stuff

Ok, I know, its been a while since I've updated. I am drowning in to-do lists!
What should I start with, we had a great turn out at the opening party - over a hundred people showed up! Most likely to see the girls on the invitation in their underwear, but we all had to come together somehow, no? It was so awesome I am hoping to make it an annual event. We also just finished shooting the Mesirow Financial annual report earlier this month. Teresa Ging of Sugar Bliss donated a ton of cupcakes to my cupcake test shoot and we wrapped Kelly Anne up like a present the next day.


After all this we wanted to escape to the 'motherland' as we call it (minnesota) for some R&R and of course another test shoot. A big shout out to Floyd and Marcie for modeling, they were such a cute couple! And to Gina Hessburg for production and styling and Robb Kelly for hair and makeup.


Also in the past few weeks I went to Detroit for Newsweek assignment and photographed 3 portraits for Allstate. The photos of Jennifer and Adrienne are on display at Kate Boggiano's online store (www.kateboggiano.com). And SWC is using the first of the conceptual case study portraits I shot for them this spring (www.swc.com). Check back again soon and maybe I will have actually cleaned my office!

girls girls girls!

Hello!
Last week we shot 15 burlesque dancers (and Heath) for a promo that the lovely Anni Betts designed. I just love these girls so much they were the most adorable, sexy, confident super-women and I thank them SO MUCH for being a part of it! Stay tuned for details I am hosting a burlesque party to help spread the word about the great new space. We also just returned from a weekend up in Ashland Wisconsin photographing Rachel Campos and Sean Duffy of Real World fame for an editorial piece. They are also adorable and had super cute kids that made for a short and sweet session. I must plug the fantastic B&B we camped at overnight, The Inn at Timber Cove. If you have a chance, totally go there. The Summer Kitchen room was super cute and quiet (just what we needed!) but I can't say enough about the breakfast. There was enough food for 5 people and we weren't hungry for about 8 hour which is a serious record for me. That's all for now, sorry for all the thanks and shameless plugs, I just gotta give my people props!
Callie

Moved in!

Ok, we are moved into our new space! Stay tuned for our new studio launch party, website, rental info and more photos... This first photo was shot for an editorial photo illo on artificial sweeteners and features our silver studio kitchen.


I also shot Dan Patrick last week for and ongoing Cousin's sandwiches campaign. Dan was super fun in the studio, I even let him take a few pictures of me during the shoot. He should probably stick to his celebrity sports stuff; but he did have a difficult subject so maybe we'll give him the benefit of the doubt there. :)

The last thing I wanted to share is a shot from my corporate fashion shoot.

Thanks a TON to all the designers who lent some great pieces including Lee Allison, Lara Miller, Kate Boggiano, Lauren Lein, Erin Gallagher, Bonnie and Clyde's, Bess and Loie, Guise and Kaveri. Thanks you guys!!

I will try to post more often now that I have figured out this picture thing. Peace.

Progress

OK, after recruiting all my friends and an assistant to help paint this crazy studio space I think we can finally stop. The painting is by no means finished, but it is at least at a point that will allow us to move in and finish some of it later without having to get behind desks and such. Who really looks at window trim, anyways?
Buster is highly irritated by the cold, as is Robert. They are both campaigning for winter to end ASAP. I think things could be worse, but that tends to be my response to most challenges these days.
So I have been testing like crazy for about a year and a half and I think I am slowing it down for a few months at least while we move into the new space. I am told the hardwood floors in our upstairs home are finished, but tile is not. Lounge ceiling is framed but not drywalled. Kitchen cabinets are delivered but not fully installed. Repeat. So everything is 1/2 finished and apparently it takes a lot longer to get things looking nice than it did to rip the place up last fall.
Attached are 2 pix from the lovely Jenn Holiday's jewelry collection. Thanks to my super great models Anna and Jameel. I hope we can get this girl a website soon becuase her work is fantastic. That was the last thing I shot at the old space, where I officially turned in the keys this week. Hopefully I won't be studio-less for more than a few weeks.
Keep your fingers crossed for a finished photo in my next post.

Eastward Bound

Hi everyone, I am off to Japan for the holidays and could not be more excited!
How great does it feel to get the last of your files archived and shut down the computer for the rest of the year? I am about to find out. I hope next year I can figure out how to post pictures on here with the blog so I can share some of the stuff I am about to see.
So the studio seems under control. I am told there is more steel being added because of all the insane structural challenges we have run into, and I told the crew the place better look a whole lot different (AKA: DRYWALL) when I get back or else! Actually, I love those guys, I told them to make sure and not work on Christmas. I try to be tough though.
We did finish a couple of INSANE shoots this month. I shot a POP for Icehouse that involved a group of crazy 20-somethings (25 and over to be exact for the legal eagles out there) splashing around in a steamy hot springs (read pool in Chicago). We had some challenges to put it nicely but the results are great and I cant wait to see the final piece.
Then, I produced and shot a fashion series with wardrobe from Bonnie and Clyde's boutique. The pictures look super! But I need to give a shout out to Robert for driving the RV 4 hours each way to and from the location. And to the models for trying not to look cold; and the crew for not forming an outright mutiny.
I will post that when I get back from my trip, I am hoping the 2007 portfolio will be complete in January and I can post a fresh grouping on my site soon.
Lastly, I am reading You, Inc. I know, do I ever stop thinking about work? I guess I love my job a little too much, but I am working on my outside interests :)
But it is a good (quick) read. The main message is that everyone is super overwhelmed by media and life's demands so in order to be successful everything you do/say/produce/write needs to be super short and concise. The whole book is probably shorter that this blog post - I'll be finished with it momentarily. So I am not sure whether to be inspired or depressed by the findings, but I guess if you can't beat them... Happy New Year!

late night catch up

hi all, i realized today that people actually look at my blog! how exciting and scary at once! so then i felt guilty about neglecting this (of course i don't feel guilty about neglecting my dog, my health, my social life, but god forbid the blog go unattended!)
so, what is new. i am relentlessly listening to bob dylan because i heard 'just like a woman' covered at the gallery open mic last night and found myself singing along with it with a random stranger so i thought i had better update my itunes and get that and 'baby blue' so i can over listen to them both immediately just like i did in junior high. i have also been craving bob marley, who i need to buy (i used to own all this stuff on CD, no? where the heck are my CDs, i am too busy archiving my images and taking up all the shelf space!) it will bring me back to days traveling and being carefree. maybe i can rekindle some of that on my big Japan trip later this month. Robert's surprise birthday trip got let out of the bag by way of spam so now the poor guy is stuck planning his own trip. but i think he has something fabulous planned so i am excited to get away and of course take pictures. :)
so, i spent the day testing for a beer shoot. my new favorite special effects guy, Dieter Sturm was there helping and we had a blast even though all the air vents were open and our fog was blowing everywhere. but we have plans in place to solve all our problems so everything is cool for the big day next week. i want to give a special shout out to my stylist Liz Klafeta for helping SO MUCH today. i could not have done it without her and i promise her that she will never have to do that again.
so what is new with the studio? i am in denial as usual. a bunch of appliances were delivered over there today, probably way too early but we got the floor models and needed somewhere to put them. all our fuses had blown on my set when they called, of course so i was no help. i wish all the worker bees over there luck.

happy thanksgiving

Ok, i havent posted in a while, but i have been busy testing, and shooting a few editorials, etc. I just finished a week-long job with Northwestern too, so i am feeling a little smarter by osmosis. i have a ton of great stuff planned for this weekend and i hope to post some new pictures from all my fashion shoots this month on my site soon. the studio is supposed to be finished being framed by Monday so keep your fingers crossed... i think we are actually still on schedule! my mom is making 2 pies (1/2 a pie per person attending our little day of food tomorrow) yum -happy thanksgiving!