Please Visit My NEW Site!

Please visit my new website at http://www.modernstlphoto.com

Downtown Alton, IL Senior Pictures | Modern St. Louis Portrait Photographer

For Melanie’s senior pictures, I was able to talk her into shooting in downtown Alton, IL. There are so many buildings with gorgeous textures and colors in the downtown Alton, IL area- it makes the perfect backdrop for senior or family portraits.

We were able to shoot at five different amazing locations, all within walking distance of each other- and we didn’t even scratch the surface when it comes to all the phenomenal places where you can shoot in downtown Alton.

Like my pictures? Like my Facebook page to keep updated on all of my shoots and specials!

To book a session with Jaimie, please contact her at 314-680-1928 or visit her new website at http://www.modernstlphoto.com

Finally… Getting to the Homestretch of the Fall Semester | St. Louis Wedding Photographer

Finally! I’m hitting the homestretch of this horrible, awful, crazy fall semester. I’m done with 9 hour work days followed by 5 hours of class time twice per week. I’m more than ready for it to be over and for me to get my life back, even if it is only temporarily and during the holidays, none the less.
It also means my house renovations should be nearly finished. That took soooo much longer than I anticipated, and all because of some plumbing.
All I have left to do is refinish the cabinets, have the countertop installed, install the flooring and base trim, paint the bedrooms, have Mike build my entryway fake wainscoting wall, and move in. You know, nuthin’ much.
But ugh… That means I have to pack and that’s not going to go well.
But packing? I can’t worry about packing right now. I have to study for a test tomorrow, followed by a brutal test next Tuesday. And I won’t even mention the album I need to design, the two weddings I have to edit, and the countless portrait sessions waiting to get out. Oh, and don’t forget the post office… I gotta get there, too.
Not. Enough. Hours. In. The. Day.

A Q&A Session and New Albums!

A few days ago, I had a little Q&A session with JR Customizations. Want to see how it went? Follow the link!
http://jrcustomization.com/2012/07/jaimie-of-jaimie-nicole-krause-photography/

After a ton of research, I’ve decided to go with a different album printing company. I’m so excited to start providing KISS albums to my clients!!! I can’t stop raving about them! KISS makes the entire process as simple as can be! It keeps the album choices simple, and makes it easy for me to design and preview my albums to my clients. And the quality of the albums- phenomenal.

The images are photographic prints, not press printed like many other album makers. And trust me, that makes a huge difference. Take a look:

I will be changing the info on my website and my blog very soon to reflect the changes in available album sizes.
Stay tuned for more updates, sneak peeks and inspiration!

**please visit my new website

New plans and new spaces | Modern St. Charles Photographer

I was trying to hold off before I spilled my good news, but I can’t wait any longer because I’m just soooo excited! I’m FINALLY moving… out to the country, lol.
Well, it’s a semi rural area in St. Charles county. I’m especially super excited because I will finally have room for Indoor/outdoor studio space! How awesome is that?! Not to mention that there are beautiful farm fields and amazing old barns all over out there- and yet I’ll be just a few mins from both St. Louis and St. Charles.
It will be an amazing place for your child, your family, or your senior portrait session- especially having the option to mix it up a bit with studio and outdoor settings.
I promise to post more pics of the scenery soon! For now, here’s a few to tide you over…

Social Media Marketing Post #1: I Think I Just Found Somewhere to Begin…

Social Media Marketing.  Basically, it’s where you use FB and Twitter and Pinterest other Social Media sites to promote your business. And apparently, it can work quite well.

That is, if you have the time. Which I don’t. Even with a smart phone, I don’t have the time. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I spend nearly 50 hours a week at my regular job (you know, the one that has nothing to do with photography that I have because I need a steady income and health insurance and all that stuff responsible adults should have) and 12-14 hours a week in class (again, for nothing photography related but I will make a lot more money and I should be able to work from home and cut my hours down significantly). I still have to do homework, take care of animals and clean my house and all that stuff. And that’s in addition to my photography- the shooting, the editing, the emails, the consultations…  Oh, and did I mention that I just bought a new house that I need to start rehabbing?  Yeah, there’s that too.

But I know I need to find time to make the time for it, or I’ll never get back to where I was in my business before my life came to a screeching halt two years ago when my husband spent 5 months and 2 days in the ICU before he passed away.

But where does one start? There’s so much to social media marketing- SEOs, Keywords, Google rankings. It’s so simple, yet it’s so overwhelming. Twitter alone is enough to make a girl go crazy. (Like, seriously? What are you NOT doing that enables you to post 50 tweets a day? And how do you even come up with shit to Tweet about?)

Fortunately, I follow a ton of awesome photographers on FB.  I came across this post by Photography Awesomesauce.

Right now, I’m going to mostly focus on 1 & 2, which #2 means I also need to work on my blog.  I pretty much already follow #3-7.

And in order to do that, I need to get organized and get a plan.  Part of the reason I don’t blog more is because I don’t know what to blog about.  But since I’ve been gearing up the past few weeks to blog more, I’ve actually been putting some thought into it, and I have a little list going on my phone of blog ideas.  I also have the WordPress app so I can work on stuff from my phone while waiting for class to start.

So a couple of days ago, I went to the bookstore in search of a book specifically about photographers and Facebook.  I did not find one.  I did however, find a cute weekly planner on clearance.  I snapped it up.  (And also like, 3 other books, because let’s face it, even though I have a Kindle, I cannot resist the seduction of a book.  Especially a book in the bargain bin.)  Then I received a reality check right smack in the face from a helpful bookstore employee who suggested I read some book with the world’s longest title which pretty much equated to “Why Your 20’s is the Most Important Decade of Your Life and How You Can Start Making the Most of it Now.”  She found it inspiring.  I found it… a little too late.  Then I had a minor panic attack because I’m going to be 30 in less than three weeks! And under no circumstances is there anything that can be done in the next couple of weeks to make my twenties a successful decade by that book’s standards.

Getting back on subject, when I got home, I downloaded the eBook Social Media Marketing for Digital Photographers by Lawrence Chan.   (His Tofurious blog has an abundance of information on social media marketing.  I highly suggest you check it out.)  I’ve just started reading the first few pages of the book, but it’s gotten rave reviews from numerous other photographers that I follow.

So the goal for this weekend is to start working on my weekly planner- entering ideas and schedules for blogs and blog posts.  I’m also going to start on the Tofurious book and see where it takes me.

St. Peters Rec Plex Engagement Session | Modern St. Louis Engagement Photography

Christine and Jamie will be getting married this September- so a few weeks ago (back in June, before this awful, horrid, hot weather) we went to the St. Peter’s Rec Plex for their engagement shoot.
If you’ve never been to St. Peter’s Rec Plex, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s an awesome place for wedding, engagement, or family photos. There’s a little pond with a waterfall, a large gazebo, a couple of little bridges, and many shaded areas.
We had amazing weather and amazing light that evening- a photographer’s dream! We scheduled their session shortly before dusk when the sun is down far enough to not cause harsh shadows, and just golden enough to get that amazing backlighting that you see in a few of the images.
They were a fun couple to work with- and needed little to no direction at all. It was like working with professional models, lol.
Here are a few of the images from their session. Check out my FB page for more 🙂