Cold Rain

Some of my favorite days of the year are when you get sort of a preview of the coming season. In spring there is always a day or two where the trees have yet to bud, the ground is soup, and you swear you're going to burn all of your co-worker's drab, dreary sweaters; the the sun breaks through and for an afternoon it's eighty degrees and almost everyone is giddy. It's like being allowed to open a Christmas present on Thanksgiving day. Yeah, it's just a package of underwear, but they're Batman underwear and they hint at what's to come.

Yesterday we got a foreshadowing of fall. Gray, cold rain. We're still probably two months away from the first yellow leaf, and yet the cool dampness was welcomed, at least in this household.

This is going to sound morbid, but years ago I decided that I wanted to die in the last week of August. The weather is usually perfect, and I want to go out on a high note. By the same token, I've always sort of felt that if I can make it to September 1, I'm golden for another year. Let me be clear. As the last week of August looms, I have no plans to check out. I'm really looking forward to the autumn weather.

Life in the northern-most reaches of Chicago right now is good. I'm comfortable revealing my potential business, which is to become a photographer. I KNOW! Talk about doing a one-eighty! Look, the PhD plans are still in place -- or at least the plans to put the applications together -- but that leaves me at loose ends for at least the next six months, waiting for acceptance, and potentially longer if nothing pans out. I am circulating my resume, but a combination of factors: time of year, short tenures, awkward career stage, are combining to make the search very slow. I've had nibbles, but nothing definite.

So, on Thursday I did my first test photo shoot. My model was a part-time actor and school teacher. I had sent out a blanket notice saying I was looking for actors wanting headshots. A friend of a friend responded. I'd not met Brad and asked for a current photo. I received a shot of him posing in a Star Trek uniform. It wasn't quite clear from the e-mail that accompanied it, but it might have also been his wedding picture.

Before the official shoot, I met with Brad to discuss what he was looking for and what I might be able to provide. He showed me the shots he'd had done about a decade ago. He'd hired a very reputable photographer and the shots were serviceable. This photographer has been in the business for years and she's developed a style that is immediately identifiable. She uses the same approach on everyone. Although that approach doesn't always work, (it didn't really for me) for Brad it did and he had some good shots.

When he arrived for the shoot, I had already experienced technical difficulties. The tripod was loose and none of my backgrounds had arrived. My backgrounds are going to take weeks -- and I don't have weeks to wait. So I ran to the grocery store and bought poster board and taped it to the walls. It looked like hell. Brad arrived with almost his entire closet. I picked some clothes and we began shooting.

The memory card filled up and we had to take a break so that I could clear the card. That took me nearly an hour to figure out how to do and in the process I discovered that almost all of the shots were blurry. I didn't know why.

We finished the shoot after four hours. Brad was a patient pro, and I could not have asked for a better first model. When he left, I sat down and began sifting through the three hundred shots I'd taken. All of them were blurry. Out of the bunch, I was able to find four that had potential, but of that only two really have any value to me. I spent nearly twelve hours running those four shots through Photoshop. At the end of the day I came up with some shots that I would not have been embarrassed to charge money for. That said, I am quite glad that the shoot only cost Brad four hours.

Still, I'm very encouraged. I produced two professional-quality shots that could help get a professional actor work. I have eleven more shoots scheduled over the next two weeks and then I put together my website. I think that even if I do land a job, I've found a side income that may help pay off those student loans even faster!

Yes, student loans loom. And with that realization comes the realization that I'm no longer a formal student. I was in my coffee shop on Friday and I sat next to a woman who appeared to be going to school to get her masters in nursing, and I was a little jealous. In a year, that should be me again and the foreshadowing of fall that comes in the middle of August will hold more excitement than just a change in the season.