Today I finished up photographing my staff with last, but not least, Tonia!

I love the colors of Tonia’s outfit, and her natural, yet confident posing. (I call it posing, but it was really all her! I didn’t have to direct her one bit!)

“Tonia is a custom framer by day, and design guru by night.
She can be found in front of the computer designing albums, cards, and well, anything Jessica needs. She is often spotted between the stacks in the library or amid paper collage scraps on the living room floor.”

Hey everyone! I am proud to announce that one of my photographs was accepted into the Eight Counties Exhibition at the Kohler Arts Center!

EIGHT COUNTIES embraces art from a broad perspective. In order to ensure a balanced representation of the art being produced in the eight-county region, the Arts Center’s curatorial team will make final selections. It is hoped that the exhibition will include everything from community-based traditions to mainstream art practices to experimental technologies, with the overall goal of revealing and celebrating the diversity of peoples and practices in our region.”

To learn more about the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, please visit https://www.jmkac.org

Also, just a reminder that you can still view my work in the RECONNECTION Exhibit at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design Layton Gallery until December 12th.

Greetings!

It’s Black Friday and I didn’t want to be left out in the cold. Plus, I’m feeling thankful for a lot of things right now, and thought I’d spread the good cheer. Therefore, please enjoy a few specials that I am offering for this weekend only.

And you know what the best part is? You can get some of your holiday shopping done from the comfort of your own home. And really, I just went for a Post-Thanksgiving walk with my mom, and it’s really cold outside, so you really shouldn’t leave your house if you don’t have to. See, I care about you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sincerely,
Jessica

Save $10!
Give the Gift of Knowledge!
Even better than my last offer: Sign up for any class and receive $10 off. Your brain will swell with all the new photography knowledge and your loved ones will be relieved that they look so much better in your photos!
Offer Expires: November 29, 2010

Earn $10!
Give the Gift of Goodies!!
Purchase a Gift Certificate and we’ll include an additional $10 for every $100 you purchase!
Think of that extra happiness you’re providing by throwing in that extra $10, $20, or $30. And really, the sky is the limit.
Offer Expires: November 29th, 2010

8 x 10 Reprint!
Give the Gift of Memories!
Sign up for any portrait session and receive a free 8 x 10 Professional Reprint (A $45 Value).
Think of how good you’ll feel when you’re old and you can show your grandkids a photo showing how hot you were “when you were their age”.
Offer Expires: November 29, 2010

I am putting together a new email newsletter, and each of my staff will be contributing to a different section of the newsletter.

In each issue of the newsletter, you will find the following:
1. “The Word on the Street” Details and blurbs from me on the happenings of the studio, classes, promotions, and anything else that might seem remotely interesting.
2. “Recess!” In this section, my assistant, Diana, will share with all of you “the fun, crazy and amusing pieces of [her] life that help [her] survive the daily grind.”
3. “Ask the Intern” Every month, we will take a question from one of our readers for Matt, the intern. If you would like to submit a question, please email me at Jessica@jkaminskiphoto.com, and title your email “Ask the Intern”

I am really excited about this newsletter and hope that you enjoy it too! Plus, feedback is always pretty cool too, so feel free to contact me about things you might like to hear about in the newsletter or classes that you’d like to see offered.

I will be using this blog to post the submissions of my staff in their entirety. And so, here is the first installment of Diana’s section. Enjoy!

Recess!
A person can get stuck in a pretty serious rut fast. Getting married, having babies, starting a new job are all things that just add more things on life’s to do list. Since Jessica has given me the opportunity to write a spot every month in her news letter, I thought I’d use it as a creative outlet to share with all of you the fun, crazy and amusing pieces of my life that help me survive the daily grind. I’m going to use this as another excuse to exercise my creativity and as a way to expand my repertoire of “getting out of a rut activities.”
I got an idea from a book, a little blurb lost at the bottom of the page. It was so non-descript that I almost missed it. Every person that has ever had children, watched children, been a child, has run into the same problem. THE STUFF! In our case, our son, Sam, loves to draw. When I say love, I mean he draws every day. We were on the verge of being over run with artwork (for you see being an artist myself I can’t bare to part with a single original piece of art) when that small little passage I almost didn’t read set me free. A binder, put it all in a binder the book suggested. What? A binder? I couldn’t think of that? It’s just about his favorite book in the house, and I can’t say that I mind looking at it every once and a while either.
When life seems to get a bit overwhelming, often the answer is a simple one. So if you find yourself being overrun by life, just put it all in a binder and be done with it.
Till next month,
~diana

I added a “Staff” page to my website and have been taking photographs of my staffers. So far, I have photographed Matt, my intern, and Diana, my assistant. Tonia is next!

Here is what I have so far:

I tried to make the photos reflect their personality and elements of their lives, and I think we all succeeded! (It’s always a collaboration, don’t you know)

 Read their bios to find out more at www.jkaminskiphoto.com

Now that I’m in the Third Ward, I have some awesome neighbors. Besides being located above a candy store, I’m also located down the street from Blush, a beauty boutique. Aside from the dangerous fact that it’s hard for me to go in there and not want to buy a slew of makeup goodies, I’m happy to know a few stellar artists who work there and can assist me with styling on my photo shoots! Blush contacted me today and informed me that I was mentioned in their blog post today! Check it out!

Blush Blog

“SINCE OPENING IN OCTOBER OF 2004, BLUSH HAS PUT MILWAUKEE ON THE MAP IN THE WORLD OF BEAUTY. THE BOUTIQUE OFFERS HIGH-END PRODUCT LINES INCLUDING LAURA MERCIER COSMETICS, B-KAMINS CHEMIST SKINCARE, AND TRUEFITT AND HILL FOR MEN. BLUSH IS RENOWNED FOR ITS ONE-OF-A-KIND BEAUTY SERVICES. CHECK OUT THE BROW BAR, THE LASH BAR, THE BLUSH FACE COUTURE MENU & THE TOTAL BODY MENU. THE STAFF AT BLUSH SPECIALIZES IN EACH SERVICE PROVIDED MAKING THEM THE GO-TO GIRLS IN THE WORLD OF BEAUTY.”

Here are some pics of our new Third Ward Studio!

I’m teaching a lighting class at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. We decided that we are going to have an exhibition of our final project and needed to create a postcard. But what image to use?

Someone suggested a class portrait, and I thought it was a great idea! Here is one of the images from our shoot today!

You know who is awesome? My designer, Tonia. She designed this new ad for 2Cents Magazine. I love it!

As some of you may know, I am currently teaching a Basic Lighting course at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. Last week, LIFE photographer John Dominis was in Milwaukee and gave a presentation at Cardinal Stritch University. I was lucky and honored to be able to bring my class to this wonderful event.

You can read a little about John and the presentation here:

http://midwesteditorialphoto.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/life-photog-john-dominis-to-be-updated-soon