Ian is one of those guys who might seem like a big, rough and tough football player on the outside. But after you spend some time with him, you realize he’s actually a big, soft teddy bear with a goofy side. However, because he has a fierce image to uphold, we started out in the Prairie High School locker room where Ian proudly wore his orange football jersey. He gave me a few serious looks but wasn’t afraid to smile big either. We had fun playing with different colored lighting to give the locker room photos some extra flair. We saved the on-field photos for the end of his session because we knew it would be super hot out there on the turf. Plus I had a little surprise idea up my sleeve that I was hoping Ian would go for... but I never would have thought we’d have a senior session close to 90 degrees in October!

After we called it a wrap in the locker room, my assistant Kate joined us for the rest of the session as we headed out to Palisades. Before we got started, I had picked up Subway for Ian because he missed lunch during the day at school. We definitely can’t let any of our seniors get hangry during their session! Ian enjoyed a quick lunch as we made a plan for photos once we got to the park. The colors at Palisades are all so vibrant right now and the perfect mix of greens with yellows, oranges, and reds. Ian got extra spiffy in a black suit complete with an orange bow tie. His entire look really popped against the fall colors. Even though it was super hot, Ian kept a positive attitude and smiled through it all. We laughed quite a bit as Kate tried to teach Ian how to “smize” because when he would smile big, his eyes would nearly disappear! We had a lot of good laughs over this and ended up getting a genuine smile out of Ian every time, especially when we’d ask him to say, “Heyyy!” I know it seems silly but it always works!

We had a great time exploring out at Palisades then eventually made our way back to the high school so Ian could get to football practice. But before he was done, he was brave and let us try something really fun with the water on the field. Even though it was a hot day, the water was cold (more like freezing!) as he let Kate spray it all over his back and head. He walked away completely soaked but still smiling so I’ll call that a win! And I reassured him that the final shot would be worth all the water and it definitely was! If the rest of my October sessions are this entertaining, I know I'm in for a really great month! I hope you like these favorites of mine!

Ian - Thank you for being so laid back and willing to go along with my crazy ideas! You were a total hoot and I hope you enjoy the rest of your senior year!