One easy way to tell a photo shoot has gone well: It ends with a hug and a handful of fresh-from-the-oven granola.

It is nights like these when I cannot help but laugh and say to myself, "I can't believe this is my job." Though the fine details must remain understandably vague, I can say that in one evening I collected enough free food to feed a large household, ate one of the best meals I've had in a long time, replaced a mediocre photo-shoot with a good one, and I had a great time doing it.

It was one of those shoots that you tell people about -- the kind that makes you relish being asked, "What did you do yesterday?"

And the kind that makes you loathe the lab, because after a shoot like that, a few hours in front of a computer screen can feel like torture.

C'est la vie.