Motorcycle mama: Who knew?

More than a week after the camera shutter clicked, I'm still trying to make some sense of this picture:

My wife begins her career as a leader of the pack. Who knew?

Holy smokes. I took the shot. You'd think I'd know something about it.

And yet, I'm completely in the dark.

This is my wife, Kim. She's sitting astride a Harley-Davidson, a huge smile creasing her face.

I mean, we've been married for 32 years and we've done a lot of interesting things together, not the least of which is cruising Alaska's Prince William Sound in a catamaran. We've eaten splendid seafood dinners all along the Atlantic coast from Camden, Maine, to Savannah, Georgia. We've hiked in the mountains and relaxed in historic 200-year-old inns.

Not once has a Harley-Davidson come into play.

Maybe that's why she's smiling so broadly now. I don't know.

Okay, okay. Full disclosure: Kim works part time for the financial consultant firm of Edward Jones, and her office was planning to create new birthday cards to give to their clients. This year, the theme was motorcycles.

So on the day of the photo shoot, and a little unsure of how to get there, Kim asked me to drive her to Tilley Harley-Davidson in Salisbury, where she was to meet her colleagues Kendra Smith, Megan Lane and Steve Jackson. I thought my duties would begin and end as chauffeur, but shortly after we arrived, I was handed a small, digital camera.

"Here, will you take the pictures?" I was asked.

Hmmm.

So I gradually put myself in a frame of mind to do this. While I was psyching myself up for this job, Kim and her colleagues were being accessorized by one of Tilley's female attendants. When it came to Kim's turn, the clerk asked Kim if she preferred to wear "fabric or leath..."

"Leather," I said, perhaps a little too quickly and a little too loudly. The clerk nodded her approval, a smile creasing her face. Why is everybody smiling?

Thankfully, nobody mentioned tattoos or body piercings.

I conjured up everything I knew about taking pictures, especially anything I might have learned while taking pictures as a sports writer for The Dispatch. It wasn't much. We took some shots inside, but just as I feared, it was a little too dark and the flash was a little too weak. I didn't have light reflecting umbrellas, light meters or even a decent camera. So we went outside to the parking lot.

I tried to keep the sun behind me. I asked for a three-step ladder to give me some elevation. I kept looking at the background to make sure nothing inappropriate was lurking there. I never asked my models to say "Cheese." I just said, "Okay, look at me," or "Here we go," and started clicking away.

We were done in less than an hour, and I guess so was Kim's career as a Harley-Davidson fashion model as well as my career as a commercial photographer.

But we'll always have the pictures.

Here is a finished portrait. Did we capture the essence of speed and danger?