Common view

"Retired teacher Vilante Terry, 93, of Provo reminisces about the past. She poses for a portrait at her Provo home, Thursday, May 27, 2010."

As a photographer I am often sent to shoot portraits.

While I love shooting them, I often feel I am stressing too much to make them original.

What I mean is that I am thinking too much after meeting my subject to make something fresh to my eyeballs.

Yet when I think about it, people in their natural habitat is what I usually strive for. I want them to look the way they are, in natural light with natural body language.

I'd probably be better off hanging out with them for an hour as they go through their normal routines. But I never do. Maybe I should change that.

In this case, when I pulled up to shoot a portrait of retired teacher Vilante Terry of Provo she was peaking out of her door.

Not trying to start off on a bad note, I went about my business of introducing myself and shooting her portrait rather than taking her picture from the street.

But when I was done, I asked if she could look out of the door like she typically does for an alternative frame.

While the both of the pictures of her looking out of her door were obviously setup, I thought they said more about her than the indoor pictures I took of her - so I turned them in - and one ran.

Score.