Photog High Noon

Yesterday, I helped with a surprise 50th birthday party for a friend just up the highway from home. This friend is a former direct supervisor, now an indirect one through our nearly simultaneous promotions. And, he's a consummate practical joker. Fortunately, I like to think I am one too, so with the help of his wife and on occasion some co-workers, we've been able to provide him a few "gotcha's" to even up the score a bit. This surprise party was one of them. Everyone should be so lucky to survive to the age of 50, to begin with. But to have such a fan base of friends, co-workers, and family willing to travel across the country to join in a massive surprise effort says as much about the person as it does the friends and family.

I brought two cameras to the event to snap as many photos as I could, and provide them to his family. But, one of the cameras required a little hands-on attention, so I found myself neglecting to use the smaller one. I was lucky to quickly engage the help of Phillip, my co-photog for the day. We were quite a successful tag-team. Phillip has cerebral palsy, which makes coordination for walking a little cumbersome. So, he's got this neat-o scooter, and - being the entrepreneur that most young teenagers are - was offering folks $10 a ride - limit 5 mph, or $10 a photo. I'm not sure how many takers he got! So, I'm not going to post a bunch of birthday pictures here, but I will post the High Noon scenario that Phillip and I played out. With cameras, of course!