Conversations with Quillan

I had the opportunity to photograph a 2023 Norwalk senior that had me laughing and rolling my eyes throughout the session. Readers, meet Quillan.

I've meet Quillan's mom and actually photographed her midwifery cap and gown session and some professional headshots for her as well. I asked Quillan if he had seen the photos I took of his mom, and he responded that he had. I immediately followed up with a question asking him if he was embarrassed and he was truthful in his reponse, "Kinda." This was my first-time meeting Quillan though and Mom had scheduled herself a girl's weekend in Vegas the day of his senior session, so it with me and him flying solo. I'd normally like an adult present for the session to help the senior open-up and get some authentic smiles, but Quillan had no problem laughing--mostly at me.

I started the session out by being awkward--my specialty by asking Quillan how to pronounce his name. He provided a first, middle, and last name for me. Extra credit points for sure. For any readers out there that are curious, it's pronounced Quill-in and not Kill-e-in or Quill-a-in or anything in between.

We started our session in Downtown Des Moines and just walked around--my favorite way to get fun shots with seniors. Quillan had brough two long-sleeved shirts to pair with jeans, white t-shirt, and two pairs of shoes. He was able to create a lot of different looks without doing a full wardrobe change.

I knew Quillan's a football player as we had made plans to go to the football stadium for some photos, so I asked him what position he plays. He replied with, "D-line." I stared blankly and he continued with, "Defensive line." This was shortly followed up with him talking about the score of a recent game and me not understanding that a touchdown was 6 points and not seven. Quillan quickly explained scoring to me and was only slightly annoyed.

After spending 45 minutes downtown we headed to the family home to do photos with his pet, Rona, a pineapple green cheeked conure. Quillan informed me that Rona is not flight trained so we will need to do the photos indoors. I was a bit worried about the light in the room we were photographing in and the distance from the light source. Luckily, I was still using my 35 mm lens at this time, so I could maintain a closer proximity to Quillan and Rona.

After a few shots in the home, we headed to Mineart Field to grab a few more photos then moved to the track and field throwing area.

I asked Quillan to pose in the stands and even on the bench to get the stadium in the background. Upon my request he excalaimed, "THE BENCH! The bench?! I don't sit on the bench. I'm THE D-line!" Now it was my turn to laugh at him. He obliged though. After all, he did say he was only doing photos for his mom.

I also told Quillan that his mom had mentioned that he wanted photos of himself flexing his muscles. He stated that he was only joking, and I quipped, "I don't think you were." So, he pushed up his sleeves while asking if he should push up his sleeves. Then asked if he should kiss his biceps while he started puckering up. I exclaimed that his mom was going to love these shots!

The discus shots were slightly terrifying for me. I did swap out my 35 mm lens for my Tamron 70-180 mm, but I was still standing in front of a teenager boy that I had only just met that was throwing a large object in my general vicinity. Quillan tried to calm my fears by stating, "Not to brag, but I can throw it really far." Side note: nothing was calmed during this conversation. I was showing him the back of the camera to ensure I captured the moment of release. We switched it up to him just tossing the discus in the air and catching it--which seemed much safer to me. LOL.

Quillan and I made record time and finished his session in time for him to meet up with his friends before the Homecoming dance. Quillan was a very memorable senior and I wish him all the best luck--in whatever path he decides to go on after his high school graduation.