I recently got some photos back from an event and I wanted to use one of them as a new profile photo. The image needed to be cropped a bit since there was another person in the photo, and also because the angle of the camera made for a rather—ahem—crotchy shot of me. I work alongside my dear friend Alex on most days, and he was happy to lend his expertise as a creative director and human of extraordinarily good taste.

To make things simple, I handed Alex my laptop with Photoshop open, the photo teed up, and the crop tool selected. I figured it would take maybe twenty seconds to get it right. Alas, I don’t like when folks look over my shoulder while I work, so I milled about while he did his thing.

Minutes passed, and I was starting to wonder what might be taking so long. Not impatience, only curiosity. I figured I was being treated to some photo retouching, which was even better. A few moments later, I was summoned to see the results.

Six high-res versions of the headshot had been created for me: a banner, a tasteful crop, an 8×10, a square version, a full-size render for media requests, and a custom one. It was so much more than I expected, and I told him as much.

Alex was gracious, as always. “Of course, man. That’s how we do.”