Corporate Shoot with Tracey

When my friend Tracey needed a few corporate shots, I wasn't expecting December weather in October, but it was still a fun outing.  Tracey has been with Robertson Ryan since January of 1996.  She received her designation as a Certified Insurance Counselor in 1997.  Her personal insurance customers include individuals, families and high net worth clients.  Tracey's commercial insurance expertise lays in small to medium size accounts with office, real estate, professional and workers compensation exposure.  Tracey also assists her clients with their life and health insurance needs. Tracey is a genius as far as all things insurance, so if you need any assistance in finding insurance to fit your business needs, give her a call.

Tracey Moran Fricker
Robertson Ryan & Associates
(414) 221-0398
Email:  tfricker@robertsonryan.com
Robertson Ryan & Associates Website

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Turks & Caicos Conch Festival

Kick back with your feet in the sand and enjoy the best dishes in the Caribbean at the Sixth Annual Turks and Caicos Conch Festival, to be held Saturday, November 28, 2009 in Blue Hills, Providenciales.

“Where in the world is that?” is a phrase commonly heard when we tell friends of our trips to the Turks and Caicos Islands.  The Turks & Caicos Islands consist of forty islands, including eight major islands and a number of uninhabited cays, pronounced “keys,” located 575 miles south of Miami and 39 miles southeast of the Bahamas chain of islands.  The islands are a British territory, where the U.S. dollar is the official currency.  The islands are known for their pristine beaches and expansive coral reefs. The capital of the islands is on Grand Turk, but the primary destination for tourists is Providenciales, home to twelve miles of perfect white sand, Grace Bay Beach.  Providenciales is also home to the only conch farm in the world, the Caicos Conch Farm.

“What in the world is a conch?”  Pronounced “konk,” a conch is essentially a large marine snail.  The queen conch, the “strombus gigas,” is found in the warm waters of the Atlantic and the Caribbean from Florida to Brazil. 

Their shells are readily identifiable, with a bright colored pink lip.  The conch, which grows to adulthood with its shell, uses its strong muscle to propel itself.  Conch meat has a mild, sweet flavor, and resembles a scallop in texture. 

To celebrate the most important food product of the islands, in 2004, the Turks & Caicos Conch Festival was first organized.  The festival, held annually the Saturday after Thanksgiving Day, showcases the conch with a “conch-e-tition” where local chefs compete for the honor of the best chowder, salad, and specialty dishes. Included are competitions in conch blowing, conch “knocking,” extracting the conch from the shell, and a competition for the best Mojito among the islands’ bartenders.  The festival features live music, boat races, and activities for children.  The festival is held in Blue Hills, an area off the beaten path from the resort-filled Grace Bay Beach.

In September 2008, the Turks and Caicos Islands found itself in the path of Hurricanes Hanna and Ike.  Although Providenciales suffered only minor property damage, the hurricanes badly damaged the island of South Caicos, the islands’ fishing hub.  The Fifth Annual Turks and Caicos Conch Festival, held on November 29, 2008, was of special significance, raising funds for hurricane relief. 

The 2009 Turks and Caicos Conch Festival will be held Saturday, November 28, 2009.  For more information, Turks & Caicos Conch Festival

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Louis Sullivan's "Jewel Box" Banks

This week, we visited Owatonna, Minnesota, the home of the first of Louis Sullivan's "Jewel Box" banks. Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) is an American architect regarded by some to be the father of the modern skyscraper. Partnered with Dankmar Adler, Adler & Sullivan was responsible for the Auditorium Building in Chicago, the Wainwright Building in St. Louis, the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York, and the Carson Pirie Scott store on State Street in Chicago. Sullivan coined the phrase "form ever follows function," evident in the work of those he mentored as well, including Frank Lloyd Wright. Sullivan was one of ten architects chosen to design structures for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. His Transportation Building stood apart from the other structures as more forward thinking than those of his colleagues, which he claimed set back the progress of American architecture a half century or more. Despite his success, the partnership with Adler later dissolved, and Sullivan found himself later in life in financial decline and reportedly trouble with alcoholism. After reading Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," it became clear to me that Henry Cameron is the Louis Henri Sullivan to Howard Roark/Frank Lloyd Wright.

However, later in life he was sought out to design a number of midwestern town banks, dubbed his "jewel boxes,"small but intricately-designed. The first was opened in 1908 in Owatonna, Minnesota. Bank vice-president and chief operating officer, Carl Bennett, sought out Sullivan to design the bank. Seven more banks followed, culminating in the Farmers & Merchants Bank in Columbus, Wisconsin, dedicated in 1919. Included here are shots of National Farmers Bank of Owatonna, Minnesota (1908), now a Wells Fargo, and the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Columbus, Wisconsin (1919). Both continue to be working banks, although you will see a lot of people taking photographs in addition to those doing their banking.

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National Farmers Bank, Owatonna, MN (1908):







Farmers & Merchants Bank, Columbus, WI (1919):

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Warhol at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Check out the Warhol exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum, showing now through January 3, 2010. Warhol at MAM

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WOW! Shoot with Beckstead in Milwaukee!

I had the pleasure of hosting David Beckstead's Shoot with Beckstead when he came to Milwaukee, September 20 to 22, 2009. The workshop is a three-day event, with one day devoted to learning composition and technique, one full day of shooting, and a day reviewing and critiquing images taken by the group. Our shooting day started with the beautiful Milwaukee Art Museum, designed by Santiago Calatrava. After taking David's workshop in Chicago last year, I knew he would love this place and I think our images demonstrate just that. We spent the rest of the day in the Third Ward, an area just south of downtown, near the Milwaukee River. We also had a bonus shoot at the end of the workshop downtown at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. I cannot recommend this workshop more highly. If you have the opportunity to attend a Shoot with Beckstead workshop, grab it!

Many people contributed hours to putting this workshop together and deserve recognition. My thanks to David and Kassandra Beckstead for embracing the idea to come to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and making this all a reality. My thanks to Elizabeth Egan and Anne Radtke at the Milwaukee Art Museum for coordinating our shooting day at this amazing place. My thanks to Kelly Strong of Zita in Whitefish Bay for all her hard work in procuring and providing the stunning gowns fit perfectly to our models. My thanks to Cathy and Scott Erickson for their work in arranging for the models, Rachel Jacques, Elena Altoro and Angela Altoro, who worked so hard on a very long shooting day, and Elena who came back for more on our bonus shoot. My thanks to the wonderful people at Carenza Color Cutting Experience in Brookfield, Becky Sikorski, Mandi Stout, and Sarah Markunas, for a fantastic job on hair and makeup for the shoot. Many thanks to Mark Bertieri and David Bernacchi for hosting a break at their gallery, Light Ideas Gallery in the Third Ward in Milwaukee. Thank you to Dennis Felber for arranging for the Marcus Center shoot. And finally, my thanks to my husband for hosting and picking up all the duties at home so that this workshop could happen.

Enjoy the images!

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One Week Until Shoot with Beckstead!

One week remains before "Shoot with Beckstead" takes on the Milwaukee Art Museum. Having attended David Beckstead's workshop in Chicago, I am excited to see what he does with the light and lines of the Santiago Calatrava design of the Milwaukee Art Museum. David has secured exclusive access for our group for a private four-hour shoot inside the museum. The three-day workshop should be amazing. For more information, check out:
Shoot with Beckstead at MAM
Sign up at: Beckstead Workshop Registration

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Portfolio Shoot with Brenna

Last week, I had the privilege to shoot with an upcoming young model, Brenna Schwartz. Brenna is a student at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Although she was busy with preparations for school and a number of shoots this week, I was glad that she could fit me into her schedule. She was quite impressive and professional, and I have no doubt that she will find success in whatever she chooses. Here are a few shots from our session. Brenna can be reached through Model Mayhem, Brenna Schwartz, MM#1311553

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