One year ago, I was looking for a pregnant person to meet me at the hospital for some filming. It was coming down to the wire and I hadn't found a willing volunteer.
At the time my friend Paige Green was pregnant with her second child and planning a home birth. As a photographer, she knows what it's like to ask for volunteers and stand-ins, so she agreed to help me out. Her only request was that we avoid any head shots if possible.
Paige saved me again several weeks later. She was nearly 40 weeks pregnant by then and we got the call at 2AM that Grace was in labor. It was time to film the first birth!
We had rented a camera and equipment, but the extra batteries hadn't yet arrived. Kelly headed out with the one battery we had while Erin and I tried to get up the courage to wake up our photographer friends who shoot Canon at 3AM and ask to borrow batteries.
We knocked on two other doors before we went to Paige's. Her dog woke the whole house up, and she graciously loaned us the batteries we needed. I promised to repay the favor in any way I could.
A couple of months ago she called in the favor. She had a shoot for Gloria Ferrer coming up and needed someone to stand on a bench and hold balloons, would I do it?
This is what happened to that photo.
Family and friends have had a great time sharing the news that one of their own appeared in Glamour magazine. For me, the attention is a little odd.
I've done many things in my life that I'm proud of, but for this I literally stood on a bench and held balloons and smiled.
It was fun and the attention is flattering, but it's not exactly my crowning achievement.
What I am proud of is that I'm part of a community that helps each other out. We are pursuing our art, our passion, our work, our dreams and we're doing it together. That's something worth toasting.