It was the late 90’s, and my portrait business was in full swing. I kept busy with weddings and families, but my favorite clients were seniors. They enjoyed trying new things, and breaking out of the traditional. Seniors always challenged my skills and my creativity. They kept me on my photographic toes so to speak!
I felt honored she would ask me to take on this challenging task. It meant so much to her, and yet so little to him. She went on to say she had heard I was really good with teenagers, and had a reputation for making senior portraits a fun time for them. She had two specific requests; could I try and get one photo without his baseball cap, and one shot of him smiling. Assuring her I would do my best we picked out a day and time.
The out of doors is always my preference for portraits. Natural light can’t be surpassed, but nature also puts folks at ease. It’s so much harder to get people to relax in a studio setting. And the teens in our area almost always prefer the outdoors for their sessions, especially guys. I knew immediately that Riverside Park would be the best choice for this young man. Fall colors were in full swing, and it was a short drive from the studio.
I encouraged teens to bring one or more friends to their sitting. It helped relax them, and made it more fun for all of us. They would help me with the reflector, and watching for stray hairs and other details I might miss. I asked mom if he would like to bring a friend to the sitting, but quickly replied he was a loner and would be coming by himself. So I decided to ask my husband to be my assistant on this challenging sitting. He has a great sense of humor, and could lighten up the mood. I knew that would be paramount for getting some really good photographs of this young man.
The afternoon arrived, and the senior met us at Riverside Park by himself in his beat up pickup truck. He had on broken-in jeans, an old t-shirt with a hole in it, and a well worn baseball cap. I asked him if he brought any other shirts and the curt answer was no. He was all business, and had an “I want to get this over with” attitude. As I got the equipment ready Jay went to work doing his magic. My husband is a college geology professor who is loved for his down-to-earth, and fun loving approach to teaching. He used his sense of humor to begin softening the mood.
I decided to not let the hole in his t-shirt ruin my determination to get a great portrait. I hid the hole by poses with his arms crossed in front of him, or with a branch, or some other technic. And when all else failed I could always have the distraction retouched out of the picture. The important thing was to not let it frustrate me. I moved quickly, not spending a lot of time fussing, or posing, or arranging. “Keep it light”, I kept telling myself! This is not a time for micro-managing.
Before long this fellow responded beautifully to our team approach of keeping it moving, and keeping it light! Jay would crack a joke like, “That one’s a GQ shot.” or “All your girlfriends are going to want that photo”, or “I hear Hollywood calling”. He coaxed the smiles, while I kept my finger on the trigger, ready to capture that moment each time it happened. Pretty soon our senior was suggesting a pose he thought would look cool with his truck! At one point he said, “My mom would probably like me to take my hat off for some photos.” So for the remainder of the session he kept his baseball cap in the cab of the pickup. I was on cloud nine with the way this session flowed that afternoon! After about an hour and a half of taking photos we headed our separate ways.
Mom was thrilled with the results of the portrait session. Her expectations had not only been met, but exceeded. There was her son in numerous photos looking relaxed and completely himself, smiling and hatless. “How did you do it?”, she asked. I responded, “Trade secret!”, and winked.
A couple of years passed when I received another phone call from mom. She apologized for such short notice, but she needed some 8x10’s from her son’s senior session. “We would like to display them at his memorial service this Friday. He took his life last week. Those are the best photos we have of him. We are so grateful we have those photographs.”
I attended his memorial service; half a dozen framed 8X10’s placed among the various floral arraignments at the front of the room. Smiling. Hatless. And young. So young.
I value photographs highly. More then most perhaps. Not a single negative has been tossed or destroyed out of the tens of thousands of negatives I’ve created with film cameras. Numerous times I’ve been contacted for prints or negatives of loved ones I photographed who have passed. It’s always a privilege to be able to provide those things. It’s my way of cherishing life. If portraiture can be a “calling” I’d like to think this is mine. It’s a privilege to record a person’s life, even if it’s only one hour of one afternoon during their last year of high school.
This photo is in memory of Sarah Evans (the little girl)
who passed away much too soon in 2005.
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