I first met Erin when signing up for my gym membership at American Family Fitness. Erin was one of those people who after meeting I knew I would love to photograph. Despite wanting to take their picture, I don't usually don't have the courage to ask a stranger to take their portrait let alone if that person even wants to have their picture taken. It's the age old dating problem, balancing the fear of rejection over the possibility of success. Thankfully I have courage to spare (not really) so about a year after our first meeting, I asked Erin if she would be interested in having her portrait taken.

To my relief, she said yes, in fact she was eager about the idea. Now, I always add that I'm not a talent scount, I can't make anyone a super model. I'm just asking for a little bit of time to take some pictures which we both will be happy with. That's it. Erin understood that and so we had a great shoot together.

Part of asking (relative) strangers to take their portrait is to develop my skills in interacting with nonmodels. Models are great and once you've worked with a model, you understand that modeling is indeed a skill not just looking pretty. But not every situation you find yourself in will allow you to rely on a models expertise. So while you may lose that modeling acumen, you gain genuine interaction between photographer and client. It's something every photographer can use more of.

It was great to work with Erin and I'm sure we'll work together again in the future.