Day 362

362/365, a photo by Aaron LaRue on Flickr.

This is my dad, Scott.

I realized this year just how crazy my dad actually is. He runs into burning buildings on the regular, which is mind-boggling to me. When my mom wanted to open a salon during the worst recession in the last couple of decades, he supported her. Once he met the baby, he wasn't going to let her go and it was pretty much a done deal. I had a tough time taking care of the few bills I was responsible for while going to school and making movies. Then I got a glimpse of my dad's to-do list and I almost had a meltdown. 


Still, he is able take care of everything, and while he's juggling it all in the air he still manages to have fun. I always tell him he's ruined me in the best way possible: I can't sit still anymore. My dad plays just as hard as he works and he makes us all play with him. If I'm not working, I need to be doing something fun; I'll go crazy just sitting around and it's all my dad's fault. For me, it's taking pictures (or snowboarding and wakeboarding in the appropriate season). For my dad, it's usually surfing and golfing, which he somehow manages to work in every day or two. He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders and he's still a big kid. It's the thing I admire most about him, and it's something a lot of people can't seem to figure out. 


If my mom is the glue, then my dad is the rock. When I feel like the sky is falling, my dad can make me laugh with just a goofy smile and suddenly everything is okay. 


I wanted to go with something more dramatic for this (read: badass), so I went with some hard light. There's an SB24 with a grid above my dad, hitting his hair and shoulders. Then there's a 430ex II with a dome diffuser coming from camera left. Then to round it out, there's another SB24 with an umbrella to the right as a fill. 


After I got this picture, I had my dad put his mask on and I got one more awesome shot. Happy Father's Day Dad!