2009 September — Minneapolis Wedding, Event and Portrait Photography by Austin Images

Chicago…The Sequel.

September 19, 2009 By Susan Leave a Comment

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Good morning and welcome to Chicago…the sequel. Well, not really but I was JUST here a few weeks ago for another wedding. Gary and I traveled here yesterday afternoon so I could be safely in place for my wedding today in Lansing (about an hour south of the city with the traffic).

Tiffany & Jason’s ceremony is at 2 but I get to start right here at the hotel at noon! Nice. That NEVER happens! Kimberly, the other photographer is starting out at the Bride’s mother’s home shooting all the ladies getting ready and I will be covering the gents!

I must confess that I love this city. The traffic I could do without making it a place I will avoid like the plague should Chicago win the bid for the 2016 Olympics! :\ That said I just love watching the city come to life in the evening. The buildings are simply gorgeous!

We elected to go, straight away, into the city from O’Hare and on a Friday at 5? No simple task. We found some great parking and set out on foot and tried not to look like tourists! Yet, where do we end up? At Tavern on Rush where Rush & State Street meet. A HUGELY popular spot but it was early and we decided to sit on the street at a tiny table for 2. They enforce a 2 hour limit at the street-side tables as it is a FABulous place to people watch. We stuck to our end of the deal. I will tell you that Tavern on Rush will not make our list of places to hit again. Ordinary food….$100. Hmmm, I think I’d rather hit the Trump International Tower & Hotel again and go sit on their Terrace instead….there’s always Sunday!

Gary will be entertaining himself today as I go off to shoot and we’ll hook up later this evening. Tomorrow we will head back up to Chicago (we splurged with a room at the W on Lakeshore Drive) and we’ll hang in the city all day!

Filed Under: Featured Content, Food/Restaurants, Me & Gary, Out and About, Personal

Back to Life.

September 5, 2009 By Susan Leave a Comment

I returned home yesterday from Chicago. And due to the fact that it is such a short flight (love that!) I just sat and reflected. What I discovered about myself these past 6 days is that I don’t “unplug” enough and it is, indeed, possible. I hadn’t yet calibrated the monitor of my new MacBook Pro so working on images seemed a waste of time and my AT&T coverage in and around the city was so poor that the 3G kept kicking in sucking my battery of power much, much faster than normal…I could nearly watch that little green bar move! All of this just meant that I had to accept the time I was handed and just be ‘present’. What a gift. Ha! Get it? Present…Gift?

Here, I must share with you that this whole “social media” thing, in my opinion, is here to stay…case in point…yesterday’s “gift”. Now, I had only known Angie Garbot for about 24 hours, to this point, but I had passed on to her the link to this blog so that she could see what I had written about our lunch the day before. She had read that I was still unsure of my plans for the day (see yesterday’s post) and so when she read on Facebook that someone she knew had 2 extra tickets for the Cubs/Sox make up game at Wrigley, she texted me the proposal that I come along. I felt like a little kid. Outdoor baseball (which returns to Minnesota next spring!) between such rivals with a brand new friend! Simply divine. I graciously accepted, Megan assisted me with the Belmont bus know-how and I was on my way. The Cubs lost yesterday to the Sox 5-0 but I didn’t care. Fellowship with a new friend and experiencing all that energy before, during and after the game was just what I needed. Angie and I walked around the area (I got a Cubs shirt, of course) and took random shots of all the crazy fans. Thank you, Angie, for thinking of me and including me in your day. That was so much fun! Prepare yourself for an invitation to come to Minnesota and experience Twins baseball outdoors next summer! I can’t wait to return the blessing.

We met up with Megan after the game as she had a shoot in Hyde Park that afternoon and we stopped off for our free wings at Trader Todd’s…they give you a free order of wings with your Cubs ticket stub on game day.

We parted ways with Angie and drove back into the city to shoot at “the golden hour” (sunset). As we walked along the lake shore we came across a native Chicagoan that was juggling and Megan decided to stop off for a lesson. Thanks Sam for attempting to school my friend in the art of juggling!

The sun set pretty quickly so we lost our “golden” opportunity. We said goodbye to Sam and walked down to the “Beachstro” where we met up with Tom and had a bite. Great to meet Tom, finally. Grabbed a few more shots of the skyline and headed home.

Had an early morning departure so I had called and arranged a cab (off my “around me” ap on my iPhone under “taxi”) to take me to O’Hare. Turns out I actually hired a ‘driver’! A stretch Mercedes pulled up at Megan’s Friday morning and I must say, I might do that again someday…pretty fabulous error on my part! Costly, but FABulous!

Had a lovely reunion with Gary and Boo. So good to be back home. Now, GET ME TO THE STATE FAIR!!!

Filed Under: Out and About, Personal, Social Media

Last Day in Chicago

September 3, 2009 By Susan 1 Comment

Today is my last ‘full’ day in Chicago, I return to Minneapolis tomorrow morning. Megan has a shoot today in the afternoon near Hyde Park and we are trying to determine whether or not I should tag along and hang or stay back and play in the hood and film the Bear on walks around Logan Square. The jury is still out or should I say, still sleeping….

Yesterday, I had such a neat opportunity. Megan and I drove over to WITTS, not far from Logan Square, to meet up with Dawn Davis for lunch. It was a stellar day…sunny & 75 so and we, naturally, opted for the patio out back (ya gotta in the Midwest this time of year ‘cuz it could start snowing anyday!). The bonus was 2 other lovely ladies and fellow photogs were there as well. Angie Garbot and Amy Boyle. The fellowship was wonderful and the food was fantastic. I enjoyed the pulled pork sandwich (big enough to split!) that came with a side of their home made GIANT shells & cheese

As we sat and solved the worlds problems throughout the meal and plugged the meter out front again to allow for more iced tea and chatting I couldn’t help but feel that this was something that I don’t do nearly enough. Life is busy. Friends are busy. But Life is about Friends so we need to, at times, remove the ‘busy’ and lift up our friends. Plus, like I mentioned, I got the opportunity to make 2 new ones yesterday! We left Witts and walked a block and a 1/2 to Angie’s Studio. She gave us a tour and gave us some history on her business and her space. It was really cool!

From there, the 5 of us walked a bit further to the Starbucks on the corner and grabbed some chairs and whipped out our iPhones and shared our favorite aps! I felt like we were in some sort of A/A meeting…you know…”Applications Anonymous”!

We laughed, shared pet photos and bought some fun aps. “Camera Bag” ($1.99) is now a favorite and notable is “Ocarina” ($0.99). By now we were pushing the dinner hour (woops) and it was time to say our goodbyes. What an absolutely fulfilling afternoon it was. Thank you to Amy, Angie & Dawn for carving out time in your “busy” for Megan and I!

Megan attends Landmark Education Forums and had a meeting last night from 7-10 so I was on my own for the remainder of the day. Grabbed take out with Megan, as she left for her meeting, at Cafe con Leche (Megan rarely eats at home) then the Bear and I went for a walk and I watched old sitcoms. I talked to Gary and that just made me miss him & Boo. I’m looking forward to the reunion! By this time tomorrow, I’ll be in a cab on my way to the airport.

Filed Under: Food/Restaurants, Out and About, Personal, Social Media

My kind of town, Chicago is…

September 2, 2009 By Susan Leave a Comment

Yesterday, after a leisurely morning, we came to the conclusion that it was time to consider lunch. “Kuma’s”, famous for burgers and recently written up in the Chicago Tribune, seemed a good choice so Megan & I went to check it out. In my opinion, I felt it was a bit “over rated”. Now I certainly don’t claim to be a food critic, by any means, but as I poured over the many choices of “toppings” I knew that this was not going to be my favorite meal of the trip (case in point, Megan ordered the “Kuma” which was adorned with a fried egg!) not to mention that at nearly 1:30 there was a line at the door to be seated. This place is smaller than Runion’s (in Mpls). The kitchen, positioned in the back corner, was tiny…it was just big enough for the 3 cooks to spin around as they flipped peoples lunch selections. Kuma’s has a sweet little patio out back that you can see from the street as you walk by and we spotted several picnic tables that were open so we thought we would just grab one of those. Oh no, that was not to be…”those are reserved for parties of 4 or more.” SERiously. So we stood in this LOUD, metal rock, claustrophobic “eatery” until Megan spotted a couple that was waiting as well. “Should we ask them if they’d join us so that we can grab one of the tables out back?”…They agree and we dined outside with Brian (musician) and Alexa (PR). I will say this…the company FAR outweighed the food! Brian’s band, “Oh My God“, will be playing at the Uptown Bar next Thursday (Sept 10th), in Minneapolis! Cool! Here’s some shots from Kuma’s…and if you are a burger enthusiast, this is your place!

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From there we headed downtown around 3 to take the Wendell Riverboat Architecture Tour of Chicago. We attempted to make the 3:45 but our ticket wouldn’t allow us so we ran around and killed an hour or so and made the 5:15. The light couldn’t have been better, I’m glad we had to postpone our departure. I must say that this was an amazing hour spent here in Chicago. The tour ($22 for adults) was worth every penny. Just remember to pack your camera and bring a cool lens! I elected to bring along my Canon 15mm fisheye..FABulous call! I have way too many images to put up but here are a few of my faves…and don’t ask what they are cuz I don’t remember them all. Our tour guide, Frank was aMAZing!

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Then, of course, I had Megan take me to Millennium Park to see “The Bean“!

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Then we hit the Billy Goat Tavern under Michigan Ave for a “Cheezeborger, Cheezeborger”! And had a little paparazzi fun…tourist.

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Then it was off to Trump International Hotel & Tower. I told Megan that “I TOTALLY have to have cocktail up on the terrace!” so up we went. Truly spectacular views from up there! Jordan Cabernet..$29… a GLASS!!!

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We found someone willing to take a shot of the two of us….which was nice!

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What a great day! Thanks, Megan.

Filed Under: Featured Content, Out and About, Personal

September in Chicago.

September 1, 2009 By Susan Leave a Comment

Well, it was just a matter of time. September arrived, here in Chicago, nearly 8 hours ago and it is GORGEOUS out!

September represents about 4 things to me…First, my dad’s birthday is on the 8th. Patrick Allen Craig would have turned 77 this year but he passed away at the tender age of 49. Second, Gary and I celebrate our anniversary on the 11th. This year marks our 11th (I told Gary that meant it was our GOLDEN anniversary but he didn’t buy it!). Yes, Gary and I woke up in California’s Wine Country celebrating our 3rd anniversary the day our nation was attacked and the towers collapsed. For us, at that time, it meant 5 extra days in Wine Country. Couldn’t fly home and never thought to drive because the airline kept accepting our reschedules everyday but then would call and tell us that they wouldn’t be flying out. I can say this…I have fond memories of those additional days spent with Gary in such a gorgeous place at such a horrific time. The third thing that occurs in September is, of course, Labor Day…a day that marks the end of summer. I think every year I enjoy it and embrace it more and more. It seems my schedule opens up a bit more so I can relax and get lost in the crazy blue skies. The 4th item on this list is coupled with the third and that is just that the kids go back to school. Now, Gary and I don’t have children but just about everyone around us does and this is that time of year when if you just sit quietly you can hear the sound of money getting sucked out of parent’s wallets all over the country!

I think I love the month of September most of all. Happy birthday, dad.

Megan and I kind of relaxed and recharged yesterday and now I think that we are ready to get out and shoot the city!

Have a great Nine-One!

Filed Under: Personal