2007 October — Minneapolis Wedding, Event and Portrait Photography by Austin Images

house of fun and fur…

October 22, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

***i was going to post this yesterday but i just
felt like giving my dad his own blog day.

i met with a woman on saturday in the linden hills
area at her home…or should i say “the house of fun and fur”…

she has 2 cats and a new puppy “labradoodle” that
she wanted photographed so my friend gerri said
“call my friend sue!” we finally connected and i set
out to find the house on the corner with all the
halloween decorations. this was not a difficult task.

once i drove by and saw where she lived i turned around
and popped in to see my web designer, cory barton,
who lives just down the way. she has 2 cats as well~
gurty who is about 17…

alice…

and bob, who has adopted them as his own family.
(he lives next door but spends his days and some
of his nights at cory’s house…pretty funny really.)

so, back to the house of fun & fur…
this house is bubbling with energy, spilling over
with character, overrun with creativity and screams
eccentricity inside and out! i LOVE it!
she is currently adding a ship’s bow to the end of
her new deck…totally amazing!
here’s a shot of the wall in her dining room.
can you name the celebrities that she has painted?
(click on the image to enlarge)

these are her children…

daisy, or “daisy doo” as she is called!

i have totally forgotten this one’s name.
but i have a soft spot for this one because
the white spot reminds me of my hobie!

betty is just a dear. she has licked off the hair
on her back from the stress of losing her litter mate
sibling, jane adding another cat (above) and then
there’s daisy! betty is just gorgeous…i love her!

this was an interesting shoot and i plan to go back.

oh, sidebar…turns out that my ex and her ex were friends
and i had been to a party at her old house on girard!
how utterly CRAZY is that!
in the middle of the shoot i’m like, “i know you.”
and when i told her that it was at a party she threw…
she looked me straight in the eye and said “who are you?” we talked
and laughed and once again…the world gets smaller.

have a small~world day today!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: pets

patrick allen craig…

October 21, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

my father died 24 years & 3 months ago, today.
for the first time ever, i ventured out to
the fort snelling national cemetery near the
minneapolis/st. paul airport yesterday afternoon.
it was a perfect fall day. peak color, the sun
was out, the sky was an electric blue and i was
determined to find his marker on my own.

you see, shortly after he died, the entire family
went out to his gravesite (i think on his birthday)
and for some strange reason we, collectively, could
not find it. i don’t know why.
but that made such an impression on me that i
actually had a dream that he came in my mom’s
front door laughing about the fact that he really
pulled one over on us…that he wasn’t really dead.
i never went back. it’s been 23 years.
every friday that i have a cancer family at the hilton
i drive by that cemetery and it just all caught up
with me~so before i headed to a client’s house
yesterday for a shoot, i made the journey to the
marker where my dad was buried.

section “o”, marker #1894. God lead me right to it
as if to say “make peace with your dad.”
this is a very big place and every marker is the same
but as i walked the narrow width of the graves
counting up from 1847 or so, my smile got a little
bigger with each headstone. i finally arrived at #1894,
walked around front and with the warm sun at my
back and my shadow casting on his marker i said “hi dad.”

the ground was just damp enough for me to have to sit
on my jacket, i was able to take it off cuz it was
so warm out…about 75. i sat there and studied the
inscription…joel johnson, my pastor, spoke one sunday
about ‘how will you live “the dash” that comes between
the dates that you were alive’. although he has missed
so much, he made his mark on me. i’ll miss him always.
i forgive him…turkey.

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: Family

sunshine!

October 20, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

the sun is making an appearance today so i have
double checked to be certain that i do NOT have
any indoor plans and i don’t.
well, except getting today’s blog out there!

yesterday megan and in kind of just sat and
talked shop for most of the morning and downed
a pot of yummy citykid java french roast!

we never got to shopping and we also, sadly, did
not make it to the gym…that’s okay i really
think that we needed to just sit and get to
know one another better. we work soooo well
together but we’ve never really had any face time
to talk about ourselves, our goals, our lives..
that sort of thing. so we just carried that theme
right into lunch (at d’amico’s here in eden prairie).
i dropped her off at her hotel and headed to the
hilton to hook up with steve, becky, karen and patty.
patty is going to me one of the foundations new
“greeter” for the minnesota miracle family stays.
i’ll see her most every friday when i go to shoot.

i was so exhausted when i left there (NO sleep thursday
night)that i had to call megan and cancel. she had
called right when i arrived to the hilton to tell me
that they had put her in some huge suite! she wanted
me to come back when i was done and i was like…no way.

we may hook up today before she heads up to stillwater.
i’d love to do a “bed jump” photo…we’ll see.

hey, here’s the three lovelies that came over
yesterday morning for hair. they are non~stop talkers~!
the one in the maroon and the one in the blue
are sisters and i have been doing their hair
since the older of the two was about 3 years old!
they are my surrogate daughters! the young
lady in the red shirt is their very good friend.

here’s anne, pete and amanda (who turns 7 on monday).
i took this at the bowling alley the other day
but blogger was having “issues” and i couldn’t post it.

i’m meeting with a new client today at her home
in south minneapolis to photograph her babies!
well, her new puppy and cats. i pray that this goes well,
you know what they say about kids and animals, right?

i may go early and hit the cemetery where my dad is
burried. fort snelling national cemetery
i’ve wanted to take photos there for years and haven’t.

i’d better get hobie off my lap and get a move on.
get out and get some natual vitamin D today!!!!

Filed Under: Involvements, Out and About Tagged With: birthdays

house guest…

October 19, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

megan is in town from chicago to shoot a bella
wedding on saturday up in stillwater. gary gave
her the low-down on stillwater (that it is the
oldest city in minnesota) so she’s actually
planning on going up much earlier that day to
hunt around for some cool spots for a photo walk
with the bride & groom, wish i was shooting with her!
‘sposed to finally be a nice day on saturday!
NOT gonna hold my breath!

i thought it would be fun if she came in a little
early so we could hang. her flight was delayed due
to high winds in chicago and ultimately called me at
about 10:40 when she landed so i zipped to the airport
and picked her up and brought her here. i hadn’t seen
her since the 22nd of september when we shot a
wedding together…wow!!
she brought me chocolate! bad friend BAD FRIEND!
we stayed up til 1 and she got to meet gary and
the two cats. and mirACulously…i know that
those of you that know katie won’t believe this..
but katie actually hung around and greeted megan.
megan got down on the floor and kind of crept up
to her and she stayed there and let her pet and
scratch her…i KNOW!!! so weird, right!?
anyway, i gave megan the nickle tour and showed
her her suite (complete with a cute basket of
towels, a robe and an overnight goodie bag with
shampoos, lotions and some of my “thymes” samples.
oh, and som 70% cocoa lindts chocolate. hmmm. theme?

she’ll head off to her hotel later today.
i’ve got some hair to do this morning and then
2 cancer families are checking into the hilton
today. one at 4 and one at 5 so i’ll be there for
a little bit today.

amanda’s bowling birthday party yesterday was
so much fun. i’ll have to post photos tomorrow,
as blogger is “aware and fixing the problem” of
not being able to post photos.
i think it’s because some folks have cracked
the code of posting larger images! tee hee stacey!

we are in for a hugely blustery day which in turn
should usher in the sun tomorrow, so….
bring it on i guess.

TGIF. actually lets TGFE (thank God for everyday!)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: house guests, o.p. (other photographers)

bella certified photographer

October 18, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

well, it’s taken awhile but my site is complete.
most of the photos that i have posted on my bio
page you have undoubtedly seen already but
prospective brides have not. here is my bella bio page.

my niece, amanda, is having her kid party today.
this is MEA weekend so the kids are out of school.
she’s taking her friends bowling and i’m tagging
along to photograph the fun!
jenny and olivia we wish you were here. maybe i
can get anne to video a little and we can put it
up on my blog for you to watch.
at least you will see anne and pete in a few days.
IN PARIS!!!! you high rollers! hey, why aren’t you
blogging. not that i don’t want to keep staring at
the photo of you and your mom each time i check in.
just wondering what’s up…

my blog may get a little more fun starting on tuesday
of next week, i’ll be reporting from my sister’s
as i will be watching their girls while they are in
the “f” word…..(france), yes indeed, ooooo~lala!
this will be the 3rd time they have trusted me with
those little darlings in the past year or so.
first to australia/fiji last fall. then st. lucia this
past spring..pete travels a lot. but skype comes in
real handy!

my bella friend from chicago, megan, may come in tonight
and stay here. that’ll be crazy!! she’s shooting a
wedding here in minneapolis on saturday and wanted
to come in a little early.

happy birthday jimbo! i’ll remember from now on that
your birthday is the 18th!!

karen f. if you read this today, tell YOUR jimbo
that i will see him at 3:45 today.

gotta run…..
LOVE LOVE LOVE the new lens!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bella pictures, birthdays

editorial retractions…

October 17, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

jimbo’s birthday is actually tomorrow, the 18th.

dick cheney and barak obama are 8th cousins.
(that’s just weird)

hobie never ate any of his toys…check this out!
we got a new dryer yesterday (yay!) and when we
went to pull the old one out….look what we found!!

hobie and katie thought it was Christmas!
i think that we are fortunate that this never
started a fire. crazy cats! just like teenagers…
hide, lose or destroy the old stuff in the hopes that
we’ll replace it with new stuff!

hey, anyone interested in the outcome of blog action day?
click here. you can sign up to participate next year by
simply submitting your e-mail address.
someone from the university of minnesota was quoted. cool.
alright, i’ll admit it..i’ve had some time on
my hands. at times, we all do. it’s what you
do with that time that separates us. i’m clearly
in a class by myself. first there was bed jump
and now i bring you halloween fun and
granny panties by victoria secret!

on a serious note…
a good friend of mine is going down to abbott today
to meet with a surgeon to talk back surgery.
her name is nancy. she and her husband, larry, are photographers
and there is no good time for back surgery…for anyone, really.
but she’s in a ton of pain and this is an absolute necessity
for her. i ask that you take a moment now and pray that she
is comforted by what the surgeon has to recommend. and that
the surgery is a complete success! she’s been battling this
for quite awhile. the surgery is slated for friday the 19th.
thank you for your prayers. meals may be provided & welcomed
as well. feel free to contact me.

saw the sun for a minute this morning…more clouds moving in
and more rain! the southeast is turning into a desert and
we are covered with constant rainfall…should hit 60 tho’.

lens arrives today! my bright spot!

Filed Under: Involvements Tagged With: hobie and katie, In The News, prayer requests

jimbo’s birthday?

October 16, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

from year to year i can never remember if today
is jimbo’s birthday or if tomorrow is.
jimbo, aka jim and or “the spoiler” is one of gary’s
very best friends. they were “best man” for one
another’s first weddings which disqualified him
from our wedding so now he just tortures me by
showing up on all of our vacations (see “the spoiler).

it’s become more of a quest for him really, i think.
okay, so there has actually been a couple where he
didn’t show up but i was constantly wondering where
and when he would! gotta love him!
he makes gary happy so that matters to me.
so, happy birthday jimbo whether it be today or tomorrow.

my lens arrives tomorrow! i am very excited.
i adore my new camera but my 1 year old wide angle
does not work on that camera, only the 10D so i had
to add to my arsenal!

more rain today. this is getting old.
can’t imagine what it would be like to live in C@L!

mom’s looking at a condo. anne & i went along yesterday.
it’s really nice. she’s looking to purchase the model.
it had a lovely chandelier…nicki would be jealous!

the new leopard software for apple is coming out on
friday the 26th (my sister’s birthday) and i have a
5-pack pre ordered!! lots going on in october!

one last thing…we caved in and dug out the electric
mattress pad. i love to rip it off in the spring but
there’s something sad about getting it out in the fall.
it sure felt great tho’!

stay warm and dry today.

jacquie…2lbs!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: birthdays, equipment, product information

blog action day…

October 15, 2007 By Susan 1 Comment

today is blog action day! the topic? the environment.
how do i see it? well, i can honestly report that i am
doing my part.

i don’t own a prius but i do work from home which
is (by the looks of the traffic reports each morning)
a rarity! lucky me!

we are replacing bulbs around the house to those funky
“DQ~twist” looking jobs. spendy but they last for years!

gary has always been a big fan of all the electric
lawn tools (minus the mower) like the weed whipper,
the hedge trimmer and the leaf blower..he has all the
lawn gadgets…he’s the lawn master! when you google
immaculate lawns..you get a picture of gary in front
of our house…i’m kidding! but while i’m on the subject,
why does the word “google” get a red flag for spelling?
hmmmm, isn’t it in the dictionary already?
i digress, sorry.

back to the environment…
i think that earth day needs more attention…
people still throw stuff out their car windows! i’m just
amazed by that! where’s that indian that stood by the
side of the road crying? they should bring him back.
mark your calendars for april 22, 2008…earth day.

more rain for our lovely earth today here in minnesota.
beats snow at this point i guess, right?

here’s a blog that quite clearly spent more time on
her “blog action day” blog than me…
happiness project. enjoy.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Uncategorized

vikings BEARly win…

October 14, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

nothin’ gets me going quite like a near win by
the minnesota vikings! why do i care, you ask?
i don’t really…just feel a need to support
the home team.

so here’s something worth writing about~
check out this site-bed jump.
i stumbled upon it yesterday (don’t ask) and
i thought it was not only hilarious, but a
terrific time waster too! i’ve added it to
my “check these out” links.
i’m planning on going through all the bed
jumping pictures i took of my nieces & nephew
in playa last spring and posting some of them.
i’ll link to it when i do.
so funny…here’s a youtube take on bedjump.

that’s all for today.
still feel great! thanks for the thoughts & prayers!

my new wide angle for my mark 3 will be here wednesday,
can’t wait!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

michael clayton review…

October 13, 2007 By Susan Leave a Comment

a democrat, photographer friend tells me that
you should watch the first 10 minutes, go watch
another movie and then come back for the last
20 minutes~then your experience will be much greater
when you go to see michael clayton, starring george clooney.
this 30 minute time frame is,apparently, all you
need to enjoy this movie..funny..that’s pretty much
how i would describe 80% of the films.

hey, good news everyone! i feel terrific!
i ran next door last night to my friend jacquie’s
with a glass of cabernet in hand and she’s was
like, “hey, should you be drinking?”
no pain meds, no grogginess, this was a pretty
slick procedure..i can’t really refer to it as
surgery as no incisions were made.
but there’s something to be said for anesthesia!
it’s a wonder why we all don’t have procedures done
more often. some folks have what they refer to as
“hangovers” from anesthesia…not me.
i just really enjoy the “going out” process!
as coach on cheers would say, “it’s kind of a nice
break in the day.”

i’m going to meet the sumner’s later today out
at the arboretum for some fall family shots.
miraculously, today…the sun is out! it’s
been under the clouds for like a week and that
just really gets to me, i have to say.
i may bring my umbrella and pocketwizards along
for this one.

gary is heading out to a game farm west of here
to kill pheasants! he and a
rather large group of his buddies go out to
south dakota every fall/winter and get all
testosterone-y and shoot birds…i don’t know
how they can do it…he gets all of his cute
hunting clothes on…tan and blaze orange
(nice combo!) and off they go!
i guess i have to say that i enjoy the 5 days
that he is gone but….those poor gorgeous birds!

have a great weekend….

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: movies