A second chance...

We can both laugh about it now.

That's the main thing.

What's the 'it?'

Just ask the the current group of East Marshall seniors that were lining up for what was their JUNIOR class picture back in April at their Prom at Elmwood Country Club in Marshalltown... they probably remember the story...

For those of you that DON'T know the story... I'll try to get you up to speed.

My wife and I are lining up the juniors for their group shot.   The school brings in a few of their chorus risers... we set up a row of chairs... and BAM... it's a group shot of the kids looking their very best on a special night.   Usually a group of forty to sixty... it's tightly packed with the girls in the front to show of their large investments in attire... while most of the guys are in the back lookin' fly in their tuxes.

So, we're busily gettin' everything fine tuned... getting the majority of the gang in place... there's a buzz around the room... a non-stop din of noise... it's PROM, for crying out loud, right?

Ben Mastin... the subject of this blog, was feeling the crunch of the group and the seemingly non-stop jockeying for position... the girls pressing forward to the choice spots in front... the guys trying to get in a spot where we can see them, too.... everyone trying to stand by their BFFs.

We were getting close to having it about where we wanted it... fine tuning the positioning amidst the loud chatter...  and suddenly Ben was trying to make one more spot for himself near the front...

And then it happened... 

"MR. STEWART!!! MR. STEWART!!!"

The only thing is... Ben didn't say "Stewart."

*crickets*

To protect the innocent, I'll leave what he DID say out of this forum... but those in this area probably don't have to think real hard to figure it out.

The first two letters are the same, but just like a Presidential moderator wouldn't want to call the Republican candidate "President Obama" or the Democrat "Governor Romney," there's mistakes you just don't wanna make.

Calling me by my biggest competitor's name is one.

Most heard what Mr. Mastin said... and if I'm honest, he's not the first... probably won't be the last.   I would like to think that perhaps the tables have been turned once or twice over the past decade as well.

That being said... the loud buzz came to a screeching halt... and I then regrettably added to the problem.

"Excuse ME?!??!"

You could almost feel the air being sucked out of the room.

Immediately I felt pretty juvenile about it... and when the picture was done and we were tearing down, my sophomore daughter came running in.

"Mom, what did Ben say to Dad, everyone is talking about it!"

That's when I knew that it had really gotten out of hand... and I knew I shouldn't have reacted the way I did.

In the past I've mentioned in the spaces that make up this very blog, that I USUALLY use this group photograph as a way to "W & L" the upcoming group of seniors... A brief guesstimate as to approximately how many seniors Stewart Photography might reasonably expect to get from that class, if you will.

After THIS happened... I thought it was safe to say, that my childish reaction insured that I would no longer be needing to even consider in any way, shape or form the possibility that Ben Mastin would be on the W or "winning" side of that ledger.

But, as things have turned out... I DID get a chance to make it all up to Ben... and I'm happy to report that we've both let bygones be bygones and he and I and his mother had a blast buzzing all over Tama and Marshall County taking advantage of some of the best color of the season.

We got our plaid wearin', belt buckle sportin, hay-balin' extraordinaire down-on-the-farm images done before bangin' out a couple more 'regular' outfits, and our once-frayed relationship was back on solid footing.   We even teamed up together to get a local farmer to wonder what in the HECK we were doing.

"Just gettin' some pictures by some corn, sir."

;)

So, if it's true that all's well that ends well... I can safely say that Ben and I's rough patch has been smoothed out.   We all make mistakes... he and I both know that... and the true test of someone's mettle is to admit it, grow from it... and move on a better person.

Thanks for giving me that chance, Mr. Mastin.

This land is Jorpe-land

It didn't take long for this one to win me over.

Not that it REALLY matters or is of the utmost importance to do so... but I can tell you this, when the SENIOR is having the time of their life, it's infectious.   How can I NOT be having a fun time right along with them?   I suppose it's a little like the whole chicken or the egg deal, but regardless... I hope it's always a situation that the client and I can feed off of each other.

One such situation was with recent GMG senior, Amanda Jorpeland.

The best dang Tastee Freeze employee you ever will find, I found out quickly why her peers at GMG voted her to be on homecoming court because the girl was SO fun... SO hilarious... and on top of all that... she had such a variety of style in her look and clothing... I was like a kid in a candy store.

Per usual, we held back nothing to get the images to match the outfits and Amanda spent plenty of time in the H3 getting to the spots that we needed to get to... but it was all worth it as she and her totally-into-it mom, Joan, and I were razzin' her incessantly from start to finish.  :)

My favorite image of the day leads off the blog as you see Amanda in her straw hat (that incidentally, I fixed... just ask her).   One bad thing about falling way behind at work due to sheer demand and volume is that occasionally I may forget an intricate detail like HOW exactly I got Miss Amanda to laugh out loud with the aforementioned cowgirl hat...  but regardless... laugh she did... and sometimes a blind squirrel gets a nut and  this was just another one of those cases.

I won't make Amanda wait any longer... she along with seemingly a plethora of other patient seniors have waited long enough... so without further adieu, here are your images, Miss Jorpeland.  Your book is on the shelf and ready to be picked up.   Hopefully see you tomorrow. Open from 1 to 6 p.m. if you're scoring at home.

A Taylor made Sunny day...

Taylor Whaley didn't ask for a lot.

Of course she wanted her pictures to be awesome... that's a given... who doesn't?

The one thing the Marshalltown senior girl DID ask for, however was a big deal.

So big that it took a trailer to bring it in on.

Taylor and her mother Crista have a passion for horses, and "Sunny" came to visit us on this sun splashed afternoon, appropriately enough.

Taylor's grandpa did the extra leg work of getting Sunny down to us... and after a few minutes of primping him, Crista had the horse power ready for us.

Always a game of trying to get those darn ears to swing forward... we eventually git Sunny to cooperate... and we got some great stuff.

Come to find out, Taylor's grandpa actually knew the folks who own the property that we did the horse pictures on.   Long time supporters of the studio, Ron and Alice Garrett have always been a big part of our success at Stewart Photography.   The flower garden... the hostas... the rope swing... the old red shed... and in this case... the wide open expanse that allows us to comfortably shoot cars, 4-wheelers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, and yes... even a horse or two over the years.

So when Ron and Alice came down to enjoy their own personal reality TV series that plays out in their yard on a regular basis, it didn't take long for them to figure out that Ron and Grandpa Whaley used to work under the same roof at Lennox for years.

Small world, huh?

It takes a team to pull this off around here, and on this day... we thanked Grandpa... and like most days, we thanked the Garrett's for their generosity.

While Sunny's shots were probably the most involved and important images we did on this day, I have no doubt that Taylor wanted her individual images to rock as well... and it's my hope that she feels we accomplished that... not just in the first hour with our special 4-legged guest... but throughout the entire session.

Thanks Team Taylor!

Ka-POW! Kapayou Ka-Pays a visit..

Nicole Kapayou brought her son to see me a couple weeks back and while he was soft spoken and unassuming... I wasn't about to let to let his images be that way.

Like most guys, Danan shrugged when I asked him about wants or needs for the session.   He basically had just one look... jeans and a black top or two... and then his basketball uniform.

Other than that?   I had one job... and one job only...

Just make him look good.

;)

I like to tell guys that I'll do my best to minimize their "torture,"  but honestly, Danan seemed relatively comfortable in front of the camera, and once we got goin, he was very conversational.   I've joked for years that if I can get a guy to tell mom on the way home that "it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be,"  then I've clearly done my job. I hope that was the case in this instance.

I was surprised to find that as a 17 year old, while he didn't have many requests for his session, he was particularly concerned with making sure his toddler nephew (who gets baby sat in Montour) could take part in the session.   about 2/3rds through the session, the little guy made the trip across town to see us... and while I've left the images out of this forum to protect the innocent, the Kapayou's will find that while his nephew was there, Danan smiled his biggest smiles of the day.

I've told prospective clients that are doing their due diligence and shopping around that even our smaller sessions don't get cheated at this studio, and while Danan will have to be the ultimate judge of that, I think what follows is just another instance of our commitment to treating all of our clients with an amount of speculative artwork that is unmatched in this market.

Sure, it causes me to fall behind a bit, but in the end, quality takes time, and I've been pleased with our patron's patience in waiting for what they KNOW will be worth it in the end.

Gettin' our Ag Swag on...

There's no other way to say it...

The Koester family is good people.

I photographed the first of two Koester kids four years ago as part of the Gladbrook-Reinbeck class of 2009.  Not gonna lie, Koester Child No. 1, Rose, is one of my all-time favs.  I've made no secret of that... but the story doesn't end there.

Looking back to that epic day that was Rose's session... how could one forget a senior girl... swapping... ummm... "undergarments" with her mother to get by while calling Papa Steve back at home in the meantime and describing to him where exactly the proper "undergarment" was at so he could make an emergency trip to deliver the missing clothing.

Four years later... as a father of a sophomore daughter, I'm not sure how exactly I'd handle a such a phone call, but all I have to say that NOW I can relate!  And now, in retrospect, it makes that day four years ago seem all the more epic to me.

Fast forward to the present day... and being reunited with the Koesters was just as epic albeit for different reasons.

Much more masculine reasons.  ;)

I was introduced to lil' brother, Logan, three years ago for family portraits, along with Papa Steve, and while I've continued to bump into the longtime, and now retired, G-R volleyball coach, in Mama Marcia, I KNEW what I was in for on the second go around.

No more volleyball uniforms... or J-Lo hats, heart necklaces or forgotten undergarments.   Make no mistake... the Koester Kid v.2.0 session had one focus... and one focus only.

It was time to get our farm on.

We met east of Gladbrook after I put a little gravel in my travel and then borrowing a legit brown farm hoodie after I figured I was tremendously under dressed for one of the first chilly mornings of the year.

The temps and even a little rain couldn't slow down Team Koester as I was SO thrilled that the whole fam made it a point to be at the session.  So with many assists from Marcia, Rose AND Steve... we covered every nook and cranny of Logan's future home (at his grandma's), and if that wasn't enough... we hit two MORE farmsteads nearby to get more farm equipment and structures involved.

The neatest part of all of this was catching a farm family during their most important time of the year... Harvest.

Through a dear friend back home, I've found myself more and more in tune with the whole harvest operation.  In fact, if I weren't so insanely busy with the studio this time of year... I would love nothing more than to try my hand at driving an auger wagon from combine to truck... but alas... it seems like harvest season is normally a month too early for me to participate.   And this year... even EARLIER.

The drought that we've endured this summer/fall has made all of our seasonal expectations accelerate by two weeks or more.  The fallout resulted in me getting to take advantage of legit harvest operations, through MY work.   I'm not sure that the Koesters expected this.. but I'm certain that they weren't complaining on how things turned out in the end.

And neither was I.

I may have been "robbed" of getting to the the right hand man for Waterbrook Farms locally, but as a small consolation prize, I got to see, even for a few minutes, how Koester Farms did their thing.

I shot nearly every farm "weapon" available from nearly every angle for several hours... and I'm not sure Logan would have had it any other way.  Dude can flat out tell WHAT make and model of tractor is driving by on a gravel road without even looking.

"Sounds like a John Deere 8100 to me," said Logan  as we were posing behind a corn crib.

I peered around the corner...  Sure enough.   That's what it was.

Seriously, dude?

I look over at Mama Marcia.   She just shook her head.   Looked at Sister Rose...  "Bryan... Dad is JUST as bad.  They are two peas in a pod."

I have no doubt that that is the gospel truth.  Not just because I got to see it first hand that day... but even if I hadn't, I trust those two ladies' opinions like few others on this planet.

The whole day was like living out a dream for me... and I know that if that after nearly two decades in this business... if it turns south for me, I know that I'm chomping at the bit to get my #agswag on and earn my stripes as a country boy.   Whether I ever get the chance to legitimately do that, I have my doubts.   But i know this much, even if I never do, I did get to see it all in action that day.. and for that, I feel a LITTLE more in touch with my Iowa roots.. and am thankful for that.