Photo Shoot

A couple of months ago, I was able to share my story with the employee magazine of the company I work for.  They advertised that the January 2012 issue would be dedicated to health and fitness, and they asked employees (or associates, as the company calls us) to share their stories.  Thinking nothing of it, except that it would be a nice excuse for another paid break, I sat down at one of the work computers and submitted my story.

About a month ago, when I had forgotten all about this, I received a phone call at work.  The person on the other end of the line said they were from the magazine and would like to interview me over the phone.  At the end, she told me that someone would be in touch with me about getting some pictures from my races.

I, again, completely forgot about the interview and submitting the story until I received another phone call this past Monday.  It was a local photographer who had been hired by the magazine for the sole purpose of setting up a photo shoot with me.  We scheduled it for this morning at 9:00 a.m.

At the scheduled time, I met the photographer at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon.  He had picked out a spot about half a mile up the road where the scenery was absolutely stunning.  The leaves on the trees right behind us were a bright yellow, the mountains were green, and the sky was perfectly blue.  The sun was even poking up over the mountain and through the leaves just right!  He set up the camera, had me stand right in the middle of the road with my bike, and began shooting.

He took pictures for about an hour.  Needless to say, I am not a supermodel, and 95% of his pictures are probably of the exact same pose.  But he seemed happy with what he got and kept saying that the pictures will look really good.  Unfortunately, I haven't seen the pictures and don't have any to share. I had to sign a release saying that the company and magazine have all the rights to the pictures, and that I cannot even use the name of the company or any of it's subsidiaries without written consent.  And since I do not have that written consent, I have been using the terms "the company" and "the magazine" in this post (but those of you who know me well, and/or work with me, know what I am talking about).

This is only the second time I have done something like this.  The first was for the newspaper in Dessau, Germany, that did an article on Mormon missionaries when I was serving in Dessau.  I am not completely comfortable in front of a camera like that, and it was a very cold morning, but it was a fun experience.  I am looking forward to seeing how a couple of the pictures turn out when the issue comes out in January!