my favorite images of the year in the process.

Levi is a gamer extraordinaire and he had brought along his XBox controller and wondered if there was a way that we could incorporate that.

Ask and you shall receive! Not only did we get the glow of the controller... but of course, as I'm known to do... things need to be taken a step further. The dude told me that he eventually wants to get a journalism degree (which piqued my interest, as that's where MY true training is). So, I asked him where he wanted to take that in a real world application, and he said he'd eventually like to write for Game Informer magazine! Naturally! He also mentioned that Consumer Reports would work as well... but what better way to depict a guy that always has his mind on games... than to put the game on his MIND. ;-)

Stepdad Jeff (affectionately known as "Jailor Jeff" to those that know him from his post at the Marshall County Slammer) was along for every step of the way both last Tuesday and again yesterday as I took the roadie over to the homestead just off Highway 330. Between the two fellas... I think we coulda talked for hours. Engaging guys for sure... and that seems to be rare in my experience. Normally I'M the one asking all the questions... but it was an interesting session for both sides in this case. And I think Jeff and Levi didn't mind getting my life story as well.

Levi did most all of the leg work in getting this session set up and did all the fact finding on his own. Again... rare for a senior guy to take such possession of this process. I found it refreshing and easy to want to bust my hump for. Good job outta you, Mr. Levi!

Goin' back to Boston...

It was July 24, 2002. South Tama senior Brandon Dunning and his mom, Cindy were here for senior pictures.

Along for the ride was the most handsome little nine-year old blond headed boy you would ever wanna meet.

Helpful, polite and a smile that you just KNEW was gonna make him a heartbreaker in just a few years...

Fast forward eight years, and that promise that Cindy made me back then came to fruition last Friday afternoon.

In walked a totally impressive young man. Still friendly, personable and conversational... I learned that Boston has grown into a well-rounded guy.

Clearly with a passion for music, he toted in an acoustic and an electric guitar as well as a set of keys that he uses with his band.

I had learned of his band "The Greatest Action" a year ago when i photographed band-mate, David Miller. At THAT time they were getting ready to make their first serious public appearance. Evidently the road and stardom hasn't torn them apart as they are still wowing crowds. ;-)

Here's your shameless plug, guys: http://www.youtube.com/user/thegreatestaction23.

In addition to the music gig... Boston SOMEHOW finds time to do cross country AND football in the fall. Throw in band, chorus, swing choir and a love for soccer in the spring... is there little wonder that his peers tabbed him their Homecoming King last month?

I'm sure I'm embarrassing him at this juncture... but I just think it's really cool to see how well he's turned out since I saw him last. Truly a testament to his mom and dad and his own drive to be involved with nearly everything under the sun.

Evidently his involvement with Upward Bound in conjunction with a 4.0 and awesome test scores (yep... brains, too) has landed him a nice little full-ride to the University of Iowa (GO HAWKS!) next fall. Does it get any better? I think not!

Being the kinda guy that's comfortable in his own skin... he had just one more request at the end of his session, and that was to have me come to his home and photograph his MASSIVE cat. They were unsure of his ability to travel without freaking out... so I made the run over there.

Unfortunately, the feline had different ideas and freaking out would be putting it mildly when I brought the tripod in the living room (ask, Boston... he'll tell ya). So... we ended up settling for the two pups on the front porch instead.

Can't win 'em all, my man. ;-)

A Morning Meeting with Maxxx and Madi...

If you're squeamish about snakes, this probably won't be the blog for you...

Friday morning had me jumping in the Hummer and trekking West of Gilman to photograph Matt and Julie Kopsa Offspring Version 3.0

Four years ago, then eighth grader, Madison Marie, was witness to the session that I may be most infamous for.... her brother, Brooks.

If you don't know exactly what I'm talking about, ask around... it's pretty legendary... and full-disclosure (ahem), I still love to do my best lil' Madi Kopsa impersonation as she cried out in the horror she was forced to witness. :)

But this day was about righting those wrongs.... or was it?

Miss Madi has a vice of her own as, unlike most young ladies... (or humans in general), she LOVES snakes! While most get the heebie-geebies at the thought of the slithery things (present company included), our Friday morning senior has NO FEAR.

I was warned that I was gonna get the chance to meet Max (or Maxx, or Maxxx... the owner likes to toss in a couple extra X's on occasion). I'm not gonna lie... I didn't touch Mr. Maxxx... I left that up to the owner! ;-)

To be fair... Maxxx was well behaved (i think?) and I'm not sure if he was smiling or what... but he basically went were we needed him to go, despite the EXTREMELY crisp morning air.

After we got the maximum outta Maxxx, I found out that Mama Julie (who incidentally was celebrating her, ummm... 39th birthday?) had just RECENTLY found out that Madi (along with friends like Paige p-jag Weidner) liked to make a habit of getting up on top of the Kopsa family grain bin that sits just adjacent to their home. Evidently they have been doing this for years unbeknownst to Julie. Well... now that she's a senior... no biggie! So Madi shimmied up there and we got an image of that before making a roadie back to the studio for more.

Luckily for me, Madison wasn't suffering from any post-traumatic Brooks' session trauma and we nailed a tribute to her brother who's worked his tail off in Coach Brands' wrestling room at the University of Iowa for the past four years. In addition... Madi is quite the artist, and I was graced by some of her finest work there, as well as her love for county league softball.

So, after JUST seeing three families the week prior that each brought the third of three children to me... we had another in the books on this Friday. It makes me wonder why Mykel ('08) was so relatively tame? I suppose that's what happens to the middle child when you're surrounded by such crazies? I think, since I am an innocent and nearly flawless middle child myself... I'll go with that theory. ;-)

Thanks Team Kopsa... you guys rock!

Delightfully Different...

Most say it... but what they mean is something quite the opposite.

I've mentioned in the space on this blog before that it's common to hear that seniors what whats different. Way out on the edge... wack... attention grabbing... standing apart from the crowd.

I call bull-pucky on that for the most part.

Reality is, most want to look like what the rest of society says they SHOULD look like.

Hip, preppy, stylish, well-manicured, trendy and just like every magazine cover you see while waiting in line at the grocery store.

In the end... most want to look contemporary and relevant... I can buy that. Different? It's debatable at best.

Then you have Rebecca.

Truth is here... at least what I can tell on the outside... she wants nothing to do with looking mainstream. Sure it's the age old battle between what society says she should be... or what her mom thinks she should have on, but in the end... if we were all walking Brad Pitts and Megan Foxes, that would be pretty boring. And who would the paparazzi follow? :)

So, I delight in the fact that she's her own girl. And if she want to thumb her nose at the rest of us and bust out Hello Kitty and a hat... so be it. If she wants to be over the top obsessed with the Twilight saga... good for her... I choose the Hawkeyes... she chooses Team Jacob... or was it Team Edward? Hmmmmm.

It wasn't all non-mainstream... we worked in a family member in Oreo the little Schnoodle. (I think that's what the breed was... schnauzer/poodle) ;-) What a CUTE little four legged friend! In addition, Rebecca's mother wanted to know if we could come up with a tribute to Rebecca's grandfather... so we did that, too. And as a capper... we worked in an AMAZING prom dress at the end that any girl would love to have. Let's just say that THAT dress cost more than her four outfit session and all the pictures that come with it! ;-)

Bottom line is that thanks to Mama Shelley's referrals co-worker DeLee Freiberg and cousin Chris Rhinehart, I got connected with a unique individual that isn't afraid to show it. And for that... I'm grateful.