How many of you know what “Twitter” is?
I didn’t think so.
It’s another time waster, really and it
seems to be taking off.
I’ve added my “twitter” to this blog
on the right hand side. It’s a way for
everyone to know what I am doing NOW.
I haven’t decided if I will actually
connect it to my iPhone yet, but I’ll
let you know. For now, I’m just sort of
playing with it.
Meeting Jason Thon for lunch in a bit
so I can’t blog long.
Thanks for the call Jacquie, see you on
Friday!
bye.
Not just for me, but I have noticed
that many photographers are electing to
make changes of their own.
Logos, colors, sites, blogs all of it.
I feel the need for change from time
to time and feel a little silly but
as an artist I almost feel it necessary.
As a person, I know it’s necessary.
Never fear change. Change is energizing.
Without change, who would we be?
Without change, relationships would
go stale, new colors of each season
could not emerge, we might lose ourselves
in sameness. Boring. Not good.
Congratulations Jason & Stacey of Staja!
Congratulations Jessica Claire!
Congrats even to Lauren for inviting change
in for consideration about a new career!
Do what you love. Love what you do!
Go for it!
Take the leap!
Give those dreams life!
God’s there….Why do you think we always say
“Chin up!”
hmm, I just made that up! 
I’ll admit, it’s been about 6 years since I have
been skiing. Gary and I used to make the trek out
to Keystone, Vail, Beaver Creek & A Basin each
winter to enjoy some “real” mountains. We always
had a great time! Turns out, I’m a darn good skier!
Once I get in a groove, there’s no stopping me!
Here’s a shot of Gary and I at the back bowls at
Keystone in Colorado.
Today Pete and I are taking Ben, Emily & Amanda
skiing over at Highland Hills. Ben is a seasoned
snow boarder and for Emily & Amanda, this will be
their first ski experience. We all leave for Mexico
in a couple of weeks, we’d all better take it easy!
We’ll be good Anne!
I bought a big package for the kids for Christmas
and we thought we’d better try to make it out some-
time soon so, today is the day!
Here’s some shots of Dr. Joanna Perkins and her boys
Nick & Alex. I met them over the lunch break at the
Airport Hilton. The MOMF was holding a retreat there
and this was as good a time as any to start taking the
board member portraits. 3 down, 10 to go!
Thanks Jason Stenvold for coming along and lending
your backgrounds. These are great!
Well, I’d better get a move on if I want to get these
boots cleaned up….I hope my ski pants fit!! :]
So here’s the poop…I wrote this yesterday…
…..(Hey, Bob Davis sent me a valentine yesterday!
Okay, not really. BUT I did receive his DVD that
I ordered a short time ago. Haven’t sat down to
view it yet…I know, TOTALLY not me…it’s just
that my vacation deadline is drawing near and I
want my desktop clean when I leave.
It’ll be like coming home to a clean house!
I’ll report on it when I get the opportunity to
take a look at it. I’m really excited to sit
down and be inspired! Maybe I’ll reformat it and
load it on my iPhone and watch it on the plane!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love my iPhone?)…..
*****************************************************
Now on to some fresh material…
Big day yesterday.
**Finished Amanda & Marks images….YAY!
**Went to the Hilton to photograph 2 Minnesota Miracle
cancer families checking in.
**On my way home from that my iPhone (that I love!)
froze up on me and got all hot from being on so
I stopped at the Apple store at the MOA and the
Genius Bar wait was like TWO HOURS! So I kept on
my way and went to Southdale’s Apple store and they
fixed it in a nano second!
**Lastly, on my way home from Southdale I got a call
from Heather. I was her last and only hope to take
a session up at North Memorial Hospital in Robinsdale.
So I whipped around and met the most wonderful family.
I met them in the Chapel where they were having a
visitation with friends and family. They lost twin
boys at about 24 weeks. There was an awful lot of
love in that tiny hospital chapel.
Then I followed the mom & dad to their room where I
photographed the sweet twins….
need I ask for you to
take a moment and pray for this family and their
devastating loss??? Thank you!
I’ll be heading to Mike & Kindra’s to photograph
Reese in a minute and then back to the Hilton to
take some MOMF board member family photos then
it out for a night on the town with Gary, my brother,
Tim and his wife Laurie..dinner & comedy.
I think I need that! 
Love to all far and near,
Come tomorrow morning, I’ll meet ‘cha back here!
(hu, I just made that up. I’m a poet and I…..
naaaa, I wont’ go there.
See ya!
(the jib jab I added at about 3:45pm!)
Today I woke up to the sound of plows.
First from one direction, then the other.
Not my favorite way to wake up, I must say.
However, once I got to the kitchen there were
2 Valentines and a big Ghiradelli Chocolate bar
(72%..my favorite!) on the counter!
It’s not just for breakfast anymore!
Not wanting to brush the cards aside,
I opened them first!
Here’s the one from Gary….
Nice sentiment…NOT our anniversary tho’.
Gary said, “WHAT!?? I even had my glasses on!”
I love you any way honey!
And here’s one from the Cats!
The inside reads “…and we might even come
when you call us next time…love, the cats”
Thanks Hobie & Katie for thinking of me!
So I decided rather last minute to attend
a lecture/seminar by a fella named
Bruce Hudson from C@L (that’s Seattle!).
It was entitled New Directions/Reality Check Tour.
Anyway, it was a packed room and much was covered.
From marketing, finding the right clients and
how to make certain that all the consumers with
the new technology don’t take anything away
from us. The new technology is great, don’t
get me wrong. But what you do with it sets
us apart. It’s about relationships and rapport.
It’s about composition and light. It’s about
understanding the needs of the client and
delivering.
So many new photographers offer CDs to their clients.
Bruce tells us that those are NOT our clients.
These are OUR images and we should protect them.
I tell people that this is my profession, not
my hobby. I want to provide quality, long lasting,
heirloom images that people are proud to display.
I resolve to welcome those looking for family
portraits every 5 years, I want to capture a
precious babies entire 1st year, I want to show
the world how important even Kindergarten
Graduation is and how beautiful our teens are
as they prepare to head off to college.
Weddings, oh my God, Weddings…I hate to even
get started with Wedding Photography.
I think I’ll post an entry another day about that.
These are all perfect times for us to be sure
that our clients recognize that these images
are priceless…even before someone dies.
Bottom line here, folks, is…Do I want people
to seek me out because I’m a good deal? No.
I pray that I can develop relationships with people.
I want to be the person that they think of first
when something special is about to happen.
I’ve been doing it for more that a quarter century
with hair, so I know a little bit about rapport.
(Thanks to all the generous people that have stuck
by me all these years!).
Wow! Sorry for the rambling soap box….that was
not my intension. But, now you know how I really feel!
Here’s Bruce (left) and his son, NOT drawing my name!
Dave Johnson of National Camera…Hi Dave!
Thanks for all the great deals!!
Here’s Chad, the bartender at the new Hilton
in Bloomington off France & 494.
Bruce came in the bar, I was there really early
(traffic did NOT suck for once) and he insisted
on picking up the tab for my Cabernet! Thanks Bruce,
GREAT show! A fabulous way to spend5 hours!!
And congrats on the new house, enjoy your week off!
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Eat just a tiny bit of chocolate today.
Or go HERE for some fun!
I have just been made aware that the images that
I post (and it’s been the same for almost 2 years),
are too large and that’s why they keep disappearing~
much to my dismay and surprise as you can imagine.
So in the future I will size them more appropriately
so that they don’t keep leaving those lovely little
boxes, lines, “?” and such. Noted.
Okay, so last night I joined a bunch of my PUG folk
in a little “shoot & share”, if you will.
We met at Excelsior’s Mount Calvary Church on 19 in
the sanctuary and flopped into the pews and began
discussing our approaches to shooting ceremonies.
Everything from settings to where we like to position
ourselves and what light modifiers we prefer.
Then Stacey & Jason posed as Bride & Groom and
we made a few test runs…
And then shared our shots with one another.
It was great fun…REALLY!
Then we headed down Water St. to Jake O’Connor’s
for a little late bite & some libations and more
discussion. It was really nice to get out of the studio
and have that field trip feeling we had when we were
kids..only no bus, and instead of cookies & milk we
got to have wine, beer, mini filet mignon sandwiches
and really good chicken tenders!!
I posted a similar entry on my PUG blog this morning.
Here’s more images from my trip to Mexico with my
sister’s family last March…
Ben’s version for Bed Jump
This became a nightly ritual (Thanks Pete!)
Ben leading the way down 5th Ave…
Ben, Emily & Amanda..Can’t wait for all the
new fun we’re gonna have this year!!!
Let the fan games begin!!
If you don’t know Bob, you should.
I’ve mentioned he and his wife, Dawn, before
so they are no strangers to this blog (“hi Dawn!”).
I stole this photo off of their la Storia foto blog.
Well, I ordered his DVD and I am so excited
for them and I’m looking forward to seeing the
final product as Dawn has shared some of the
footage from it during the process of creating it.
It’s pretty cool.
Moving on….
This is my brother giving his new daughter, Reese,
an eskimo kiss at the hospital on Monday.
I’m heading to the Hilton this afternoon to greet
2 cancer families. A 2 year old boy and a 7 year
old boy (different families).
They’ll be checking in for their “Minnesota Miracle”
weekend…free of charge. This is the first 2
families of 2008. Unfortunately, this will be the
first of many but what the Hilton provides along with
the Miracles of Mitch Foundation it allows these
families a little “time-out” from the cancer.
It fills my soul to see these cancer kids get
excited about their hotel stay. The smiles are priceless!
I especially love it when they allow me to accompany
them up to their rooms and witness them opening the
door to all the balloons and gifts…sometimes, if
they are in the mood and healthy enough I get them
to jump on the bed with their friends and siblings!
That usually doesn’t take much coaxing!
Well, back to editing.
Make the very most of your day today.
this morning i’m meeting with mandy.
she and mark are getting married next
saturday here in the twin cities.
i did their engagement photos almost
a YEAR ago!! wow!!
i’m giving her the foil of her life
today! (no pressure!) i will not be
creating her wedding hairdo the day
of the wedding but i’ll be at the salon
where she’s having it done. it looks
pretty cool!
jason, of staja studios, will be joining
me in exchange for assisting them in
northfield a couple of weeks ago.
i really think it’s cool when photographers
get together and pitch in when you need a hand.
moving on…i’ve gotten many calls and
e-mails regarding gary in the past 2 hours…
he goes in for his “stand up” mri today
at about 2, from there we wait to see his
surgeon tomorrow morning for his recommendation.
going forward we ask for some devine healing.
anytime you feel the urge, pray for gary’s
spine, C5 and his spirits, as he’s been awful
down. perhaps even pray that he can get some
rest…he has not been ABLE to sleep much due
to the location of the pain.
he’s decided that he needed an outing so he
got in the car and went to target to get
more meds…big outing!
we’ll know more tomorrow sometime.
thanks for your prayers and well wishes.
oh, p.s. my good friend jacquie and her family
just got bad news about lucius..their doberman.
he has cardio myopathy…terminal.
we all know what it’s like to lose a family
pet and how devastating that is..please keep
them in your prayers as well.
love all people.
okay, so i get to northfield, meet up with
jason & stacey at the bride’s home on union st.
i see that meg’s sister, mo, is having a dickens
of a time backcombing her sister’s hair in the
cute bathroom off the kitchen, so
i stepped in and said…”oh, that’s enough!
step away from the bride!” we all laughed
and i think it was a darn good introduction
for me and meg. kudos to stacey and jason
for bringing along a photographer AND a
hairdresser! big points were made!
we shot a ton there at the house and then we
caravaned about 15 minutes south to the most
adorable church on a hill!
(i’ll add images later as stacey & jason shoot
raw so i did as well and need to update my ACR
to identify my mark 3 camera…bla, bla, bla)
as i entered the one room church i could smell
the evergreen garland, it was simply enchanting!
it was then that i met the flower girls all
dressed in their sweet, white, bejeweled
twirly dresses and baskets of gorgeous holiday
greens with berries & bows! DAR~ling!
i pinned flowers on everyone in need and met
their 100 year old grandmother…a real charmer!
jason stationed himself in the front, stacey
in the middle and i headed to the balcony. this
made for some fabulous coverage! 3 photographers
should be an industry standard. we rocked this
wedding!
i cut out in the middle of the reception so i
could get back closer to home and attend a
dinner party at Hazeltine National Golf Club
in chaska. 16 of us all together~this was fun!
here’s mike & jacqi, our hosts for the event.
gary and i (a rare shot of me in front of
the camera as gary hates it when i hand it
off to people…worry wart!)
my brother tim and his wife laurie.
they will be celebrating their 25th wedding
anniversary on april 1st this spring!!
food was amazing, as always!
and the bailey’s cheese cake was a hit too!
(not sure why they brought 2 forks…oink!)
a very long but rewarding day!
i got to work with friends and play with friends.
it was perfect!
nicki will be here shortly to get her holiday
hair do gift…more fun!
vikings play monday night so no football today.
gary went to see the cohen brother’s film…
no country for old men. i asked him to
save juno for us.
are ya ready?
they tell us it’s coming this afternoon.
the snow, that is. our first storm of the
season. it’s exciting, really.
altho’ i’m not quite sure if our snow blower
thinks that. come to think of it, i’m not
sure i even know where that sucker is or
if there’s gas in it.
(see?? weather again! minnesotan’s love to
talk about their weather!)
turns out that instead of coming home early
from south dakota, the guys are contemplating
coming home a day later in stead.
whatever…all i know is that there is peace
and quiet here. the cat’s and i are enjoying
some me(ow)~time! (sorry, that was bad!)
this morning, i am going to ride along with
mike, kindra and owen to the pancake house
for breakfast then off to the studio for
some Christmas photos! if we actually get any
snow this afternoon i may even get some snow
shots as well later on.
stayed and had a fabulous dinner with becky
at the hilon after the 2 families checked in.
it was nice to sit and talk and look at her
photos from a recent train trip to chicago!
that looks like a great time!!
oh, i gave my brother tim some grandma pants
yesterday…the tie-dye ones…he loves ‘em!!
i know i love my snowflake ones and i may be
living in them this weekend! ya gotta get some!!
they also have a kiosk at the eden prairie center!
30 bucks!!!
i’m linking you to bob & dawn davis’s trip to kenya
with 410 bridge…they sent me their video,
it’s awesome!
