A stranger stands on the waters edge taking in the moment.Arms outstretched, a woman stops at the waters edge to take in the moment.

Several months ago, I was waiting by Lake Hefner for a client. It was a misty fall day in Oklahoma and the chill was slight. The skies were moody and the waters choppy. The perfect background for a Senior session.

Rain began to fall and as I looked out across the horizon, I caught a glimpse of a lone lady walking determinedly to the lighthouse. She was waving her arms as if in a rant. I chuckled, as she had no idea I was watching.
 
She walked to the edge of the rocks, as far as she could without falling in, and raised her arms to the sky. She shook her fists and coiled in such a way that made me sure she was screaming from deep inside. I cracked my window to see if I could hear, but the wind carried the words away.

I wasn't laughing anymore. Instead, I felt like I was trespassing on a very private moment. Like someone peeping in the window, where they shouldn't be.
   
I could see her struggle. She was making a stand in her life, refusing something, demanding something, drawing a line.
   
I sat silently. Watching. She went on for a minute more and then walked away from the waters' edge. She stopped halfway between the road and her "line in the sand" and stretched her arms out from side to side. She took a deep breath and let the water hit her face. She stayed there, taking in the moment.  In my heart I knew she would have whatever she wanted because she was demanding it of life. And when you talk like that, life had to listen.
  
There are moments we all stand on the edge. We want change. We want a better life or simply freedom from something or someone. She wasn't crazy. She wasn't my entertainment. Instead, she was someone desperate for change. Her rant on the edge of the waters spoke something to my heart that I vowed I would take with me always.
   
It doesn't matter where you are in life, what you are facing, or where you want to go. You can have it. You can do it. You can make it. But you have to come to the place where you're willing to raise your hands and make demands of life.
   
You have to be willing to scream at the top of your lungs and mark the moment. It has to be so out of the ordinary, it's unforgettable. And the instant you make the choice to refuse to be where you are any longer things will change. You are now willing to pay the price and demand that life pay up, too. 
   
As she left, I quietly cheered her courage and determination from a distance. Perhaps you're standing on the edge today, ready to make those same demands, despite the stormy skies and choppy waters. Just know I'm cheering for you, too.

Soaked during a Senior Portrait session by the lighthouse at Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City. Trying to beat a yearbook deadline, Josie weathers the storm during her Senior portrait session with August Photography.

============ Josie's session went well despite the weather. She came with umbrella and galoshes and the smile never left her face.

We were trying to beat a yearbook deadline, otherwise, we would  have rescheduled her session for a nicer day (although I had a blast getting soaked).

Her spring shoot will be coming up in the next few months. We're hoping there won't be rain that chases us away, but in Oklahoma -- you never know. :)