This certainly was an interesting day here at the house. It all started with Mary Beth coming over for a portrait shoot.I was looking forward to it because I had some improvements to my equipment (modeling lights) that I wanted to try out. Also, I know that any time spent with Mary Beth would certainly be entertaining at the very least. For those of you who know her you be relieved to know that Hello Kitty supervised the whole operation.

So we got down to the business of taking photographs. I had a couple new backgrounds to try out so we messed with those for a while. Anyway, Ginny returned home from her band mothers alumni group lunch at Star Fire Grill. Then Pat showed up and the whole thing went down hill fast. She arrived between sets, so Mary Beth started chatting with her. Then Ginny joined in. What followed was a lunatic female gab fest with wide ranging subject matter. I didn't catch much of it but I did hear mentioned cosmetic surgery, make up, wedding dresses, some hushed tone discussion of something that was clearly not for my ears and a plethora of other stuff. They were clearly having a good time, and who am I to interrupt this wholesale estrogen escapade. I retreated.

I retreated straight to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer, a Sierra Pale Ale, Richard. I quietly moved about the house setting up for the next pose and sipping on my beer. The chatter continued unabated. As a matter of fact my presence was not even noted by the assembled female throng. After a little bit, I noted that my beer was gone. So I headed to the refrigerator for another one. As I worked on that one and fiddled with the studio equipment, Ginny, Mary Beth and Pat noted my presence at least once, but being the true females that they are, they didn't let my presence interrupt their discussion.

I have commented on this before. Women will marvel at the slightest coincidence if it has to do with clothing. And in the middle of the whole thing Ginny declared "We are all wearing red, isn't that cool?" Mary Beth and Pat agreed wholeheartedly that this was indeed cool. I just figured that they hadn't done their laundry in a long time and all they had left were red tops. But what do I know. As with all such coincidences, this one truly deserved a picture. I just happened to have a camera or two available, so we proceeded outside the Cross Family Photography Bush and I took this photo.

I am relieved to report that after this photo, Mary Beth figured that she better get back to business before I further attacked the beer inventory. We finished the photo session. Now, you might wonder what marked the end of the session. It was simple female logic. I had taken 153 shots of Mary Beth, which was exactly how many I took of Pat. Mary Beth was happy. End of session, adios.

This whole thing was a lot of fun. I learned a whole lot about photography and backgrounds. I learned a whole lot about posing and color selection. I learned a whole lot about crowd control. What I learned in regard to the latter is that crowd control with females is impossible. Therefore make sure you have an ample supply of your favorite adult beverage.