Embracing the Unpredictable
"A Photographer’s Roller-coaster Ride"
Many years ago, a woman brought her elderly mother and her dog for an indoor photo session. They were having such a good time, they thought it would be a great idea to purchase a gift card from me to give to their very wealthy friend "who has everything." The gift card included a photo session and two 8"x10" prints.
Months later their friend called to schedule a photo session for her dogs. She couldn't come to my home studio, so I'd have to drive to her house which was 45 minutes away.
When I got to her house, I had to drive up a steep driveway, stop and beep her intercom to announce my arrival.
When I got inside the HUGE house, she was very nice, and introduced me to her two dogs. Then told she was going back to work in her office, and that I should just follow the dogs around the house to photograph them!
My mistake. I was so used to a "parent" helping with their dogs, I never thought to bring an assistant.
They were big dogs that moved slowly.... from the living room, to the library, to the kitchen, to an office, to a huge bathroom, to a bedroom, etc. etc.
I only used natural light at the time so I tried my best, and hoping the dogs would sit down at some point in a nicely lit location. It wasn't easy, but I finally was able to get some decent photographs. Back then I emailed her the best watermarked proofs. She chose her two gifted 8x10s and ordered a few other 5x7s.
A couple of weeks later I drove back 45 minutes to her house. She told me to just drive up to the house, and don't bother beeping on the intercom to announce my arrival.
I forgot and beeped in, (uh-oh). She answered and told me to enter from the garage.
When she met me in the garage, she began ranting and raving, screaming, "Why did you beep my intercom? I told you NOT to beep!"
I shook.
I followed her to her kitchen, and had her portraits in a nice bag. Before I took any of them out of the bag, she asked for her invoice.
Oh great, just my luck, I left her invoice at home. I told her I would mail it to her and she could pay later.
She began yelling, "What, no invoice? You have no invoice? What kind of professional are you?"
While she was yelling, I started to slowly take her dogs' portraits out of my bag, and she calmed down, and said “oh they look nice.”
I just wanted out of there, couldn't wait to get in my car (Maybe I should have beeped her intercom on my way out!). I then called my husband, and he said "are you crying?"
I never wanted to see or deal with her ever again.
A year later, she called me and left a message for me to call her back. At that time, my husband was in the hospital, not doing well after cancer treatment, and was about to be put on a ventilator. I went to visit him, and I said, “you are NOT going to believe who called me! I'm NOT calling her back.” I can't believe one of his last words before he went under (and never came out of) to me was "call her back."
I did, and she asked me if I wanted to sell my sell my cards at her event.
Reflecting on this rollercoaster journey, I've learned that life's unexpected twists can shape our experiences in ways we can't predict. A simple gift card purchase led to a chain of events that tested my patience, resilience, and ability to find compassion even in challenging moments. Through this tale of ups and downs, I've come to appreciate the surprising ways human connections can impact our lives, even when we least expect them.