Chargers Adoption Calendar

This is my 3rd year of shooting the Chargers adoption calendar for San Diego Adoptions. It's one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I do all year. Last year, over 80% of the kids were adopted by families, most of them from people who saw the calendar.
One of the difficulties is showing up the to shoots(about 5 total) and not knowing what to expect. "Will the kid(s) be mellow, hyper, sad, smiley, or in a rotten mood?". "Will the player and kids have a good chemistry?" Will I hit it off with the player and/or kid?" Will everyone show up on time? Will everyone agree to do the silly pose I give them? How much time will player give us? and the list goes on. Somehow, within the span of about 10 minutes per player, we end up pulling it off. It really takes every last ounce of patience, people skills, humor, and creative energy to do it. In the end, it's worth every minute.