10/19/2026
They have this family tradition where every year her school photo gets framed and put up on the wall with the others. Kaitlyn brought along her kindergarten school photo that day and wanted a portrait created with it in the scene. We said, "You better match that cheesey grin in this one!!" and she did that well! She also brought along her bible to take a couple of portraits with by the river, because that's important stuff to her. This is what lead up to her senior portrait session yesterday.
The day started off as usual. Started the car and was greeted with a warm check engine light followed by a check washer fluid light. Hmmm turns out I must've whacked something the other night and the washer reservoir is what took the hit. Not a big deal, I can replace that. The check engine light is old news, it's just a sensor. I'll get to it eventually.
Later that evening I had some senior portraits to knock out with a childhood friend's daughter in Jackson, NH that I was very excited about. I figured I'd make a waterfall run of the day time since I was going to be out that way. I know, I know peak foliage has past, but there's still some color to work with.
I grabbed the hatch release to my car to put my gear in there and heard a REALLY loud Bbbzzzzgrriinnddding noise that made my shoulders cringe and my wallet squish. That was the sound of the releasing mechanism's motor attempting it's purpose for it's last time.
Ok, so we're off to a great start. If that is the worst of today, it's already a great day!!
After tossing "everthing" in the car and driving over 30 minutes away, I felt that nagging feeling that something important was missing here... the vehicle surprises threw me off a bit.
I looked out back and said, "Dang it, my tripod!! I've gotta go back." and back I went, to try starting over again. I normally always go over a checklist before leaving for any photography related endeavor but apparently skipped that routine. Some mistakes simply cannot be made.
For waterfall photography, a tripod is a MUST. When a client is involved, a checklist is an absolute MUST. That won't happen again. Good thing I left over an hour before my initial planned time of leaving. I wanted extra time to hang around the falls and to not rush through the day. The portraits would have been fine without the tripod because I don't use one for this sort of work, but it's essential for waterfalls.
Onward!! The tunes were cranking, the window's were cracked, and I'm off enjoying the ride to the scent of fall tickling my nose and some heavy bass pushing at the rear of the car. I was in "reset mode".
Ah, the first waterfall stop of the day, Cascade Falls!! I got out and stretched then moved to the other side of the car to yank my stuff out of the passenger seat. After I had everything out that was needed, I pulled my phone out to check the time... and here is where it got stupid.
I DROPPED my phone and BROKE IT!! First time ever. That would suck on a normal day, but today I had plans, and the directions were not written down. I had no gps, and no way of finding the senior portrait location that I had never been to before. That's a big problem...
"Is that a baby crying I hear? That means parents, and I bet they both have phones." Off I went across the parkinglot to introduce myself, explain the situation and ask a couple of strangers if they could help me with looking up directions that I could write down.
That was a success! Ok, off to photograph the waterfall and to the next stop, Glen Ellis Falls. I spent a short time in there and cut out my next two stops. It was time to find the most important spot of the day. Jackson Falls, where we would begin our sunset session.
I arrived 2 hours early and a little bit defeated already, but there was no time for that. I got out and scouted the area for compositions to work with Kaitlyn around and then prepped my camera settings for portraits and waited, without a way to check or send any messages. I just hoped that they would pull up to the agreed upon spot, and thankfully they did. It was on from there!
We had some fun around the falls to start out. I got to laugh pretty hard with her Mom, Carina, for stepping ankle deep into a puddle. Sorry, gal, but ya gotta admit, that was pretty FUNNY!! Then we made our way down to the golf coarse area to use some of their pretty trees and a mini covered bridge as some architecture and scenery to work with while the light faded. We had some good laughs and the session went smoothly. A little chilly, but that isn't what we'll remember of our time together.
The day overall was actually pretty nice, with just a few minor inconveniences to make it interesting. Some days are a half step forward and few jumps backwards, but the memories made along the way will surely last a lifetime. Broken cars and phones will get fixed or replaced and we move on in life.
You can bet your rear end I won't be going anywhere without written directions or a physical map from now on. I've put too much trust into technology and it almost bit me this time.
