Jessica Gwozdz Photography - Chicago maternity, newborn, child, and family photographer » chicago headshots

John’s Place

Jes — Mon, 07 May 2012 21:16:42 +0000

Last year I had the pleasure of meeting John Hoppe from John’s Place in Glenview. John’s advertising agency contacted me because they needed some marketing photos of John. John’s Place is a personalized auto care shop specializing in European models. John wanted marketing images that represented the way he feels about his business and about his customers – that he personally stands behind all work done at his shop and that he is “at your service.” I loved this idea because this is also the way I feel about my business and my customers. I also really loved John’s idea of wearing his tuxedo and holding customers’ keys on a silver platter. (You can see that the advertising agency added the silver platter later in production…LOL!) Today I had the opportunity to check out the lifesize “cardboard John” that is up in the shop. It was really fun to see the final use of some of the images we captured that day.

John’s Place is very comfortable and family-friendly. John was kind enough to allow me to put up a canvas display of childrens’ photographs in his waiting room. He also has some of his amazing travel photography on display. If you are near Glenview and you need your car serviced, stop by John’s Place!

a shout out to Trainer Beth J – Chicago and North Shore Personal Trainer

Jes — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:12:31 +0000

This post is a shout out to my personal trainer and spin teacher Beth J. who over the past year has also become a very dear friend. Hey, when someone reaches around your soaking sweaty body to help put you in the correct position while TRX-ing, how can you NOT become close? LOL!

Beth is nothing short of a miracle worker because she was able to prepare this 40-year-old soccer mom for a boudoir shoot. Yep, you heard me correctly… I jumped over to the other side of the camera to be a subject for one of my favorite boudoir photographers, Desiree Hayes, when she was in Chicago earlier this fall. I debated on whether or not I was going to link up my actual pictures here, but I finally decided that I would. Going thru that shoot was an amazing experience, but that could be a whole post in itself.

In preparation for the shoot, I survived Boot Camp in the forest preserve, zillions of spin classes, the TRX (love it so much I bought my own), 52-card pickup (hard to explain but it involves lunges. A LOT of lunges), jogging and skipping around Mansfield Park looking like Phoebe from “Friends”, and testing the limits of my post child-bearing bladder via jumping rope (eek!). I have never felt healthier in my life and just want to say thanks from the bottom of my heart to Trainer Beth J!

I know it’s only November, but make sure to bookmark this info for your new year’s resolution to get in shape. Or better yet – get a jump start on your 2012 resolutions and start getting more active right now. Beth teaches classes at the Morton Grove Park District and Glenview Park District. She also does private and small group personal training as well as fit camps at various forest preserves and parks. Plus she’s really funny so you will actually enjoy the process of getting in shape. “Like” her Facebook page and get on her mailing list so you can learn about the fit camp times and locations as well as other news and updates. (Like private night and discounts at the Lucy store in Old Orchard…woot!)

you were always in good hands, but now it’s official

Jes — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:00:32 +0000

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As this year comes to a close, I wanted to share the accomplishment of one of my bigger 2010 goals. This year I went through the process of becoming a Certified Professional Photographer (CPP).

In other industries mechanics, accountants, attorneys, plumbers, electricians, etc. are required to be certified in their field. Obtaining certification affirms that the individual has passed a comprehensive exam as well as met other requirements, and possesses knowledge, extensive experience, and is appropriately skilled in that particular field. But what about the photography industry? These days it seems that anyone who gets a new dSLR camera prints up some business cards and markets themselves as a professional photographer. Whether or not they actually know the basic elements of exposure, composition, or color – in truth anyone can call themselves a professional photographer. When I looked at the saturation of photographers the marketplace, I felt that I needed to do something to differentiate myself from the pack. So although anyone can call themselves a photographer, very few can call themselves Certified Professional Photographers.

Chicago is a huge city, and clients have a choice of literally hundreds of photographers here. But did you know that there are only seven certified photographers within 20 miles of downtown Chicago?

And now I am one of them.

My journey to becoming a CPP was shared today on the ClickinMoms blog. Click here to check it out.

As I set new goals for myself both personally and professionally for 2011, I want to wish everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Need a professional headshot?

Jes — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 01:05:50 +0000

Then give me a call! Professional headshot sessions include a 15-20 minute studio session and one retouched image of your choice on CD. To make sure you have all that you need, I will provide your chosen image in both color and black-and-white, as well as high resolution (for printing) and low resolution (for web). Depending on my schedule, I may be able to do the session and provide you with your final product on the same day.

Highlights from Off Camera Flash Workshop

Jes — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:58:42 +0000

I feel so fortunate to have been able to participate in an off-camera flash workshop this week, sponsored by CPPA and taught by Bob Harrington from Focus in Close in Connecticut. I am the vice-president of CPPA this year, so I was heavily involved in the planning of this event. I am grateful to my awesome niece and two of her friends from high school for being willing to model for the workshop. Honestly, we could not have hired better models from an agency! Look at how gorgeous these girls are, plus the great wardrobes they brought along with them were just perfect. They all had awesome attitudes and were really patient as the photographers tried the different lighting techniques we were learning.

It ended up being a bit rainy that day, so we didn’t get to do as much open outdoor shooting as I had hoped. I think the biggest thing I leaned at this workshop is to think outside of the box. The bulk of the images you see here were shot in a parking garage. This is not a location I would normally consider shooting it, but I am stunned at the amazing results. This location might not be the best idea for photographing small kids, but for high school seniors I think it’s absolutely perfect.

All of the images you see here were shot with either one or two speedlights (SB800′s in this case) on stands or somehow otherwise supported or balanced off the camera.

Thanks to Bob Harrington, my fellow photographers who participated in the workshop, and of course our fantastic models. I enjoyed spending the day with all of you, and now I have a brand new set of creative tools to add to my lineup.

Perfect Smiles

Jes — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:10:02 +0000

Of course they have perfect smiles… they are dentists!

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Glenview dentist Dr. Susan Graber and Skokie dentist Dr. Lance Robbins. They were really a lot of fun to work with and I am excited with our resulting headshots. Here are two of my personal faves from the morning:

And once we finished the professional shots for their offices, we needed to do a fun one just for their house.