Matthew is a tuba player and a student leader in his marching band. Eagle Scout. Aspiring engineer. He reads the descriptive placards in museums and listens politely to tour guides whose enthusiasm for their topic outlasts the attention span of most of their audience. Therefore, although he is not necessarily eager to have his picture taken, I had every expectation that he would follow directions to the letter, and I wasn’t disappointed.
He complied with every microadjustment and request. He is a photogenic young man, but I learned right away that he can’t tolerate the sun in his eyes in the least without squinting and blinking, so we had to be very careful to turn his back to the sun. Despite the thunderstorm ending two hours before his session started, we had full sun for the whole session. This was challenging not only for the direct, hard light, but also because it got hot really quickly with the humidity. Matthew was wearing long sleeves and pants, not to mention carrying a tuba for part of the session. He put up with it like the Boy Scout he is, and I didn’t hear a single complaint. Of course, he is conditioned to carrying a sousaphone in full band uniform, so he doesn’t have room to be a slouch.
I appreciate him spending one of his last free days before band camp starts letting me take his picture, and hope that he spent the rest of the day in air-conditioned comfort!
Leave A Comment