Jessica Kempen Photography

Danni

Jessica Kempen — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 22:44:52 +0000

Danni, it was a pleasure to photograph you and learn about your plans for the coming year. Talk about motivated- planning to continue classes over the summer. I was happy to simply make money between my senior year of high school and college! To top it all off you have the noble desire to possibly explore a challenging and rewarding career path being a case worker. With your determination, I am sure you will succeed no mater what path you take. So here is to you and your dreams!

Meagan + Will | St. Paul Engagement Photography

Jessica Kempen — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 03:21:35 +0000

I just love you guys! Smiles, laughter, and stories- talk about a great time. I learned a ton about you both and that is really, one of my favorite things about what I do. Learning about who I photograph, what they love, who they love, and how they live life to the fullest. :)

I know you have a bar exam coming up, Meagan, so I wish the best in your studies and hopefully a bit of time to celebrate after your graduation! :)

Travis + Kyleigh | Minneapolis Engagement Photography

Jessica Kempen — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:55:02 +0000

You may or may not know this, but I grew up in northern Wisconsin and when I came to the Twin Cities to study at the U it was a huge change. Compared to my hometown of 150, a graduating class of 80+, and growing up on a family dairy farm – you could safely say that the cities were out of my normal experience which included lot of good, a lot of different, and my home. :)

What I absolutely LOVE about the Twin Cities is the variety, culture, food, the active populace, and amazing parks both in quantity and quality. You can find so much in such a small area and each time you come back you discover something new that you never noticed before, or stopped to appreciate. This past Saturday’s session was one of those times where you start somewhere completely familiar, where everyone knows the location but few explore past the surface. We started our morning at the Stone Arch Bridge where w never stepped foot on it or even took a picture that included it. We had a desire for something different, something new, so instead we turned away and sought out the gems that are always there but take a second look to see.

Out of a spring of dazzling warm days, early snow melt, and 80 degree weather in March we found ourselves in the first weekend of April with 40+ degree weather, a mist/drizzle, overcast skies, and one awesome couple!

Thanks, Travis + Kyleigh, for a super fun and slightly damp session this past Saturday morning. You brightened my day with your smiles that weather and cold couldn’t keep away. Even though we tried to avoid the unpredictable weather of spring it found us anyway and we maid the best of it! :D

Pam + Dan | White Bear Lake Wedding Photographer

Jessica Kempen — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 20:02:28 +0000

There is something about small intimate weddings that puts you at ease and brings a smile to your face. The bride and groom surrounded by their close friends and family, celebrating the beauty of their love and commitment to each other. The togetherness Pam + Dan’s wedding radiated was wonderfully touching and amazing to witness.

Thank you again for bringing me into your day and allowing me to photograph those most dear to you. ♥

Dan + Katie | Harriet Island + Raspberry Island Engagement Photographer

Jessica Kempen — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:12:49 +0000

For most sessions and couples I enjoy mixing playful, serious, and serene to bring out who they are and how they love. Dan and Katie, however, always looked most natural with a smile on their lips and a laugh just waiting to bubble out. :) They have a way about themselves that is so carefree, expressive, happy, and energizing that you can’t help but grin ear to ear in their presence. I love that about them. I love that when we tried a serious/serene looks, it just wasn’t them, and that was fine. :) They were meant to smile and I wouldn’t have it any other way. ♥

Jamie + Brandon | Lakeville + Minneapolis Wedding Photography | Second Shooting

Jessica Kempen — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 17:00:26 +0000

You might think that every photographer out there always only photographs weddings for their own business or in relation to their own business. Some do but there are also those, like myself, that enjoy second shooting with and for other photographers when time and schedule permits. I love having that chance to work with other photographers- both as a second or with a second photographer. As a second you have the time to be really creative and not constrained by the need for all of your photos to work or count. You are not the main photographer, you don’t have the same time limitations and need to keep the day on track, you can take a breath while the main photographer does their magic. You can take a step back and truly SEE the main photographers setup. You figure out what you can do to bring a different angle, creativity, or look to what they are producing and you make something UNIQUE and CREATIVE by seeing things they might not have time to notice and by having the freedom to take chances.

This is one of those chances where I had the pleasure of second shooting for another photographer. I love any chance I get to work with Tara of Tara Engle Photography. We shared a studio for a time and her drive and passion is always something to be inspired by. She is creative, upbeat, and I have literally seen her sprint to get into position to capture a moment! So, with all that said, I love to work with her. She appreciates creative takes on portraits as well as details which truly gives me the freedom to look for those unique, fun, quirky photos that I love.

All the photos in this post were taken by myself while performing as a second photographer for Tara Engle Photography. Please enjoy. ♥

Emily + Brandon | Indian Mounds Park, St. Paul, MN

Jessica Kempen — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 02:03:56 +0000

First, thank you Emily & Brandon for sharing part of Brandon’s last evening, for a while, in the States with me. You both were a ton of fun to spend such a gorgeous Minnesota evening with, and I loved exploring a new, to me, park! I will write more tomorrow but I just wanted to get a few photos up so you could share in them together and with your family before you both are separated for a time. I can’t wait to finish the rest!

Warmly,
Jessica

Pam + Dan | St. Paul Engagement Photography

Jessica Kempen — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:02:11 +0000

First: I am so excited to getting back to my blogging, and finally posting some of my amazing sessions and weddings that didn’t make it up onto the site! As photographer, I have really busy times of the year which don’t allow me to update as often I would like, and lets face it, this blog didn’t get the love it deserved. Photographing and then polishing photos for my wonderful clients took front and center. Here’s to a consistently update blog from here on out!

This is a session from May of 2011.

I have a love of fashion, and an immense desire to dress fashionably even though I myself have no skills in putting unique clothing items together to BE fashionable. :) Pam on the other hand is always amazingly dressed, as one would expect being a clothing designer.

I first met Pam in 2008, in the budding start of my photography business, as I decided to make my love of photos a true profession. It is always an interesting thing when you take those first steps into something new, it is a mixture of excitement with maybe a pinch of worry that you ignore while you undergo so much growth. I had to build a portfolio and start working my way up to a point where I would feel comfortable having people pay me for my work. Some photographers don’t have this insecurity, and can jump right into the deep end; for me, even though in most cases I jump first and look second, I wasn’t ready to start charging for my work. So I did what most photographers loath to hear, I posted an ad on Craigslist advertising portfolio building trade sessions.

Pam was one of the first individuals to reply to my ad. She let me know that she had a couple dress designs that she would like photographed for an upcoming contest. I, of course, was already super pumped because I was happy to be doing some of my first things as a professional. In my mind I thought she would be modeling her dresses or they would simply be hung and photographed.

A couple days after I agreed to photograph her garments she gives me a call that went a little like this…. “I have two, possibly three, garments that I would like photographed. The model, makeup artist, and hairstylist are all lined up as well. Oh, and I have a friend that has also designed some garments and if it is alright with you she would love to have them photographed. She would have another model along with an additional two garments.”

So… wow!

I just went from a simple shoot to the whole 9 yards in the matter of a phone conversation! Was I ready for this? I had never worked with a model before, let alone two. Not only that but I had never worked with studio lighting before and here I was t- two weeks to the shoot!

I rented the studio the week before the shoot- determined to learn what I needed to learn to not mess up. I worked through learning the Profoto lights, tested different modifiers, and practiced setting everything up. I scoured the internet for videos, setups, instructions, descriptions of lighting patters, on and on until I was as ready as I could possibly make myself in a weeks time. Do you remember when I mentioned jumping first and then looking back? Well this is one of those cases where I took the chance, made the jump, and succeeded! Later looking back, thinking I just dodged a bullet, holy buckets! :) I am proud to say that many of the photos taken at that first shoot, to this day, would be proudly shown side by side with my present work.

It was such a great experience, and I have always been so thankful to Pam for taking the chance on me and my photography. I love that three years after that first meeting she contacted me to tell me about her upcoming wedding, and that she would love to have me there to photograph it. I believe that the greatest complement to a photographer is to simply come back and work with them again, to refer them to your friends, and above all- to trust them with some of the most important days and people of your life.

So, Pam, thank you for entrusting me with photographing the love of your life for your engagement photos as well as your family and friends on your wedding day. ♥