A few months ago I received an email from a woman named Lesa, she wanted to book a 70th anniversary shoot for her parents. I was immediately excited for the shoot. I may really love kids, but if anyone runs a close second in my heart it's old folks. I had such a great relationship with my grandparents, and if I won the lotto tomorrow I'd spend my days playing cards with the residents at an old folks home. The elderly and small children are the salt of the earth. Everyone in the middle is just kind of average in my book.
I wanted to get to know Lesa's parents before the shoot. The first thing she talked about was how their lives revolved around the railroad. So I took them out to Main Street where John proceeded to tell me everything about these MKT trains, what parts were valuable, which parts weighed the most. I think we spent more time talking that shooting. Stories about their work, John being almost being sent off to war, stories about their kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. They were so much fun I wanted to take them home with me.
I was a little hesitant how to shoot a couple of almost-90 year olds. Surely they weren't really familiar with the candid style of portraits that are popular today. Just when I was starting to stress about how to pose them they came walking across the street with big smiles on their faces and I knew instantly to treat them and pose them exactly like I do the rest of my clients, whether they are 9, 29, or 89 :) We had so much fun. It's one of my favorites photo sessions I've ever shot.
I asked them if they could still dance, knowing everyone from their generation could. They proudly showed me their jitterbug right there in the park.
Happy Anniversary kids, your family is so blessed to have you, here's to 70 more.
