Narrowing down hundreds of photos for the pages of Utah Valley Magazine is a sour task — which is why we’ve setup a digital lemonade stand with additional photos of our Fab 40. So pull up a chair, raise a glass and enjoy these behind-the-scenes insights of our 2015 list of Utah County’s most fabulous people.
1. Blank set
This blank set welcomed 40 fabulous faces over three days in early February 2015. Almost none of the Fab knew each other before our introductions at the Utah Valley Magazine offices.
2. Faking lemonade
Karen Larsen, Carol Verbecky and Masa Fukuda said “cheers” with the fake lemonade stirred up by the Utah Valley Magazine staff. Yellow food coloring (courtesy of Macy’s down the street from our offices) turned this water a believable shade.
3. Grassroots
J. Kirk Richards gave himself blades of biceps when we handed him these plants, purchased at IKEA a few days before the photo shoot. Jennie Johnson and Todd Frye peek through the lemongrass. Jennie brought a Christmas star to represent the Night of Bethlehem she hosts at the StoneGate Center for the Arts, but she set it down when it was time to go green.
4. Sweet and sour catch
Connie Sokol, Danor Gerald and Ben Woolsey caught lemons thrown to them off set by the Utah Valley Magazine interns and staff. After seeing how hard it was to get good expressions and not block faces, we opted to forgo this “pose” with the other “fab” groups.
5. One in a million faces
Danor Gerald (center) told us that he is a photographer and tells his subjects that if they do the same thing in six pictures, then only one picture has truly been captured. He gave us many expressions to choose from, including this wide-eyed look, which became our quiz for “Find the Differences” on page 25 of this March issue of Utah Valley Magazine.
6. Bundles of lemon
Lorraine Houston was never truly in danger of Sam Dallon and Neal Currey dumping these lemons on her. Neal was an Army Ranger and Sam got a perfect score on the ACT — these men know their details.
7. Seeing stars lemons
Sam Dallon looks through the telescope that Lorraine Houston brought from the Christa McAuliffe Space Center while Neal Currey observes from the side. The yellow bucket (upside down) was borrowed from Editor Jeanette Bennett’s neighbor, Merrily Evans.
8. Adding color to the conversation
Gary Giles, Steve Liefson and Thomas Alexander took what could have been a predictable group (three white males) and turned it into a slice of laughter.
9. Game on
Superintendent Vern Henshaw and sports broadcaster Spencer Linton watch genealogist Tristan Tolman toss a lemon. “Don’t worry about catching it,” we told her.
10. Sunshine on a BYU Sports Nation day
Spencer Linton brought his signature blue glasses to the shoot, and we loved the energy and color of the shades — but in the end we chose a picture that showed his well-known face more clearly.
11. Taste of fake
(Fake) drinks all around for this group of Fab. Heath Thurston decided to see if our yellow water truly had no flavor.
12. A toast to the NICU
We loved the energy of seeing Daniel Burton, Tyson and Ashley Gardner and Barbara Barrington Jones clink glasses together, but for the magazine we chose a shot where the Gardners were holding four baby outfits to represent their quad daughters, all of whom were still in the NICU during this photo shoot.
13. On the set
Barbara Barrington Jones brought enough props to fill a frame. Notice her tea set in the back (represents the International Institute of Professional Protocol she runs at BYU-Hawaii), the stack of books she has authored, the ballet slippers that she has used throughout her life on the world’s most prestigious stages, and the pink hat, which is part of her signature collection of toppers.
14. Carrying the banner
The tan pennant banner was borrowed from Dear Lizzie Boutique in Highland, but for the pages of the magazine our art director had to photoshop it out to make room for text.
15. When the shoe doesn’t fit
For this shot, we asked the four to rotate their props and step in each other’s world for a moment. Hugo Laguan (top left) took the lemonade from Zack’s Shack, while Zack Francom held Bryan Hatch’s helmet. Bryan took Rich Jones’ guitar, while Rich grabbed one of Hugo’s shoe forms. The “shoe” definitely didn’t fit as we prop-hopped.
16. Lemon shot
Jasmine Weiss shot a lemon down the hall of the Utah Valley Magazine offices with her Utah Grizzlies hockey stick, while Mike Joner got a closer look at our office wall. Janette Hales Beckham’s sensible shoes show up in this shot, while Kimberly Jo Smith has two of her instruments. Her son and performing partner, Bryan Davis, was watching from the side.
17. Puppy love
Michelle Black, Paul Winkelman and Laura Snyder each held one of Michelle’s Toy Eskimo puppies, which were being flown out the next day to their new owners.
18. Balancing act
When Michelle Black showed up with three puppies, we asked if she could hold them all at once. Oh yes she could! Michelle’s daughter who accompanied her to the photo shoot said, “She can hold seven!”
19. Four corners
Clark Anderson and Carolina Allen brought nearly identical globes as their prop for the Fab 40 shoot. We chose the larger globe and had all four gather around the four (round) corners of the earth.
20. Sorry, squirt!
Carolina Allen brought her niece as a prop to represent her love for children and her devotion to defending them at the UN. As we did “lemon eyes,” everyone in the room warned the 3-year-old girl to not get the lemon “too close to her eye.”