Greg and I have a dear friend who is a popular photographer in the city of Indianapolis.  Mark Dickhaus is on a team of photographers who cover the Indianapolis Indians, and just won Cassidy Turley’s National “LiveWorkPlay” photo contest.  But let’s set these accomplishments aside for a moment, because NOW he can add to his impressive resume: “Turned Lori Into A Pantene Model”.

Mark is a reader of this nutty blog, and knew we’d be taking our annual trek to Anderson’s Orchard this fall.  He offered to tag along and take some family portraits, to which I quickly screamed uptown in his direction, “YES!! And…THANK YOU!!!”

After bribing the girls with chocolate to sit nicely, hold apples, and smile (torture I tell you, someone call the authorities), we got to the business at hand: picking those apples.  I was actually glad the girls’ croup caused a reschedule, because Ida Reds and Scarlet Beauties are more of a late fall/winter apple, and my favorite for pies.  They were in full glory.  I was grabbing a few last minute Jonathons when Mark called out, “Stay right there!  Don’t move!”  Well now ladies, a model does as she is instructed.

When he sent me this picture, I had a good laugh. We’re still arguing about how much editing it took to make me look like this…he swears hardly any, and I swear he used every trick in the Vogue Playbook.  Someone call Pantene, because if nothing else, this shot proves I love my hair products. And possibly my new pore minimizer (but more likely, Mark’s editing software). But then I remembered the words of my fabulous Grandmother, may she and her hair secrets rest in peace, “Kid, if you were born just a couple of decades earlier, you could have been a Breck girl.”  As a child, I loved me some Breck.  I ruined the hair of every doll I owned, carrying those gigantic metal spray bottles everywhere I went.

Mark returned my note with a picture of me as the Breck Girl.  AWESOME.  How I wish my Grandma were here to see this.  She would laugh until her partial hair piece fell off, and then she’d have to call her “Beauty Operator” to have it “redid” in time for Bowling League.  After hanging out at the Beauty Shop with “her ladies”, we’d have pie and some coffee from her perc-you-later (it “perked” all day). Some people you just never stop missing.

Mark took all of these beautiful apple pictures as well.  He tried to teach me a few things, and MAN, did I try to take it in, but with hot cider in my hands, bushels of apples at my feet, and so much joy in my heart, I couldn’t write it down.  “Shoot into the shadows Lori…”: I remember these words, and I’m starting there.  Soak in this photographic wonder, because these are the best “Lori went to the Orchard again” pictures we’re ever going to get at Wisdom Comes Suddenly!

I’ll be sharing our family portraits soon; we’ve never had any taken and I still can’t believe it’s us.  We’re officially “one of those families sprawled out in an apple orchard, looking all woodsy in their pictures”.  The colors are stunning.  The models? What we lack in good looks we make up for with enthusiasm (my enthusiasm…the rest of my family is suspect).

Mark does a lot of Business to Business photography, but he shoots everything except weddings and babies.  Can you blame him? Brides are crazy and you can’t bribe infants with Twix bars. Send me a note if you’d like his contact information.

Now get ready for fall-sy food-sy posts, because this fall has been LONG, and I’m in serious need of some PIE….

*In accordance with FTC guidelines, there were no goods or services exchanged for this post.  Unless you count the jar of apple butter I gave Mark as a gift, in which case, FTC rules are moot, and we’ll need to refer to the FDA. Neither Pantene nor Breck paid me a blessed thing, but they should call me.  41 year old hair models are HOT right now.  Just ask Tina Fey.*