Apparently there is a game goin' round town. If one is tagged, one must post 8 not-so-well known facts about yourself. Well, my good buddy Libby from Studio 32 decided to tag me, so I guess I'm it! (Not sure if I can compare with her fun facts though!)

1. When I was 17, I was hanging out in San Francisco in the North Beach area and ran into Michael Stipe and his entire band (That's R.E.M. in case you didn't know!) having lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We chatted and I asked him for his autograph, but he only offered me a handshake.

2. I have a secret desire to be a dancer. I LOVE dance movies and television shows. "So You Think You Can Dance?" , Dirty Dancing, Michael Jackson's music videos (specifically the dance-fighting scene in "Beat It") and VHS tapes showing you how to dance to a Britney Spears or Backstreet Boys routine!? Hells Yeah!!!

3. After years of trying to keep it a secret, I've finally become comfortable with letting everyone know: I am a "Foodie". That's right people, I am obsessed and extremely interested in food. I've kept this to myself for as long as I've been alive, as I've never exactly been thin. But after losing weight and becoming older and more myself every day, I feel like it's ok to let everyone know. Case in point: My boyfriend was taking me on a tour of a state of the art sound and production studio downtown, and each room I was like "Cool." "Neat." "Wow." It wasn't until he showed me the gorgeous dining area where the fridge was stocked with every beverage known to man, and the cupboards were stuffed with any and every snack available that I was like "OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!"

4. I decided to major in photography without ever having taken a photography class. (I got into art school based on my background in drawing.) The first photo class I had was an extreme challenge for me. The very first day of class, my professor starting writing out and rambling on about something called an "f-stop". On one assignment, I tried to photograph gravestones in the snow and had to redo it 4 times because I messed up on my exposure (For those of you who don't know, photographing snow is one of the more challenging things in photography). I must have cried to my parents at least half a dozen times that I was never going to make it as a photographer. One day, I sat down with my professor and told him of my frustrations. He said that being the underdog was an advantage to me, because it made me open to all of the new information, like a sponge, and open to truly learning. He said he had a student like me in the past that ended up witn an A- at the end of the semester. Well, I didn't get an A, but I got a
B+. Oh, and I became a photographer!

5. I have three brothers and we all have matching tatoos that we received on a group trip to the tatoo parlour. We made my oldest brother go first, since he was a "tatoo virgin". My tatoo is in Japanese characters and says "Little Sister". (Obviously, my brothers tatoos are worded differently!)

6. My Puerto Rican grandmother married a man. Years and children later, she found out he was already married with an entire family in the Phillipines.

7. My uncle is a big head honco in the California Teachers Association and has to have meetings with Arnold Swartzenegger.

8. My elbows are double-jointed. I can hold out my arms and bend them in a way that they look like birds wings. And no, it doesnt hurt!

I was "discovered" by a mother from Madison, WI looking for a photographer to do her daughter's senior portrait. We ended up shooting at Madison School Forest and had a great time (despite getting a bit eaten by some mosquito's!). I've never been to that area before, and it was nice walking into a fresh space and being inspired by the area.

Some photos of the fabulous Brittany:

So Hannah is an up and coming actress and I was asked to take some headshots of this amazing new talent!

So, I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy behind on my blogging!! Ah well, such is the life of a busy photographer!

Anyways, so Kelly and Armando got married way back in July! I especially enjoyed the mariachi group at the reception during cocktail hour - they sounded great!!!

Some of my faves:

I am thinking about offering a 4-6 week photography class to women. My goal is to provide a comfortable setting for women interested in photo, but who feel intimidated by the technical aspect. I want to provide an environment where people can ask questions without feeling stupid.

I'd like this to be a beginner level class, possibly with a photo show at the end. There would be the possibility of offering an advanced class as well.

Questions:
Do you think people would be interested in this class?
If you were to take the class, what kinds of things would you want to learn?
How much would you be willing to pay for the class?
Does the idea of having a photography show at the end of the class interest you?

You can email me here or at j.kaminski@sbcglobal.net

All comments welcome and greatly appreciated!!!!!!

Here is my Cafe Lulu photo that is in the Shepherd Express this week. Cafe Lulu is one of my favorite restaurants and I highly suggest checking them out! They are located in the fashionable up and coming Bay View area.

My boyfriend and I entered the Milwaukee International Film Festival 24 hour film contest. Basically, we showed up for the meeting on day 1, and received the topic which was "The First Time". Then we had 24 hours to make a film, which had to be turned in the next day. Everything in the film had to be done within the 24 hours, including music and sound, costumes, etc. Movies were based on use of the topic and production value.

Out of 44 group participants, 32 groups turned in films, and 14 films were screened on day three at the Milwaukee Art Museum. I am happy to announce that our film was screened! I came up with the initial concept, did hair and makeup, directed and acted in this movie, while Tate did all the shooting, editing, and post production work. Original music was created by Peter Batchelder.

*UPDATE: I should probably have mentioned when I posted this poster that I have a couple of pieces IN the show!! (my name is at the bottom of the poster, but it's hard to read). I won't be at the gallery the entire night, as I plan on walking around the Third Ward to see the other art shows, but I'll definately be stopping by the Portrait Society. Hopefully some of you can make it! If you can't the show will be up for three months I believe, so you can check out the work on another day.

I took part in what I like to refer to as a "Portfolio Party". In this case, it's getting together with models, a makeup artist and sometimes a wardrobe stylist too (though not in this case) We all work together to create images for our portfolio. I had a great time, met some new people, and am very happy with the images!

Some of my favorites: