| Bad Luck | Just Laugh | Decatur IL Senior Photographer | Bloopers |

| My Day | Behind the Lens Stories |

With the afternoon I had, I have to share… I really felt like this afternoon someone should have had a camera rolling because if I had images of half the things that happened to me from 4:00-6:00 this post would be far more entertaining. Let me walk you through poor Kyler’s Senior session.

4:02 … Camera bag on shoulder, camera loaded up with 70-200 lens with fully charged battery and full CF card (I’m ready, let me tell you!), and grab the purse and we are out the door!

4:03 … Pull the door shut (gotta pull hard this is an old house)… Keep thinking I’m missing something: Camera (CHECK), Bag (CHECK), Purse (CHECK), Battery Pack in hand (CHECK)… hmm … Door clicks latched. KEYS (NOT CHECK)… Seriously, KEYS? Anyone? Do I have my keys? … In the purse, NO… Oh wait, I put them where they are supposed to go on the hook inside the door. DUN DUN DUN (dramatic music, hang with me here).

4:05 … Uh don’t panic yet. Check side door (LOCKED), Check back door (LOCKED), Call Ryan (IN A MEETING), Call Hannah (COMING RIGHT OVER WITH HAMMER AND DRILL – yes seriously we were going to get in this house!)

4:10 … Final effort before the troops (Hannah and Jason and Dennis) arrive. Me (please picture this, it’s a shame there are not images) … squeezing through the bushes in front of my house to the side porch (which is about 3 feet above the ground with a railing that is about at eye level when you are standing, in the bushes, on the ground). Yup, I’m going over. PS: Added obstacle… railing is rotted and now completely not attached to the column. Though in all fairness, the railing is likely not designed to hold a chunky woman as she attempts to break into her own home.

4:_ (who knows people, I just braved the jungle of bushes and climbed up my porch I forgot to check my watch!)

IM IN! Well sort of.. door unlocked! Problem: Couch is in front of this door! Um, lovely because why would their not be a large piece of furniture in front of this door. (Yes, I put it there. Back off).

Fast forward: Rush to session, get there 5 minutes before we are suppose to start shooting. Apologize. Explain break-in story. Hurry to setup equipment. (Side note with all the equipment malfunctions: 1) TINY bracket that I need to attache flash to the soft box dislodged in my trunk on the drive over and my trunk ate it, literally it’s MIA. Solution: improvise and trade bracket out with an alternative spare I carry for crazy days like this. 2) My quick stands which are now probably fit for the junk yard have knobs that don’t work and one finally decides to actually completely come off during the session so my stand is perpetually falling or having to be held up. And this quickly defeats the purpose of a s-t-a-n-d when all it does is fall. 3) Face/Eyes + Pine Tree. Enough Said. 4) Activate car alarm while leaving first location. I’m glad I didn’t choose to rob a bank today, I’m guessing I would have gotten caught. 5) I feel like there were more things because this just doesn’t seem to be enough but by the end of the session we were really just laughing at everything that kept happening.)

Moral of the story, it’s ALL ok! In the end, my clients didn’t get stood up because I was able to break into the house (with no power tools needed) and, most importantly, we created some great images for Kyler! But wow, it was a journey. We will have to do a family session with Kyler’s family because they should have the opportunity to have a not crazy, bad luck day session!

PS: Thanks guys for being AWESOME as karma had fun with me today. 🙂