Building relationships

Franek Construction brings businesses together

When John and I signed our lease for our Northfield location April 2, we faced two challenges: One, we needed to spruce up our space - quickly. And two, we needed to convert the space for an unusual business arrangement - with Nick Sinclair and The Garage sharing 25 percent of the building footprint.

Fortunately Joe Franek of Franek Construction in New Prague crossed our path. Now that we have a proper blog functioning it's time for Joe's long overdue thank you.

We were first impressed by Joe's timeliness and commitment to our project. As you can see from date in the caption to the image above, Joe was on sight and at work within days of us signing a lease. Despite his obligation to larger jobs and prior bids Joe was able to find time to sneak us into his busy schedule.

Joe and other contractors survive on the integrity of their finished projects and do a lot more walking the walk instead of talking the talk but it's often what you don't see that can make the biggest difference. Immediately upon entering the front door Joe made sure the building was protected from cutoffs, sawdust and other small debris, making our cleanup effortless once the job was done.

Joe's experience lead him to easily come up with a solution to our spacial quandary -- a three-and-a-half-wall partition with an extra wide hallway improved the flow of our building, provided Nick with the room for the unique gallery he needed, made the Garage and Anthologie separate and together at once and actually made our square footage seem larger than before!

Above all, Joe is simply an honest guy with a great personality. He went above and beyond what we had originally asked for, coming back to our building each day after the drywall had been hung to personally ensure each coat of joint compound had dried properly, was sanded to perfection and a new coat had been applied smoothly.

Joe has since become an Anthologie client. We had a great time getting to know his extended family and photographing his son's first steps. Check out our new window display at 18 Bridge Square and you'll see what I mean.

If you're in need of assistance with home improvements, commercial construction or a new home Franek Construction is a building company you can depend on. Call 612-232-9288 for more information. Thanks again Joe!

When in the course of human events...

Anthologie celebrates the written words and voices of patriotism

As we celebrate our national holiday of patriotism, we would like to point out that the Declaration of Independence commemorates a document of ideas rather than marking the beginning or end of any war or battle. We, too, wish to salute ideas and words with our latest project, "American Anthologie,"

John and I will interview and photograph champions of the ideals on which our nation was founded. We are not only interested in speaking with soldiers and veterans, but anyone with an American spirit and a story to tell.

Tell us what it means to you to be an American. Tell us when you felt the most American. Tell us what your hopes are for the future of America. We will interview you, photograph you, preserve your memorabilia and create a custom book telling your american story - safeguarding it for future generations.

What you need • A story with an American theme • Momentos associated with the story (badges, newsprint, letters) What you get • a 20-page book, the chronicle of your story, beautiful images

What it costs? $120 to cover our expenses (Regular price $750)

Deadline Please contact us at 952.232.5830, e-mail info@theanthologie or fill out our contact form HERE by July 31, 2009 to reserve your session

Anthologie making headlines

In early May we were thrilled to have one of our favorite clients contact us for a very special occasion. Tyler, whose family I have been documenting for the past yer, had planned to propose. I was fortunate enough to capture the moment and sort of become part of the story. See my earlier blog post HERE.

Shortly thereafter, we were contacted by a writer from the Mankato Free Press who had read our blog and was intrigued by the story. John and I, along with Tyler and Ashley, were interviewed in late May for a feature story which highlighted the entire experience and was recently published in the Free Press "Currents" section. Click HERE to read the full story, "Picture perfect proposal" by Sara Gilbert Frederick.

Just a walk in the park

One hour outdoors undoubtedly earns Ryan a father-of-the-year award

When we first announced our "No Foolin'" promotion to coincide with the official launch of theanthologie.com we figured we'd might get some great images, but didn't bank on great stories, too. Our sessions were set for only one hour to introduce prospective clients to the Anthologie concept and photography style - not enough time to tell of any substantive events. Or so we thought.

Our final client to reserve his session decided to take full advantage of our approach -- not overly orchestrated and ready to document on the fly -- and completely surprise his wife. We learned what a caring and dedicated father he is in the process.

Ryan's plan was simple: While his wife went off for a day of shopping, he'd take the boys out for a walk, have us photograph the outing, bring the boys back and have some emotive photographs made in time for Mother's Day. We one-upped him and designed a book highlighting the session. Ryan was thrilled with the design and we worked swiftly to ensure the final product, a personalized hardcover coffetable book, was published and delivered in time for Mother's Day - all the while, his wife had no idea the boys had even been photographed. The book was completed in time for Mom to have quite the surprise Mother's Day morning.

We had a wonderful time hanging out with Ryan and his boys and I'm sure the entire family with cherish this exciting time for years to come (his youngest is only three months old). Congratulations, Ryan! Be sure to let us  know if you'd like to earn another award next year!

Flowers, candles and a baby boy

Tyler plots the perfect proposal

Since proposing to my own wife eight years ago, I’ve relished the idea of capturing that significant moment for another couple. Today that idea became a reality.

On Thursday, Tyler contacted me to let me know he was planning to propose to Ashley on Friday night - make that Saturday morning - after her shift got off and wanted to see if I’d be available to record this event for their family. (I have been documenting their family history since July 2008. You may recognize them from our “Miracle of Life” portfolio).

I was thrilled and honored that Tyler would have the pressence of mind to contact me for such a momentous and deeply personal occassion. Of course I would be there, the challenge was how to pull this off at 3 a.m. with sparse ambient light and without Ashley noticing me as I in no way wanted to interfere with what happened and with respect to their privacy.

My first question: “How are you going to do this Tyler?”

He wanted to involve their son Logan. Tyler shared with me at the hospital shortly after Logan’s birth that he knew he wanted to marry Ashley and that life’s events simply came at them out of traditional order. Thus, he had the opportunity to allow their 8-month-old son to be a part of a milestone typically reserved for two.

Tyler had a T-shirt made for Logan saying “Will you marry my daddy?” on the front with a “yes/no” on the back. They both wore tuxedos and Tyler flooded their home with tea candles and flowers for Ashley’s arrival — sorry ladies, Tyler doesn’t have brothers.

Tyler further set the scene by creating a path that would lead Ashley to the dining room (the same dining room where I began the couple’s 9-month maternity photos) where Logan would be encircled by candles with the box for the engagement ring at his side. From there? Tyler didn’t have a plan.

It’s just something that he would figure out as it happened, he said.

All that remained was for Ashley to come home.

After much pacing and some comforting to Logan who had been up way past his bedtime, Tyler finally received word that Ashley was on her way home. I made my way out into their backyard where under the cover of darkness I would be able to peer my lens through a break in the curtains that Tyler had arranged for me.

At long last Ashley came home and discovered Tyler and Logan waiting on the dining room floor. I sensed she figured out what was going on as I could hear her cyring through the walls. Luckily, I was behind glass so that what was said between Ashley and Tyler was completely private as Tyler got down on one knee and put the ring on Ashley’s finger.

I could then hear Ashley struggle through tears to excitedly say “I can’t believe this is happening!” and “Yes!”

After a few short seconds I was gone and Ashley had no clue I was even there — until now!

Congratulations Ashley! I’m so excited for you both.

I was able to interview Tyler as he waited out the final moments before Ashley’s arrival so look forward to a complete story and more photos soon.