megnan & randy

please be patient with me as i prepare
a slideshow of megnan & randy's wedding.
slide.com is giving me a little grief
at the moment as i try to transfer it
over here to my blog.....technology....
both a blessing and a curse!!

in the meantime, some great news~
got a note from dawn davis today. bob's wife.
she was surfing around and found my blog!
i would love to shadow them for a month!!
go to lastoriafoto
and see what i mean!! :)


i talked to lauren, a friend of "g's", and
she is in love with the images that i shot
at the bridge and hired me to photograph
her senior portraits...we'll shoot in early august.
thanks for the referral "g"!!
here's a couple more....









g is down at gustavus and mankato looking at
colleges! WHAT!???? she can't be that old!
she's only 5!!!!!!! :(
i love you g!


don't put anything off today!!

megnan & randy's wedding day...

hi,
this'll be short.
megnan is having her hair done
this morning at 9 and i want to be
there for the excitement.
as a hairdresser of 25 years, i've
been on the "bridal party hair~do"
side of things as well and it
really is a fun time in the salon!

i hit the rehearsal last night and
things went smoothly. a terrific
group of friends and family.



i sat with devon, a 4 year old boy
of one of the groomsmen & bridesmaids.
he's pretty funny! he made me draw
a pirate on the back of one of the
offering envelopes (as i thought that
maybe a little pencil and some paper
might keep him occupied!)..."now
draw a sword, sue"....yea, it kept
him busy alright. more like he kept
ME busy!!

one of my nieces is going to accompany
me today for the wedding. j is really
excited! she had nothing to do...
her exact words were..."um, yea, i
don't have a life." so i am going to
rescue her from her boredom and give
her some money and a haircut in return! :)

jacquie...QUIT DWELLING ON THIS!! :)
and have a fun lunch with your friend!

friday the 13th!

although today is what it is,
i'm not superstitious, never was.
i don't own a "lucky" anything.
even when i find a penny and pick
it up i don't expect anything in
return...i mean, seriously?
now professional athletes are the most
superstitious of all, in my opinion.
hey, maybe if i kept stats on my life
and career, i would be too.
any thoughts on that??

yep, my flash arrived! it is
magnificent! it's so great i want
to order another one.
i'm told that it was created for
my new camera~the mark III...which
i still don't have and may not be
released until december! ugh!!
i hate waiting for new releases.
these cameras are currently going into
the hands of photographers like the
getty folks and pro sports photographers
and the like. us commoners are left to wait.
i'm not bitter. really. ;)

i'm getting excited for megnan & randy's
wedding tomorrow! the church is close
so i'm going to pop in on the rehearsal
tonight!

jacquie is coming over today for a foil
and a cut...we'll discuss our game~plan
for tomorrow. she is going to be camera 2
and i will assist her next saturday for
her wedding in eagan. fun!

hey g...any prospects for senior portraits??
better get going on that, time's a wastin'!!









and when shall we do yours!
hey, ask j when she wants to cut her hair!
thanks.....

i'll be introducing you to megnan & randy
in tomorrow's blog.

don't let anyone work harder than you today!!

canon 580ex II...

i checked with ups this morning and my
new flash is out for delivery! i'll have
it later today, then i can send my 580ex
in for repairs. yay!

i should also have baby elizabeth's
portraits back from white house custom
colour today too. they "rush" for us
(nilmdts) at no charge. they are so wonderful!
if you are not currently working with
the folks at white house custom colour
and you are a professional shopping for
a lab, look NO further!! call them today!

i'll be putting a dvd slideshow together
this morning when i get off the blog.

it's a gorgeous day, as was yesterday.
cool (low 70's) sunny~breezy!
enjoy it while it lasts...it's supposed
to get steamy again real soon!

quiet day today. nice, actually.

tomorrow i'll be at the Hilton to
photograph a 2 year old leukemia patient
as the family checks in for a relaxing,
worry free weekend there put on by the
Minnesota Miracle and the Airport Hilton.

after which, i will be heading to
megnan & randy's rehearsal for their
saturday wedding..weather is looking
fabulous for saturday...not so hot and dry!
hoping to get some really terrific
fire house shots on the way to the
reception!! i hope they have a pole
for megnan to slide down!! :)

today is a gift, that's why they
call it the present! :)

bob davis interview...

i got this from gary fong this morning....
click here for the scoop!

i got called to shoot for nilmdts
yesterday at about 4pm. so i packed
up and headed downtown to abbott to
photograph 33 week old elizabeth...
she had passed around 3pm.



i just felt this calm come over me when
i entered their room. everyone was there
but dad. he came up moments after i
arrived. oddly, i saw him earlier near the
parking garage with a woman's purse
in his hands and when he came into
the room i saw the purse and i said,
"i should have followed YOU up here!"
(i had gotten turned around and lost)
it sort of broke the mood for a moment.
i got right to work. i photographed for
about 45 minutes, and quietly slipped out.

i feel so blessed to be able to perform
this service. most people say they couldn't
do it. i'm not certain why God chose me
to come along side this organization
but i do know that He gives me great
strength, poise and even dialogue that
is unmatched for any other occupation.

God, hold this family close while they grieve
the horrific loss of their daughter, elizabeth.

cherish each moment as if it were your last.
embrace change, challenge, defeat, joy...
it is all in His hands. you are alive today! :)

bella pictures...

so i find out recently that bob davis
was in attendance in paris to shoot
eva longoria & tony parker's wedding.
this guy is amazing. i've been watching
his tutorials on line at bella pictures
(which he founded) and he simplifies
everything! i love his philosophy!
he is completely professional and
unpretentious! AND willing to share
his knowledge with others!
i hope someday someone writes the same
thing about me! seriously!

bob is pictured below crouching on the
right hand side of eva (with a CANON!!)



tonight i have a pug meeting (Pictage
Users Group). last month i arrived late
due to the twins game & starkey labs event.
so i'm excited to get there and catch up
with everyone!

tomorrow night i'm meeting with all the
folks that are heading up vacation bible
school at westwood. it runs next week and
i'm always there to capture the action!
it's really a wonderful way to connect
with these kids! pray for optimum weather.
they arrange for many of the activities to
be outside...i'm really looking forward to it!

this saturday is megnan & randy's wedding.
megnan works in labor & delivery at
st. francis and randy volunteers on the
carver fire & rescue team. randy was one of
the first people on the scene when my brother,
tim, fell from 18ft and nearly lost his right hand.

i'm going to pop in on the rehearsal on friday
night because it is so close to me.
then saturday morning i'm also going to pop in
on her as she has her hair done too.
this wedding, altho' only 6 hours in coverage~
i intend on creating a 8-10 hour album sample
for my studio from yet another vendor "graphistudio"
they have a terrific program and i can't wait
to produce my first album with them!!
these albums are stunning!!

gotta run!

thanks for the yummy dinner last night bonnie!
take care!

scuba gary & jaimie

hey!
didn't want to go without posting
a couple of photos from saturday.
it was a really hot day!
we added a couple more people to the
scuba list!

gary...



jaimie...



and g....




while jaimie was getting instructions from
pete and her proud dad was there with the
underwater camera to capture the fun....
"roxy" was checking out gary (sitting on
the steps) and noticing that he looked
pretty good in his suit! :) grrrrr....



notable is the fact that owen
is no longer afraid of the pool...



so now we all have to keep our eyes on him!!



here's a couple more of olivia & emalee....





storms kept us from heading down to northfield
last night so we are going to go down tonight.
thus i will not be going to stillwater today for
my tcppa event. that's okay, i'm more interested
in attending the next one anyway ~ jessica strickland!
she's amazing. i first was introduced to her
work a little over a year ago through gary fong.
pretty inspiring, i must say!
i've e-mailed her about the chance that she
might sell some of her actions and she wasn't
prepared to do so at that time....wonder
if she'll have any news at the august tcppa class!!

gotta run...have a great day!

happy birthday blog!

today, my blog is 1 year old. wow!
here's my first blog. who knew!?
anyway, it's been a great year for
me since i started this blog. and i
love updating it daily (when possible)
and i hope you have too.

gotta give a shout out to my brother tim...
he turns 49 today! happy birthday tim!!

olivia and emalee come over today for a
portrait session. we needed to move it
to this morning due to the fact that i
had forgotten about the barbecue down
at gary's mom's in northfield later today.
not a problem...it'll be cooler this morning
as well and that will be nice.
i went to the grocery store near our home
this morning to get a cupcake and some
flowers (it's olivia's 3rd birthday today)
and they were closed due to a power outage.
weird! i wanted to use those things as
props! oh well...they'll be here soon.

picked up hobie yesterday, he looks great
and is back to his rambunctious self!

hit anne's pool later in the day yesterday
and that was the recipe for the day.
a nice pool with deck jets (misters that shoot
into the pool from the sides).

owen is finally interested in jumping in
(to his daddy). "roxy" was there again,
donny's daughter, jamie was there and she
got into the scuba spirit! so did g
and even GARY!!! i think we can now finally
go get fully certified!

hey, the day got away from me with the early
photo shoot...here's a sample...







more tomorrow...
storms this afternoon!

the heat is on!

it's not the heat, it's the stupidity!
these are definitely pool or pond days.
mid to upper 90's and humidity means
stay where it's cool or find a pool!
thank goodness anne and pete were thinking
of all of us when they put their pool
in last summer!

waiting to hear about hobie.
i went for a visit yesterday and he
was so happy to see me.
i brought him the t-shirt i slept in
and a toy that katie had been playing
with so that he could have some
familiar scents around him.
i just sat with him on my lap.
then laura came in (one of the techs)
and she asked if she could take a picture
of me and hobie so she did...





here's my man...he's doing good.



hobie needs lots of fluids! he's very dehydrated.



here are the x-rays that dr. g showed me...



clearly you can see why hobie has been
in all this pain and discomfort!
his stool is the size of a labrador's!
poor baby!!



here's laura and hobie...



i just got the call that i can go and
pick hobie up at noon today!
i will gladly postpone the pool for
a couple of hours to pick up my boy!


how many kool-aide stands have you
actually stopped at this summer?
i've stopped at 2!!
these are some neighbor kids that enjoy
doing it so much. they want to give their
proceeds to "bridging"..isn't that cool!
ya gotta stop! it's like a quarter!

slide shows...

hobie spent the night at mvrs.
he's in pretty bad shape.
visiting hours are from noon to 4 and
then 6-8. i'll be visiting him today.
i already miss him the little twirp!
katie just walks around meowing..she
never does that...it's so sad.
she's lost her playmate! :(
we let her sleep upstairs with us.
she's a better bunk mate that hobie.
hobie just keeps pawing to see if you
are awake and can get him some snacks
so they both sleep downstairs. :)

i believe i will be joining the gals
at the hilton today. there is a cancer
family checking in and i would also
love to get my brochures to jada while
i'm there.


2 more days until my blog's birthday!
might have to get a cake!

hobie's at poop camp.

yep.
i took him in to our vet and they
recommended him back over to mvrs
(our local referral vet service),
they have 24/7 care for intensive
patients. it was a busy morning there
today. we met with dr. g and he
said that they would clean him out
and that he could potentially go
home later today...they're gonna call.
everyone loves hobie...everywhere he
goes. and they particularly love his
new hair do!
hobie was pretty grumpy while we
were there and he even had a little
boxing match with dr. g! a little
hissy fit too! he's pretty uncomfortable
and i just feel awful for him.
more on him later.

a nice day by the pool with about 40 others
from the neighborhood, lots of kids!
storms came in and blew out so quickly
that we just barely got wet then the
sun came back out. it was hot and the
party was a great time. however, a front
came through and picked up the big table
with the umbrella, ella, ella (ooops!)
and it tipped the whole table over on us!
it was the craziest sight... like slow motion
no one was hurt but the plates were flying
and the drinks got dumped, chips everywhere,
crazy. we hosed the area down and i hopped
back in the pool to "wash off" and then
we were back in business.
gary even made an appearance!
tim & laurie stopped by too.
g had her new boyfriend come along, he is
pretty neat and they are inseparable!

home around 7:30 and then we sat on scott
& jacquie's' front step and blew off our
target fireworks for willy until it was
bed time.....for ALL!! ;)

fun day.
i took the day off....i didn't take ONE
stinkin' picture! hard to believe.

oh, i have been responding to all of the
"Bella Pictures" wedding jobs and i never
hear back from anyone...ever.
well, they finally accepted me for a wedding
on the 11th of august, a saturday. just so
happens to be another friend's pool party
that day. oh well.
i'm researching the other photographer.
he's from the chicago area...weird.

have a fun thursday!

oh, and i JUST got a package from
cheryl mclennan at starkey labs.
literally it was just dropped at my door!
it's a gift/goodie bag from the gala!
nummy smelling candles and bath salts
and eye patches! i wrote a quick note
thanking her and telling her that i may
just have to shut off the computer, hop
in the tub and take a nap!
she included the program magazine from
the gala with my name under the credits
for photography...pretty cool!
thanks cheryl!

happy 4th of july!

many of us will celebrate by having picnics,
bar-b-q's, parades, blowing off "minnesota issue"
fireworks (we don't get to have the real ones
here but folks will cross over boarders into
wisconsin and south dakota to bring some back.
we can have "sparklers"! ooooooooo!
cities have special permits to blow off the
good stuff so at dusk (nearly 10pm around here)
they start up and some go for nearly a half hour!
kind of makes you feel like a kid again!

my sister's neighborhood does a kiddie parade
here's some shots from last year...







met mike and peggy for dinner at wildfire
last night. kind of a last minute decision
and a good one!! yum!
then we all hooked up with ron & cindy next
door at biaggi's afterwards and visited some
more...not too late due to gary's early morning
tee time today (6:30!). those guys are crazy!

i'm going to head over to my sister's in a bit
and claim a lounger for the day. i told anne that
it almost feels like a hotel over there
cuz if you don't throw your towel on a chair
early on, ya don't get one!! :)

hobie is having poo trouble again, the little
dickens! if he doesn't produce by tomorrow
morning....off he goes to the vet.
i brought him in there yesterday...he was acting
a little punky again. his bladder was the size
of a grapefruit...good lord! well at least that's
better now...just gotta get the poo going.
yay us!!

feels weird to have a holiday in the middle of the week!
oh well, enjoy yours!
happy 4th!

july 3rd...

wow! there's no stoppin' this month!
today is the 3rd and chanhassen throws
a big party tonight (starts at 3).
the casa blanca orchestra plays every
year...it's really fun and the weather
should cooperate.
games for the kids, a beer garden and
all those huge inflatable bouncy things.
(how's that for technical!?)

'sposed to get sticky today so i opted
for a cold press this morning which
i prepared last night...yummmmmmm!

amanda has 7000 bathing suits!
she can go thru 10 a day. she doesn't
like to put a wet suit on so when she
has decided to get out of the pool and then
get back in later on...she puts another one
on. i think this one was # 3???

she's dropping teeth left and right also!








looks like gary is going to get up early
tomorrow and head to cannon falls after all.
he and his buddies play golf every year
early (6am) on the 4th, then head to this
one bar and do a shot of blackberry brandy
in honor of jimbo's father then watch the
parade. it'a tiring day for him!
i'm going to go to my sister's and hang
out at the pool all day.

what are YOUR plans for the 4th!??

"good times...noodle salad"
jack nicholson from as good as it gets

another monday...

there are 52 mondays in a year.
52 opportunities to start something.
everyone seems to start things on
a mondays. so, do they keep it up?
diets are always the biggie. especially
after a long weekend of socializing.
or just simply getting "back to the
gym". mondays are always packed at
the gym. then the week wears on and
by friday, i'm the only one there.
i even (for the very first time) went
in on saturday AND sunday....i KNOW!
WOW! yay me!

maybe mondays hold too much pressure for
most folks. i think it would be better
to start something on a sunday!
takes the pressure off of monday and then
you are already a day into your new thing!

craig & jill had to cancel yesterday.
so we are looking at this coming weekend.
i popped over to my sisters and sat at
the pool with my mom for a bit until we
were joined by the girls and my sister
(who, by the way was out for a run with
our brother scott who is training for a
marathon!) way to go anne!!!

this was a golf free, wedding free, portrait
free, graduation free, birthday free weekend.
hard to believe! quite relaxing.
nice way to head into a holiday week.

make the most of your monday!


i read this in one of my trade mags....
everyone carries an invisible sign that
reads: "make me feel special".

prison work, pool & puppy...

after hitting the yard work yesterday,
i headed over to see emily.
she called and wanted me to come over.
so i packed up my camera and pool bag
and jumped in my car.
when i told her that i was sorry i didn't
come along to pick her up cuz i thought it
should just be her family, she said
in the sweetest voice, "but you ARE my
family!" so what could i do but run
right over and see her.

emily had spent 2 solid weeks outside
at camp...so where was she when i got
there? in the basement, in jeans and
a hooded sweatshirt playing "wii" and
"littlest petshop". soooo emily!
i convinced her to come outside and so
she did.....for a minute...
welcome home emily! we missed you!




donny & kiki were there too.
they have a new family member..."roxy"



everyone thought she was pretty neat!



and now....meet "scuba kiki"!!!



later today, jill & craig are bringing
their daughters over for their annual portraits.
we are going to shoot here this time.
can't wait to see them!
here they are at Christmas...

raceway park/speed channel

well, i ended up passing on driving
to pick up emily. i thought that perhaps
it would be a better "family" moment
than an extended~family one so i stayed home.

the upside of this was that gary and mike
were asked to help sell beer at our friend
john's track down i shakopee (raceway park)
this is a dream job for the two of them
however, the track is a "miller" track
so no budweiser for the boys! but hey,
free beer is free beer, right!?
so i go along for fun and end up schlepping
buckets of beer and running for ice and
more buckets and breaking down cardboard
boxes (that booth would have been a
disaster had i not been there!)
i brought my camera along because last
nights event (not many friday night ones)
was a special, televised event by the speed channel.
this place was PACKED! i mean the races start
at 7:30 but the line to get it backs up at like 6!
last night's event involved:
motorcycles, bomber figure 8s, 2-flagpole heats,
legends, and the infamous school bus figure 8s!
add to this that the speed channel was filming
and you get 5000+ crazy race fans!
here's some highlights....



bachelorette party...



legends (they are so cute!)...



the boys from the speed channel...



school buses line up...



mike, john & gary...



this young man was determined
to get on television!!!!



we didn't get home until 12:30!

okay, more importantly....
i met with jada yesterday at the hilton.
i was mistaken, she is not the "event"
coordinator, she is indeed the "wedding"
planner for the hilton (my bad!)
anyway, we have a nice lunch and she
explains the "preferred vendor progam"
to me. this will be a terrific opportunity
for me to add some weddings to my calendar!

i brought along all of my samples and she
particularly loves the tiny 4x4 replica
albums and is ecstatic to put me on her
list of preferred vendors. jada had been
searching for a photographer to have on
her list and shawn...



whom i've worked with on the minnesota miracle
weekends and is on the board for the miracles
of mitch foundation says.."hey! i know just the
person!" and voila! i will be doing some work for
the hilton in exchange for all of the leads
that come my way. for instance, they are
updating all of the rooms at the airport hilton
and will need photos taken for their web site and
so forth...also, jada has a web site of her own
regarding the wedding planning and i will help her
update that as well. exciting stuff!
more on that as it developes...

today...NO PLANS! yay us!!
enjoy the last day of june 2007!!